Obama in Need of Gender-Sensitivity Training
By Jonathan Chait – Apr 4, 2013 – for the Intelligencer
In remarks today, President Obama described California Attorney General Kamala Harris “as by far, the best looking attorney general.” Now, he had also described her as “brilliant,” “dedicated,” and “tough,” but … no.
For those who don’t see the problem here, the degree to which women are judged by their appearance remains an important hurdle to gender equality in the workforce. Women have a hard time being judged purely on their merits. Discussing their appearance in the context of evaluating their job performance makes it worse.
It’s not a compliment. And for a president who has become a cultural model for many of his supporters in so many other ways, the example he’s setting here is disgraceful.
President Obama caused a stir Thursday when he commented on the appearance of ‘
California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough,” Obama said at a DNC fundraiser in
Atherton, Calif., according to a White House pool report. “She also happens to be, by far,
the best looking attorney general….It’s true! C’mon.”
Obama may want to consider at least two other AG’s in his ‘best looking’ category:
