Adore "half-african-american" brother line, and cleavage bit (I thought the same thing!). I will certaintly have to read the book "No One Left To Lie To". I'm not trying to find middle ground when I say I think Ms. Clinton is guilty of both being a "Ms." and a "Clinton".

Women still have ground to break. It's a pity when any male candidate might fixate only on whether or not he should wear a tie, and what color it should be, while a woman is deliberating for or against earrings, scarves, curls, and make-up, and all these little things that may enhance or downplay "femininity". The man stands in his suit, with a free card of "authority" and yet the woman stands in a pantsuit, a skirt, a dress, or? and worries about the message she's sending before she even speaks. Combine that, with a go-getter attitude and aptitude and skills for getting things "done". Combine that with being outspoken and even brash ("right wing conspiracy/obliterte them!) and no matter how qualified and how ingenious her plans for new policies may be, and their implementation, she is going to be compared with Fatal Attraction crap, which is also something I personally have been compared to, having the audacity to pick up a protest sign and "not give up" or "move on". It's admirable for a man to stay and fight, but the little lady should always take a graceful bow-out and acknowledge defeat. It's unbecoming, dear, to let them see the maskara streaking down your cheeks, or bleeding at the corner of your eye with a tear. It's unbecoming, dear, to raise that fist and take a good punch at that invisible glass ceiling. Allow a man to open the trap door for you, darling, be patient, and your time will come. I sure as hell don't think women invented maskara for themselves. Over time, women have noticed what gets attention and have perfected the formula. Suddenly, it's so commonplace and expected for a woman to wear make-up and not appear mousy, no one questions why the hell men are not decorating their faces like clowns, wearing nail extensions, suffering in high heeled shoes, and not expected to wax every visible hair on their body.

So right from the start, in even the smallest details, a woman is not equal, and "different" didn't start out with "equality" on the agenda. I think now, a woman should be able to be glam and taken seriously too, but we should never forget where it comes from, and the fact that there are still hurdles. What is an aggressive personality in a woman is a "confident and decisive" demeanor in a man. Take John McCain vs Hillary Clinton. I don't know why the word "harpie" comes to mind, but it does. And I did take note that most of the calls for her dropping out early, even when she was winning states on her own, were coming from men.

On the other hand, would I, a woman, vote for Clinton? Not this round. I fully agree she was part of a "team" with Bill, in defaming OTHER women and calling them stalkers, liars, and whores. Defamation of character is serious, and I've also been on the receiving end of this sort of thing, and it absolutely ruins lives. Even after damage control or attempts to clean up, the damage is done. So any woman who goes along with a lie, to cover up for one person while knowing they are destroying someone else, is not getting my vote. And there were some bigoted remarks as well, surprisingly, although this entire race has had it's share of shockers.

Hillary could potentially win my support (I believe in second chances for those who may be able to admit when they're wrong) down the road if she is single and not married to Bill. The Bill Factor was and is and will always be, her achilles heel. I don't think having him as a husband helped her campaign at all, except with only the most tenacious Billy-devoutees.

That said, Hitchens is not without sisters, and has said himself he received letters from some of the women he and his wife stood up for, on principle and truth, despite personal misgivings and the effects doing so would have on their social circle.

(going back to youtube now, to listen to Meredith Brooks' "Bitch")

So where does it come up? In my view women have built their own jails. For example, WHO comments more on a women's looks and how she dresses. Men or other women.

Women have built their own jails. Same with most of the problems men bitch about.

Yes and no. In one sense we are socialized in a way that perpetuates sexism. On the other hand, much of the power still rests with men - so male attitudes become more important. Sorry to say this, but the position of 'woman' as a gender role has been subject to male dominance almost since the inception of civilization. So, even if some of this internment is our own fault, women do not hold all the keys to breaking out of our own jails. Besides, that would only apply to Western women, in much of the rest of the world women are stuck in secondary position without a way out.

