Perhaps We're ALL Tired

Much is being made these days about the way women do things, vs. the way men do things. To a large extent, it's the reason this blog exists. And there is no doubt that the genders do operate differently in many aspects and avenues of life.

So it's no wonder that political pundits such as Maureen Dowd ― a personal favorite of mine ― are taking this post-election opportunity to further examine how women turned out in droves to vote their softer sides/consciences and wound up running the male bullies out of office.

Drapes of Wrath
By MAUREEN DOWD
Op-Ed Columnist
Published: Nov. 11, 2006 ― Washington, D.C.

Because of the power of female consumers, some marketing experts predict we will end up a matriarchy. This year, women also flexed their muscle at the polls, transformed into electoral Furies by the administration's stubborn course in Iraq. On Tuesday, 51 percent of the voters were women, and 55 percent of women voted for the Democratic candidate. It was a revival of the style of Bill Clinton, dubbed our first female president, who knitted together a winning coalition of independents, moderates and suburbanites.

According to The Times’s exit polls, women were more likely than men to want some or all of the troops to be withdrawn from Iraq now, and 64 percent of women said that the war in Iraq has not improved U.S. security.

Not being privy to exit polls, research, or voting demographics ― nor really having the time or desire to be ― I leave the manipulation of the data to the experts. Perhaps more women did vote because they were tired of the white male blowhards in office and decided it was time for a change.

But let me ask you this. Weren't those same people in office last time around? Haven't we had myriad opportunities in the past to vote the geezers out of office? And yet we somehow managed to elect W not once, but twice.

I'm an odd demographic, because I'm a liberal female in my late 30s, but I'm not a soccer mom. Single, professional, college-educated . . . and, as Maureen Dowd would have you believe, voting with all the other women out there. Which is what leads me to suppose there may be a greater general dissatisfaction with things than can simply be boiled down to the fact that women got tired of being bullied and finally went and stood up for themselves ― and their military sons and daughters ― at the polls. Perhaps we all got tired of being bullied.

Perhaps we're all exhausted by this never-ending war, with its casualties both home and abroad.

Perhaps we all have had enough of politics before people.

Perhaps none of it has to do with gender.

Truthfully, I am pleased with and hopeful about the power shift in Congress. But I am skeptical, too. I saw this bumper sticker about 6 months ago:

Republicans │Democrats
Same shit; different piles.
The sad thing is that up till now, it's been true. The Dems are on the precipice of an awesome opportunity to change this perception. Unfortunately, the skeptic in me will not be holding my breath.