१८ नोव्हेंबर, २०२२

Nancy Pelosi uses sexist analogy to describe her withdrawal from power: "I have no intention of being the mother-in-law in the kitchen saying, 'My son doesn’t like this thing this way.'"

That's quoted in "Pelosi Steps Aside, Signaling End to Historic Run as Top House Democrat/'For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect,' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. She has led her party in the House for two decades" (NYT).

That was completely gratuitous — dragging in the stock character, the mother-in-law. We're supposed to know the stereotype and to loathe that sort of woman.

The NYT can't get halfway through the headline without bonking us over the head with Pelosi's womanhood. She was "historic," we're supposed to know, and it's for one reason, the reason we've been told over and over again. 

I guess that makes her the right kind of woman, the woman who achieves in the traditionally male sphere. And good for her. But she turns around and takes a shot at women who do continue in the traditional sphere, the mothers. You know mothers. They can't control themselves and insist on interfering in their adult children's life. 

Did Pelosi feel compelled to stereotype herself? As she sheds the leadership role and thinks about how she will behave in the future, did she naturally think of herself in stereotypical terms. Instead of comparing herself to other leaders who have continued in power but in a lesser role, she instinctively reverted to portraying herself as a traditional woman — a mother who has moved from authority figure in the nuclear family to a lesser onlooker as her son forms his own new family.

८४ टिप्पण्या:

Rusty म्हणाले...

Now she is insignificant.

wendybar म्हणाले...

Talk about narcissism.

John henry म्हणाले...

She has always been an insignificant woman.

Nothing more than a grifters put in office by her husband.

She's an affirmative action congresswoman and speaker.

A pox on her and her house.

John Henry

Kevin म्हणाले...

Mother in-law? That was a calculated choice.

She’s damn near a great-grandmother.

Howard म्हणाले...

It's self effacement, therefore non-triggering.

This is funtastic news for libtards. Should have happened in November 2016, better later than never. We need GenX to get us out of the Clinton neolibthic and into the 21st Century.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Historic insider trader. Lock her up!

wendybar म्हणाले...

"If history remembers her (doubtful) it will be as a petty, mean-spirited tyrant who abused power and accomplished nothing.


She used the Capitol Police as a palace guard who shot and killed an unarmed woman who dared to protest inside the Capitol.
Nancy twice impeached a president for no reason at all. She showed no self-control when President Trump addressed Congress. She refused initially to allow him to give the constitutionally mandated State of the Union address, then she back-clapped him when he delivered that speech. The next year, after he ended his SOTU address, she ripped the speech up.

Her refusal to give Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene any committee assignment was childish and unprecedented.

Nancy showed an inability and unwillingness to conduct herself in a manner that showed any respect for the office she served. Her lack of decorum set the woman's movement back two centuries. She abused power and used the speakership to enrich her wealth by feeding her husband and business partner insider information on stocks."

H/T Don Surber

Wince म्हणाले...

"My daughter married her son ('My son'), and that makes us..."

The Mothers-In-Law

Christopher B म्हणाले...

This incident from 2014 makes that comment seem a little ... bitter.

Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

50,000 years of human DNA runs deep.

Breezy म्हणाले...

It’s curious that she is not completely retiring from Congress. Her presence is an albatross for any new leadership team, despite what she says. Maybe she has skeletons she needs to protect from view.

Enigma म्हणाले...

She ran the House in the style of a sorority. Cliques and "cool kids" tables. The in-crowd wasn't allowed to speak with the outsiders let they get impregnated with evil conservative ideas (see quotes from Tulsi Gabbard). All outside evidence suggests that she also fed inside information to her husband to enrich the household. So this is not really news, as Pelosi's entire career has been stereotypically female.

No corporation worth its salt would allow her to stay there in the shadows. The new boss will be routinely undermined ("Let's see what Nancy says") and incredibly weak.

iowantwo म्हणाले...

Feminist using feminist tropes.

That exemplifies the PC/woke crap pushed by the elites I'm supposed to obey without question.

Or? Maybe it isn't a trope. Just something the leftist pull out of their butt when they want to shut people up.

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

You would really be an overwhelmingly brilliant woman, prof, if you’d drop the dumb fuck feminism.

Sydney म्हणाले...

I remember when she became Speaker of the House. The New York Times had a front page celebratory story with a photo of her in the Capitol building surrounded by small children. She’s the type who uses female stereotypes when it suits her.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"She’s damn near a great-grandmother."

Not when the "children" are grandparents, which is the case in the House.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"It's self effacement, therefore non-triggering."

It triggered me.

It should trigger all feminists.

And it should trigger traditionalists who truly respect the role of a mother.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

In the end, Hillary did bake the cookies.

Alcibiades म्हणाले...

She's a mother of five so I don't think it is a bad stereotype for her. Plus she is trying to hand on her seat to her daughter, which is a very mother-like thing to do.

Jaq म्हणाले...

If you include the run of her mob-linked father in Congress, that's quite a run for the Pelosi 'Family' (wink, wink)

gilbar म्हणाले...

Breezy said...
It’s curious that she is not completely retiring from Congress

Seriously, she's like a Hundred and Sixty years old.. Doesn't she have ANYTHING that she wants to DO, before she dies? Besides being a minority congresslady? I Assume, that her goal, is to die in office (LITERALLY, in the office).. How Sad

AlbertAnonymous म्हणाले...

Not sure I can think of a single redeeming quality she possesses.

She’s an entitled hag. Good riddance!

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

Paul looks like he could use a little attention...

PJ म्हणाले...

San Fran Nan was not embracing the stereotype, she was projecting it onto her imagined future critics, who must indeed be misogynistic deplorables.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

The GOP House should pass The Nancy Pelosi act making it illegal for any Member of Congress and their extended family from owning individual stocks.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"she is trying to hand on her seat to her daughter"

Very mob-like too, have to interface the two power centers somehow, with somebody trusted. I am sure that Joe Biden is racking his brains right now trying to figure out how to make Hunter president.

iowantwo म्हणाले...

She used the Capitol Police as a palace guard who shot and killed an unarmed woman who dared to protest inside the Capitol.

Oh yes. The newly expanded Capitol Police. With offices in California and Florida! Pelosi was pushing for a $1.9 BILLION budget. Promising According to the press release, it aspires to move forward "along a new path towards an intelligence based protective agency."

There were some things, even the vermin of the FBI refused to do, so Nancy created her own Gestapo.

McCarthy needs to find a hundred constitutionally minded law enforcement types to fill the leadership ranks of ALL the offices, in and out of DC. Get them vetted and hired, with crazy good golden parachutes to protect them. In one day, turn out all the existing leadership with his hand picked leadership, with the new leaderships first mission to clean house down as deep as they need to go. Those 100 each need a couple dozen names ready to replace line officers.

The McCarthy needs to find all the dirty tricks the old guard have been up to, expose it to the public and legislate the Capital police to DC only jurisdiction. Closing all the satellite offices.

Kate म्हणाले...

Pelosi may go down in history as one of the most successful, powerful Speakers. She's a beast. I feel sorry for her that she looks at her run and only sees a negative woman stereotype. She was a godfather. She should've said she's content to let Michael run the family now.

JAORE म्हणाले...

She stays because she still has enormous power.... partially because she has PILES of gold to dole out politically. Staying also gives her A measure of natural immunity for any scandals that might, just might, appear if she were citizen Nancy.

She's barely older than the other House "leaders" that have served her for years. Do those old dogs get left behind too? One would think new, younger leadership would want that.

Danno म्हणाले...

Its prolly the Botox speaking.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Don't liars lie? Don't phonies phony?

Right to the bitter end, with her.

But a big Italian family stereotype helps her attempt to cover up her grasping, scheming, manipulating essence. The mother her daughter really knows and described.

My feelings are relief. The feminism angle has nothing to offer here, IMO.

Temujin म्हणाले...

