Misogyny / patriarchalism is older than politics. So it’s not surprising that Democrats (or socialists or communists or anarchists….) should reveal a deep-seated antipathy toward the notion of a female leader.
The fact that we think of political discussion as necessarily being confrontational is itself a sign of how male-centered the arena of politics is. For many of the media pundits, it seems perfectly natural that everyone should attack Warren simply because she is (according to an early poll) the front runner. We didn’t see these kinds of attacks on Biden when he was the front runner (yes, there was criticism of his views / policies, but it was hardly a team effort), nor did candidates pile on Bernie Sanders when he seemed a close second. In a non-patriarchal universe (which has to be hypothetical, because we sure as hell don’t have one now), when members of Party X perceive that one of their “contestants” has taken the lead, all the competitors should be promoting their own strengths but without tearing down the person who is likely to lead their party in the general election. That three of the candidates attacking Warren are women doesn’t prove that the process isn’t sexist / patriarchalist. On the contrary, it shows how deeply embedded the fear of a woman leader is. (Klobuchar’s, Gabbard’s, and Harris’s criticisms of Warren are essentially masculinist.)
Warren’s grounding is essentially cooperative rather than competitive. Even in defending herself against the numerous attacks at the recent debate, she didn’t stoop to the level of contentiousness (keeping most of her criticism of Democrats abstract rather than personal). Sure, she singles out the extremely wealthy as opponents, but it’s because their philosophies and practices oppose co-operation and fair play. Why O’Rourke should suddenly criticize Warren’s wealth tax when Sanders has proposed something like this for decades says more about O’Rourke’s grounding than about Warren’s policies.
Whether or not Warren wins the primary or the general election, if she continues her present direction she will have provided us with a model of how politicians should comport themselves if they are to represent all of us, and not just the privileged few. You may not necessarily agree with her politics, but if you don’t appreciate her contribution to political discourse, you’re not paying attention to what she’s saying.
