Don't bother reading this: it's about gender (Albright)

Frances Bolton (PHI) fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu
Mon Apr 19 14:18:44 PDT 1999


On Mon, 19 Apr 1999, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:


> OK, I might be guilty of firing a few cheap shots - but how does that
> relate to "acting in a traditionally feminine way?" Besides, had she done
> that, it would have been even more nauseating.
>
I don't have your original comments here so I can't quote you directly, but your comments focused on Albright's transgressing traditional gender norms: you said she had a case of penis envy, you accused her of wanting a phallus (whatever it is that you mean by phallus) and there was something about Kissinger in drag. I found it interesting (in the bad sense) that you did not simply criticize Albright on the basis of her actions (simple enough) but you chose to focus instead on the ways in which she is not a "real woman". You say that you find socially constructed gender norms abhorrent (finding "trad fem" nauseating) yet it is for acting in a traditionally masculine way (hawkishness) that you made a specifically gendered critique of Albright. I should like to remind you that the last time you critcized her you referred to her as "that bitch." Again, an explicitly gendered insult. The insults you leveled at Albright did not have to do with policy decisions, but were ad hominem attacks which attacked her specifically because she is a woman.

Best, frances



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