One of my students last semester wrote a paper in which she looked at sexist images of Condoleezza Rice. Interestingly, much of the online discourse was very similar to the way people talk negatively about Hillary Clinton. It was fascinating to see the same themes used by people with different political viewpoints in their criticisms–both Hillary and Condoleezza were described as bitches and whores and as ugly man-hater lesbians. My student argued persuasively that the reason the online attacks on the two women were so similar was because they weren’t being viewed as politicians or through the lens of their policies, but instead the attacks used a sexist lens that focused on their femaleness–and willingness to trespass on male-dominated political terrain–as the thing to attack, rather than any specific action or policy. Unfortunately for the blog, though good for humanity, I didn’t find as many images that had been made to accompany the hateful rhetoric about Condi as about Hillary.
Here’s an image (found here) I came across (note that George Bush’s face has been super-imposed on the handler):
Both Hillary and Condi are often described as ugly. However, I noticed when searching for images of Condoleezza that both supporters and critics occasionally sexualized her (especially in reference to a pair of stiletto-heeled boots that got a lot of public attention at one point). I haven’t found similar images of Hillary from either supporters or critics (whether it would be preferable to be sexualized by a supporter or opponent, I’m not sure). I found this image of Condi in a bathtub here, though it was posted on several other websites I came across in a really brief search.
This bathing suit image came from here.
Unsurprisingly, Condoleezza’s race is also a focus in online discussions in a way that Hillary’s isn’t, such as this image (found here) that plays on the idea of the Uncle Tom (the implication being that Black Republicans or military hawks are puppets used by Whites for their own agenda–that is, that they are either duped or are trying to get power by appeasing Whites):
NEW: p.j. sent in this sexualized picture of Condi:
Thanks, p.j.!
Comments 5
Will — May 31, 2008
I strongly disagree with Condolleeza's politics. That said, I find most of these images reprehensible - as I did with the anti-Hillary images. However, to be perfectly fair, I don't think the image of her as a horse's hind end is, in particular, sexist. As far as I know, comparing opponents to the rear biology of an equine (and various variations on that phrase) is a longstanding tradition that has little, if anything, to do with gender.
Gwen — May 31, 2008
Yeah, I agree that the first image isn't specifically sexist. The sexism came out less in images of Condi than in the way people talked about her--very hateful sexist language, the same type used for talking about Hillary, but not necessarily in an image I could put up to easily represent it. It's just an image I came across that I thought was interesting (particularly the way they made her hair flow into the horse's tail). The last one was the one I found most horrifying.
Sociological Images » HILLARY CLINTON BIKINI SCREENSAVER — June 9, 2008
[...] I posted some images of Condoleezza Rice and talked about how there are a lot of similarities in how critics talk about her and about [...]
Amy — October 29, 2008
I think the problem with #1 is that she's being lead on a leash by George Bush
Anonymous — February 20, 2024
sexy femdom