My instinct is to say lighten up, Ann. You're reading way too much into this. You're looking for feminist purity in a very human, relatable comment. The Mother-in-Law stereotype is universal, through all cultures. It's often used as a comedic tool, and it often works that way. We're not made to loathe that sort of woman, but we smile to ourselves, recognizing that person in our own lives. Or in lives we've seen in movies or TV. That's all it is. We know what she meant by saying it: She will not meddle in others business. But we also know that isn't true. She will.

It may have been the only bit of human behavior I've seen out of Nancy Pelosi in all these years.

Other than that, she's corrupt, a liar, a manipulator of both people and truth, and a person who has used her power for herself, not in the service of others. Every decision she made was to aggregate more power and wealth and to hold onto it. Not that she's alone in this, but to proclaim 'Woman!" after years of displaying these characteristics seems to me grabbing for honors where there are none.

Once written, twice... म्हणाले...

Sorry you got your panties in a bind, but Pelosi was never the woke liberal than many of your comments wanted her to be.

Christopher म्हणाले...

I despise Pelosi for so many reasons. But the mother-in-law cliche is a too-often true cliche, and thus widely understood, and her use of it to help describe power relationships at the pinnacle of the House is one of the more relatable, humanizing things she's said lately.

I mean yikes.

Andrew म्हणाले...

"We're supposed to know the stereotype and to loathe that sort of woman."

I know one woman I loathe.
(No, not you, Ann.)

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"I remember when she became Speaker of the House. The New York Times had a front page celebratory story with a photo of her in the Capitol building surrounded by small children. She’s the type who uses female stereotypes when it suits her."

Yes, and I object!

JRoberts म्हणाले...

McCarthy's team better be counting the silverware, among other things, as she moves out of the Speaker's office.

JRoberts म्हणाले...

McCarthy's team better be counting the silverware, among other things, as she moves out of the Speaker's office.

Kate म्हणाले...

May I respectfully say, Temujin, that the MiL reference doesn't bother you because you're not a MiL. Every concern I have must be quashed so I don't hit that demeaning stereotype. Every interaction I have is suspect because I might be that stereotype. It pervades culture and turns every woman of a certain age into a caricature and a joke.

Pelosi's usage doesn't particularly annoy me, but that doesn't mean the trope is powerless.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Kate, I am curious -- what would you list as one or two of Pelosi's successes as Speaker?

She was a serious fundraiser, that's one part of her reputation. But the two things she will be most remembered for -- the only things, I suspect -- are her abuse of the impeachment mechanism in the Constitution, which she cheapened; and tearing up the State of the Union speech typescript over the President's shoulder, a low-rent bit of Roman political theater.

Not exactly a proud legacy or a successful one, IMO.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...bonking us over the head

Perhaps an indelicate turn of phrase in light of recent events. Was that intentional?

Iman म्हणाले...

But will Nanski bake cookies?

Jaq म्हणाले...

"Pelosi was never the woke liberal than many of your comments wanted her to be."

Yet here we sit with the treasury looted.

Bill R म्हणाले...

Either that or she just figures she's wrung all the graft out of the system she possibly can and now , in her retirement years, it's time to enjoy it.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

She says she won’t be the mother-in-law in the kitchen?

Bullshit.

She will.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

Well first of all, does anybody believe she was actually telling the truth? She's going to spend the rest of her career attacking, bitching and whining even more than ever.

Nice म्हणाले...

My forever image of her is when the security camera caught her sashaying --gleefully (it looked) through the closed "Beauty Parlor" , wet hair, towel and all, without wearing a mask. Good stuff.

I need to find those Trump Tweets, and the video. I couldn't get enough of all the Trump/Pelosi Beauty Parlor antics.

If she gives an exit speech, I hope someone juxtaposes that legendary Beauty Parlor video onto her departure.

iowantwo म्हणाले...

The GOP House should pass The Nancy Pelosi act making it illegal for any Member of Congress and their extended family from owning individual stocks.

That sounds good on paper Dave

But I see a brand new Mutual Fund created, that does all the trading, using the same insider info. It is too easy to back door the grift.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

She was always a crazy girlfriend. That's what you get with girlfriend in power.

