Former US President and Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton has had another moment in the limelight as he shocked everyone with an inconsiderate statement about his ‘wife’s fainting phenomenon’.
Was it a freudian slip of a man who can’t take seeing his wife match his highest achievement? Or is it because she’s a woman that they are reading so much into her episode of fainting? We can only speculate.
Shiv Visvanathan, anthropologist opines, “It isn’t sexist to raise questions about the health of a candidate or a minister. And this isn’t a junior minister or something — we are talking about the American Presidential candidate.
“The campaign has been on for a very long time and the more important question is if Hillary survives this. There are several people who collapse under stress. If she does, well and good. And, the fact that she is stressed shows humanity — that she is not just a dictator. Also, these kind of moves/statements don’t necessarily need to affect her election process. The way media plays it out is important.”
He further added that when you talk about sexism in workplace in India, most Indian men are not grown-ups. “Teenagers are from 14 to 40 — they get tensed with the idea of women in leadership positions; unless, of course, she is a saint or a mata of sorts. The more secular idea of women leading is still rather new in the country. Many important political movements and organisations have been led by women: Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Chanda Kochhar, prove that women can handle stress. We can begin remedying this sexism right at home by not treating our brothers and sisters differently. Then, we need to stop making jokes and using violence. We need to create a safe place first,” he adds.
Author and political analyst Sriram Karri says, “Health is a premium in American politics — very fairly. In the middle of a tight battle, this might have been the point of inflexion.”
Pritish Nandy, politician, media and television personality, says, “I don’t think it is sexist. People should be equally concerned if Trump was unwell. The question about one’s health, especially someone who is running for such an important position, applies to both men and women and the gender here isn’t important.”
Author-activist Anil Dharker too thinks it is not sexist to question Hillary’s health. “With something as vital as the American presidential run, it doesn’t matter if a candidate is male or female. Maybe the statement that Bill passed is made into an issue because Hillary is a female candidate; had it happened to a man, it wouldn’t be such an issue.
Biologically, women are the stronger sex with child bearing and rearing ability — they are stronger, but people think that women are the weaker sex and so there is so much banter about her being incapable,” says Dharker. We’ll have to see if her temporary illness really does affect the election process. At the moment, we cannot predict anything.