I was only talking about western women and the major changes that have impacted western women since WWII. Changes all for the better in my POV.

Yes, history has been very cruel towards women and men are the reason. I really believe that the vast majority of problems in the world are the result of men NOT wishing to give up their power. To SHARE power as equals with women. Most men, even in the west, just are too immature or cowards to deal with women as equals.

Look at the Muslim world. They bitch that the west is trying to change their traditions. HELL YEA, because all of those traditions were created BY MEN, FOR MEN! This is also true in the west and with the Catholic religion and RCC but since the state power in the west is NOT controled by the church women were able to break free.

My point about the jails was related to women in the west that were raised in a fairly balanced and free environment by 'free' women (mothers that worked, don't fear being beaten by their husbands). Look at all the money women waste on makeup, shoes, clothes, and purses. This is a clear example of women building their own jails. Why do women do this? FEAR. Who puts this FEAR on them. OTHER WOMEN!

For women the purse is the way to see inside their souls! If they have a bunch of useless crap it shows how insecure they are. Again, that is FEAR and it is other women that put this fear into them.

“Women still have ground to break. It's a pity when any male candidate might fixate only on whether or not he should wear a tie, and what color it should be, while a woman is deliberating for or against earrings, scarves, curls, and make-up, and all these little things that may enhance or downplay "femininity".”

There’s nothing pitiful about this. This is who and what we are. Men have simpler clothes compared to women because they have fewer needs than we do. A male candidate must worry about looking clean, sharp, sophisticated, and up to date. A female candidate must worry about all these things as well as remembering that she is a woman and should look like one. Anyone that tries to pretend that there aren’t any differences between the sexes is either in denial or is simply not paying attention. A real woman should always look and act feminine even if and when she is in a position of power.

“The man stands in his suit, with a free card of "authority" and yet the woman stands in a pantsuit, a skirt, a dress, or? And worries about the message she's sending before she even speaks.”

A man standing in a suit does not have a free card of “authority”. He can project an aura of authority by the way he carries himself, the way he walks, and the way he talks. If he has these qualities then how he’s dressed will enhance that aura of authority, but the suit alone will never be enough. Jimmy Carter wears suits and he still looks like a weenie. The same is true of a woman. You can tell if she’s authoritative just by looking at her and listening to her.

If the candidate (male or female) is a known liar, instigator, mean-spirited, hard to get along with, and a pain in the ass then people are going to have a problem with them. Keep in mind that what one person or even a group of people see as ingenious others will see as complete and utter bullshit that is doomed to failure.

“She is going to be compared with Fatal Attraction crap, which is also something I personally have been compared to, having the audacity to pick up a protest sign and "not give up" or "move on".”

If you’re poorly informed on the issue/s at hand, don’t know what you’re talking about, complaining about something you have no control over, cant accept that you lost, and have a tendency to dwell on things then people will compare you to fatal attraction. It’s only crap if it’s untrue.

“It's admirable for a man to stay and fight, but the little lady should always take a graceful bow-out and acknowledge defeat. It's unbecoming, dear, to let them see the mascara streaking down your cheeks, or bleeding at the corner of your eye with a tear. It's unbecoming, dear, to raise that fist and take a good punch at that invisible glass ceiling. Allow a man to open the trap door for you, darling, be patient, and your time will come. I sure as hell don't think women invented mascara for themselves. Over time, women have noticed what gets attention and have perfected the formula. Suddenly, it's so commonplace and expected for a woman to wear make-up and not appear mousy, no one questions why the hell men are not decorating their faces like clowns, wearing nail extensions, suffering in high heeled shoes, and not expected to wax every visible hair on their body.”

You sound incredibly bitter and a bit confused on gender roles. It’s admirable for a man or woman to stand and fight when you have a chance, but when it’s obvious that you cant win and it’s not a life or death situation then the only graceful and honorable thing to do is to accept defeat and bow out. Gender has nothing to do with it.