What's historic was putting her there.

What would have been really historic is if she thought like a man. No gentlemen's agreements held in her reign. Roughly, everything broke.

DINKY DAU 45 म्हणाले...

Republican speakers out Gingrich,Hastert,Boehner,Ryan(the worst)
Democratic speaker still in Pelosi (but not as leader) looks like strong woman outlasting repubs by a mile.

Aggie म्हणाले...

Pelosi has never been a Feminist first, unless it happens to suit some particular objective. She wears feminism like she wears a Givenchy outfit: Because she thinks it makes her look good on the occasion in question.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

You object to the stereotype, Professor? Back in the earliest days of our marriage my wife and I didn’t refer to my mother or her mother or her mother, we referred to her mother in law or my mother in law. My mother in law hated me for taking her daughter — her only child — away from Philadelphia. She only relented after we finally gave her a grandson. My wife’s mother in law was much worse. When she visited us she would rearrange our furniture, rearrange the drawers in our kitchen, and try to tell us we couldn’t have this or do that because my sisters didn’t have it or hadn’t done it.

They’re both gone now, but, yeah, there’s a reason for the stereotype.

Readering म्हणाले...

Is there any precedent for the role she plans to take on? I don't think so. Will it work? I doubt it. What's wrong with a homey analogy to counter skeptics like me? What should she have used?

Randomizer म्हणाले...

"'I have no intention of being the mother-in-law in the kitchen saying, ‘My son doesn’t like this thing this way,’ said Ms. Pelosi,"

Can anyone explain what this analogy is supposed to mean with respect to Ms. Pelosi?

As everyone notes, she is at least in the grandmother range and it's too vague to be effective. Had she said, "My son doesn't like your cooking", that might sound like a mother-in-law thing, but who is the son in this scenario? What is it supposed to mean?

Ms. Pelosi should have gone with, "I have no intention of being Miss Daisy, sitting in the back seat, yelling instructions to the driver."

Readering म्हणाले...

Meanwhile, sounds like McCarthy has a 218 problem. Good analogy?

Michael K म्हणाले...

We need GenX to get us out of the Clinton neolibthic and into the 21st Century.

We are well into the 21st with drag queens, trannies murdering lesbians and other fun stuff you lefties love.

Dinky Dope thinks this is what a strong woman does, lie and steal.

Stoutcat म्हणाले...

Nice said...
If she gives an exit speech, I hope someone juxtaposes that legendary Beauty Parlor video onto her departure.

If she gives an exit speech, I pray that some talented and enterprising MAGA techie will superimpose Pres. Trump behind her, tearing up the pages of her speech as she finishes.

Stoutcat म्हणाले...

Nice said...
If she gives an exit speech, I hope someone juxtaposes that legendary Beauty Parlor video onto her departure.

If she gives an exit speech, I pray that some talented and enterprising MAGA techie will superimpose Pres. Trump behind her, tearing up the pages of her speech as she finishes.

wendybar म्हणाले...

Nancy used her office to make herself and her family richer off of insider trading..THAT is why she isn't leaving. She wants to make sure they don't come for HER.

donald म्हणाले...

Neal Boortz said she had spectacular breasts and the dumb vacant look of a haight acid zombie in like 1990.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"That was completely gratuitous . . . We're supposed to know the stereotype and to loathe that sort of woman."

The sisterhood in action: women using loathsome anti-woman stereotypes to display their moral superiority.

"The NYT can't get halfway through the headline without bonking us over the head with Pelosi's womanhood. She was "historic,""

They know their audience, and serve it well.

"But she turns around and takes a shot at women who do continue in the traditional sphere, the mothers."

You sound surprised at regular prog condescension. Feminism was never about validating actual women's actual choices.

"did she naturally think of herself in stereotypical terms."

Not sure what comes "naturally" to a player like Pelosi. Did she "think" at all? When you heard her speak on other occasions, did you ever think she was "thinking"?

Rollo म्हणाले...

