“As Hilary Rodham Clinton’s image shifts from a strong, independent feminist to a good mother and sympathetic wife/victim, her public opinion ratings improve.”
(Parry-Giles, Shawn J. “ Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton: Television News Practices and Image-Making in the Postmodern Age.” Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture. Eds. Lester C Olson, Cara A. Finnegan, and Diane S. Hope. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2008. 375-91.)
I found this statement very surprising. I thought the opposite effect would happen once Bill Clinton’s affair was made public. The fact that Hilary Clinton stood by her husband throughout the entire ordeal is a little bit pathetic. I mean, the man had an affair! Why would stay with someone after that? For being such an important feminist figure and standing up for women’s rights, I feel like she dropped the ball on this one and went back on your words. I understand that her husband was a very important figure, but how can you let someone make a fool out of you in public to the entire United States? People say that by shifting roles to be more of a mother and wife, she helped her ratings when it came time to run for president. I was surprised by this. I expected most women to be appalled to the idea that she accepted to be treated that way and have her husband cheat on her. However, the ratings proved otherwise. After that incident I lost all respect for her. Women are not people that can be taken advantage of and be expected to remain by your side at all times after doing such a dishonest thing. I think that if she was really the independent feminist that she claimed she was, she would have left her husband.
I agree that Hilary definitely contradicted herself with her decision to stay with her husband. For all of the strong feminists who supported her efforts in women's rights, I am sure they were appalled with her actions. However I do believe that every women is entitled to their personal privacy and decisions they make for their life. Whether or not she stayed with Bill because she truly wanted to overcome this obstacle in their relationship, or simply because she is just another greedy politician, the media should learn to butt out of people's personal lives.
ReplyDeleteSelene, I really liked reading your post because of your voice! Also, I do agree with you. I, as well, found it very interesting that she would stay with her husband after he had an affair. She advocated feminism so much, but then let herself get walked all over. As we discussed in class, this may have simply been a political move for her in order to have her chance at the presidency later on. And although this was a case of the media attacking her on a personal level I do think it was something that needed to be covered.
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