It is unbecoming to let anyone see you cry regardless of your gender, but there are times where what other people think simply does not matter. It’s unbecoming for anyone to raise that fist and punch at that invisible glass ceiling because it reveals immaturity.

Women invented mascara to make themselves look pretty because they wanted to impress the men in their lives. Using makeup, doing your hair, and wearing pretty clothes is part of what makes a woman a woman. There are many reasons why a woman would not dress herself up. Maybe she doesn’t have the time because she has kids to worry about, or she’s too much into her career, or she’s been hurt by men and wants to do her best to become invisible, she doesn’t care what she looks like, or she doesn’t know how to act and look like a woman. If you care about looking like a woman and you know how to do it then of course your mascara will run if you cry.

Of course most women have noticed what catches the attention of the men around them. But it isn’t something that just happened suddenly as women have been wearing makeup since the beginning of time. Women who look mousy are the ones that don’t wear makeup, don’t dress up, and don’t care of themselves. If you’ve ever seen the first Rocky movie then the female lead Adrian was the perfect mousy looking woman.

People don’t question why men don’t wear makeup because doing so would look ridiculous. It’s simply not a masculine look and real men would never do that unless it was work related like for movies, TV, music, the arts, or the circus. Gay men being the exception since they’re not at all masculine unless they fake it. Nail extensions, high heals, and waxing (except when work related) are not considered masculine either. Real men simply do not do this.

“So right from the start, in even the smallest details, a woman is not equal, and "different" didn't start out with "equality" on the agenda.”

We are equal to men, but we are different as well. If we try to pretend that the sexes are the same then we lose focus on how they’re different. We confuse the gender roles and you end up with women who act, walk, talk, and look like bitches and men who don’t know how to act like a man. This is a bad thing no matter how you look at it.

“What is an aggressive personality in a woman is a "confident and decisive" demeanor in a man. Take John McCain vs. Hillary Clinton. I don't know why the word "harpy" comes to mind, but it does. And I did take note that most of the calls for her dropping out early, even when she was winning states on her own, were coming from men.”

There is a difference between aggress and confident and decisive. It all depends on how the person is aggressive. The problem with Clinton is that she’s a liar, a bitch, and a crook and these are not honorable qualities. I do feel that she was a better choice than Obama, but that doesn’t mean that she was a good choice. I’m not sure why harpy would come to mind for you, but it comes to mind for me based on her well-known and well-documented behavior. But then I think Michelle Obama is a harpy as well. Whether the calls were coming from men or women is completely irrelevant. Since men are far more likely to have to deal with women that are scolding, nagging, bad tempered shrews it’s only natural that you would hear that accusation from men. McCain has anger issues as well and he’s admitted so numerous times. Hillary was winning states because a large percentage of Democrats were able to see the empty suit, empty smile, and empty promises that Obama represents.

I wouldn’t vote for Clinton because I do not think she would make a good president. If a woman is a stalker, a liar, or a whore then it is not defamation of character to call them such. Nothing I’ve seen in the Democratic Party has shocked me. You must remember the riot at the 1968 DNC, the weak candidates that they’ve offered up, and the current state of the party. The top 3 worst US Presidents in history were all Democrats.

“Hillary could potentially win my support (I believe in second chances for those who may be able to admit when they're wrong) down the road if she is single and not married to Bill. The Bill Factor was and is and will always be, her Achilles heel. I don't think having him as a husband helped her campaign at all, except with only the most tenacious Billy-devotees. “

Having Hillary as a wife didn’t help Bill either. We had Billary in office for 8 years and they were the 3rd worst president we’ve had after Carter and Kennedy.

“Going back to youtube now, to listen to Meredith Brooks' "Bitch")”

A terrible song by an ignorant, naïve, and confused little girl that never grew up and simply doesn’t get it. No woman with any respect for herself would ever call herself a bitch ever.

Cassandra