Gingrich was hard to love or even like, but he was more effective and accomplished than later Republican Speakers. He lacked Pelosi's cunning and ruthlessness, and was taken down by things much less serious than what Pelosi has gotten away with.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

A homey analogy, even a tired, old-fashioned one, could be humanizing for Pelosi, and it does seem appropriate. What happens to prima donnas when they are no longer in the spotlight? Don't they become hectoring, unhappy women tweeting out invective? Cher, Ellen Barkin, Rosanna Arquette, Bette Midler and other old actresses who become Twitter scourges (there are male equivalents, of course, but they aren't as famous, because men's careers can last longer). And what was Pelosi but a prima donna: parading around with the big gavel, showing off her designer suits, threatening to punch out a president, breaking House tradition by not letting McCarthy pick Republicans for the select committee, tearing up Trump's speech? So yes, she could have said "backseat driver," but close enough.

Millionaires don't usually become "real" radicals. "Real" radicals don't usually become Speakers of the House. Unless we have a "real" revolution, AOC won't ever be swinging the big gavel. But Pelosi and her caucus have been as woke as they could be and have pushed the wokeness thing further than anyone ever thought it would go. In the world of money and power, wokeness isn't something you are. It's something you force on other people, and Pelosi's done her part in foisting it on the country.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

@ Temujin--

"Other than that, she's corrupt, a liar, a manipulator of both people and truth, and a person who has used her power for herself, not in the service of others. Every decision she made was to aggregate more power and wealth and to hold onto it. Not that she's alone in this, but to proclaim 'Woman!" after years of displaying these characteristics seems to me grabbing for honors where there are none."

worth a nice, hearty bold repeat.

iowantwo म्हणाले...

She stays because she still has enormous power.... partially because she has PILES of gold to doleout politically.

Money is only leverage to exercise power. POWER is the ultimate aphrodisiac. Power is what the lie, cheat, and kill for. Money is only lubricant to push the power.

Pelosi, with money, but no speakership, is significantly weakened. No doubt she is a force of nature in the DC Swamp. She is trying something new, I cant remembering happening before, a speaker staying in congress. She must believe (she could be right) she can still move the debate with ONLY what money she has. Time will tell if she can pull it off.

Stephen म्हणाले...

Instinctively reverted to portraying herself as a traditional woman?

Pelosi has always prided herself on being BOTH the mother and grandmother AND the successful politician. In trying to explain what she would seek to avoid as ex-Speaker, she picked a simile that captures perhaps the most single most powerful human trope of not being able to recognize that one's time as the central figure has ended and that the world has moved on. In many circles, that would be regarded as showing a lot of psychological insight about how hard it will be for her to give up being at the center and in control. That it also resonates with her lived experience as daughter in law and mother is not a concession to stereotype, but, if anything, an affirmation of her insistence on both/and.

PM म्हणाले...

Pelosi is an Italian woman.
That is Italian humor.
She should know humor is dead.
She presided over its demise.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Kate...point taken. You are right- from my perspective, I don't see it as evil. But I'm not living it.

My wife is, however. And she does play it very strategically.

Kate म्हणाले...

Kai -- Two Pelosi successes?

Obamacare. She (along with Reid) rewrote the insurance and healthcare industries forever, and they did it by squeezing the parliamentary system like a lemon.

Undermining Trump. Her ability to make her caucus sit up and bark when she flicked the baton was a superpower. She deployed it when the Left (and the Deep State and the GOPe) wanted it the most.

Many times I've wished the Right had someone as ruthless as Pelosi.

RMc म्हणाले...

I guess that makes her the right kind of woman, the woman who achieves in the traditionally male sphere.

Somehow, I don't think the NYT would consider Pelosi "the right kind of woman" if she had been a Republican.

n.n म्हणाले...

The woman who wielded a hammer in public to celebrate her reign over the people. You've come along way, baby... selective baby... profitable parts... excess carbon.

Drago म्हणाले...

Once written, twice...: "Sorry you got your panties in a bind, but Pelosi was never the woke liberal than many of your comments wanted her to be."

LOL

And mind you, this post was submitted in November of 2022.

The Democratical NPC automatons really will read anything you put on the teleprompter.

n.n म्हणाले...

