No, Seattle candidates aren’t facing meaningful ageism, sexism or racism

Despite claims to the contrary, there is no meaningful ageist, racist, nor sexist attacks against females running for Seattle City Council.

In an op-ed in The Stranger blog, Karen Heidergott and Samantha Casne, of the National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington, say the 10 females running for office “…still face sexist, racist, and ageist attacks along the campaign trail that are too often overlooked or ignored.” Only, the authors are unable to provide meaningful examples to make their point that this is a wide-spread problem.

Heidergott and Casne argue that there have been several candidates facing questions from voters over their age. Morgan Beach, former candidate for City Council District 3, is quoted as saying, “I had people laugh in my face and ask if I was old enough to run for office when doorbelling.”

First off, I doubt they were laughing in her face. They likely giggled and jokingly made the comment, thinking that she’s too young to run for office. Regardless, this is hardly a women-only issue. When then-candidate Barack Obama was running for President, it was consistently asked whether or not he was too young to be President. The same conversation is happening now with Senator Marco Rubio. Are younger people stereotyped as unable to hold certain positions of authority? Absolutely. Sometimes unfairly, sometimes fairly. But that’s not because of their gender; it’s because of their perceived lack of experience.

This is the only evidence of ageism on the campaign trail that they offer.

They also argue racism against women of color is persistent on the campaign trail. Their big evidence? M. Lorena Gonzalez has been confused with Deborah Juarez and Tammy Morales “[o]n numerous occasions.” They don’t provide any context at all other than they’re all women of color.

Finally, the big one. Because the authors represent a women’s organization: sexism! They write, “The most common line of attack we hear about is similar to what many women face in the workplace: people questioning how women expect to balance work, public service, and family. Not surprisingly, its a question that men almost never get asked. At a recent candidate forum for Seattle City Council District 2, Tammy Morales’ opponent complimented her ability of balancing work and family. The comment did not seem to have been made maliciously, but it rightfully offended Morales and her supporters because it echoes a conversation that women are tired of having.”

“What people think is a compliment to talk about how well we as women ‘balance’ things — they are really making sexist assumptions about a female candidate’s ability to do a job,” said Morgan Beach, former candidate for City Council District 3.

It may be sexist, just not against women. Being able to successfully handle a work/life balance is generally viewed as a positive. There are entire books and articles helping men and women achieve this. It’s not asked of men because of the assumption that men put work above their own families. In essence, society expects that they’ll be bad fathers and husbands, and commit their lives to staying late in the office.

And let’s also stop pretending that women don’t handle more responsibilities in the home (due, mostly, to misguided and damaging sexist beliefs that women don’t belong in the workplace. Because of those views, women took on more domestic duties and many have either not willingly given up those duties or have not be able to give up those duties). It’s not that women should handle all the domestic duties, nor are they somehow best-suited for the role. It’s that they’re in that position because of, mostly, a history backwards-thinking (though it’s not all history). Asking a question about the reality of women’s lives is not sexist simply because you want to change the reality of how society has shaped what roles men and women take on.

Would I be surprised if a female candidate faced instances of ageism, racism or sexism? No. Nor would I be surprised if a male candidate faced the same issues. I’m certain that in Seattle, any non-Progressive candidate would face ideological bigotry. But, Heidergott and Casne hardly make a compelling case and if the campaign trail is as bad as they claim, one must wonder why they didn’t include much evidence to back up their assertions.
Maybe, it’s not as bad as they want you to think but hope to garner some last minute support for the candidates they’ve endorsed (endorsements they seem to have forgotten to disclose in their blog).