Every now and then I get reminded that, because I’m a woman, it’s considered rude, overly aggressive, or b*tchy if I assert myself too much. We’ve come a long way; the girls of our generation are enjoying a new kind of liberal experience and opportunity that no generation ever has before. We can have jobs, and kids, and we can support each other. We can even be a little curvy, though the standards of thin are still rigid. Heaven forbid, though, if we play as hard, or shout as loud, as the boys.

I started thinking about it when I realized how half the country (or more) has such a powerful, abiding hatred for Hillary Clinton (even now that the primary season is over). My grandmother can’t stand her, and yet I can never get a straight answer of why. I finally figured out that just about all of the criticisms being hurled at Hillary when she was still in contention all boiled down to the fact that she was calculating, ambitious, aggressive, and outspoken — the very qualities we celebrate in men and despise in women.

Men do it to women, and worse, women do it to women — we conclude that any female who’s a little nasty is a b*itch. Read More »