Ah, tradition: pregnant, barefoot, and in the kitchen.

Ah, feminism: affordable, available, and taxable, with the "burden" of evidence aborted, cannibalized, sequestered in darkness.

Ah, progress: transgender spectrum disorder normalized through medical, surgical, or psychiatric corruption celebrated with pride in parades.

It's all very politically congruent ("=") and forward-looking.

Rollo म्हणाले...

This could be a sign that she will be exercising her influence behind the scenes and doesn't want to be accused of being a backseat driver. As long as she's in Congress, she'll have her hand in, but she wants to preempt media criticism.

"Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac" applies to power-drenched environments like Washington DC, Wall Street, Hollywood. Where great power isn't wielded, money gets you further.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"Kate, I am curious -- what would you list as one or two of Pelosi's successes as Speaker?"

I think people looking for 'big achievements' will be dissatisfied.

She kept the Dems shit together for a remarkably long time and got a lot of horrible legislation passed. For her, not most of us, those are wild successes.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

"We need GenX to get us out of the Clinton neolibthic and into the 21st Century."

We don't care.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Pelosi had better get home before Paul has another "accident." I assume she stays away on purpose but now she has less excuse.

Jim at म्हणाले...

but Pelosi was never the woke liberal than many of your comments wanted her to be.

That's an interesting take considering I've been reading comments about Pelosi for some time and can't recall anybody wanting her to be woke.

The fact she's a corrupt, vicious bitch is my problem with her. Being a dumbass, woke bitch would be an improvement.

Rocco म्हणाले...

Alcibiades said...
...hand on her seat to her daughter...

I misread that as:
...hand on the seat of her daughter...

And, I thought, man, she is going full Biden.

FullMoon म्हणाले...

Brings this classic to mind. Jennifer Flowers, infidelity, and much more!

"Hillary Clinton Won't "Stand By My Man Like Tammy Wynette" 1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton appears on the news program 60 Minutes with his wife, Hillary, who in response to a discussion about her husband's infidelity, says, "I'm not sitting here - some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette." Video unavailable"

It actually is on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IpJUfy-Roo&ab_channel=CBS

Iman म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Kai Akker म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Kai Akker म्हणाले...


--- Kai -- Two Pelosi successes?

---Obamacare. She (along with Reid) rewrote the insurance and healthcare industries forever, and they did it by squeezing the parliamentary system like a lemon.

---Undermining Trump.

Thanks, Kate. So Obamacare -- that was the one thing I could think of that might count. Yet wasn't that the legislation she said they had to pass to find out what was in it? Is that the comment of a successful Speaker? With her 260-seat majority, she got it squeaking through the parliamentary maneuvers. I am sure she was superb at the parliamentary maneuvers. But she had little to do with the content of the bill, as far as I recall and understand.

I vividly remember that my high-deductible insurance policy went up 90% in price the first year, and another 20%-plus the second. So it cost me well more than double in a hurry. You are probably not considering the quality of the legislation in attributing that to her as a success, but don't you have to? The thing that was going to cut medical costs while expanding coverage, and you could keep your policy if you liked your policy?

It changed our medical practice radically -- it got corporatized. My two best doctors, a GP and a dermatologist, both retired soon thereafter, and I have never found a doctor as good as either of them since. Meanwhile, the corporatized state of medicine made it very easy to impose totalitarian controls on our entire population for over two years and may end up returning us to that captivity should there be a virus uptick this winter.

Undermining Trump -- she did, yes. And now she's out of a job and her party lost its majority. Not a success -- she grossly overdid it and came across as the witchy nut job most of the commenters on this thread have described.

She was great at amassing power, I think that was implicit when you called her a Beast. Would I like to see a Republican power like that? Maybe. But she madly overdid it and I think a few too many Democrat voters are having some doubts about where their party has ended up. Her display of all the premium ice cream she hoarded during the shutdown was only too symbolic of her Marie Antoinettish nature, if you ask me.

Thank you for your reply, Kate, it did make me think. I just can't agree.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.