(05-15-2019 04:14 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(05-15-2019 04:02 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(05-15-2019 03:40 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(05-15-2019 03:08 PM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  I do think there is a difference between saying "I support X because they're Y" and saying "I think people are underestimating X because they're Y." So I definitely don't see Gillebrand and one who is currently playing identity politics, but rather commenting on its existence.
Do you think gender bias doesn't exist when talking about the entire voting population?

As someone who had a lot of success early on in my career because I did not underestimate X, or Y, or Z, because she was a woman, even though others in my profession did, I think I understand the difference. And I think there is an awful lot more, "vote for X because she's Y," than there is, "don't underestimate X because she's Y." In particular, I think there was a whole shipload of that with the last two democrat presidential candidates--"vote for Obama because he's black" and "vote for Hillary because she's a woman." In fairness, I have to say that to me those were probably the strongest arguments in favor of those candidates.

A funny story. I had spent four years in the Navy during the time that women were coming into the fleet, before I came back and started working in public accounting, a profession that was truly not ready for women in the mid-1970s. Therefore, when it came time to staff my jobs, the fact that I was more comfortable working with women enabled me to fill out my jobs with some extremely capable women who were not nearly in as great a demand as they should have been. When it came time for my annual review, the reviewing partner said, "Just a warning. Being a couple of years older and having been in the Navy, you have been the subject of a few rumors because you keep taking all these women out of town on jobs."

I'm not sure if this was not intentional, but you did just provide a great anecdote that explains why women candidates often poll lower than men, regardless of their aptitude or qualifications - there are plenty of people in the world that still discount a woman because she is just that, a woman.

Both in my pre-retirement life and my post-retirement life, I have learned not to adjust my expectations of others based on either race or gender. But I can tell you that a lot of people - a LOT - have expectations of “older white men” that lead them astray. In some respects, I have been able to use those prejudices to my advantage.

So you agree with Gillebrand that candidates' sex could be a factor in opposition?