Friday, September 30, 2011

The other day in the salon a few of us got in to a discussion about having a woman as president. I said that I would not vote for a woman because women are crazy. Dina was adamant that not all women are crazy. I think this is mostly true but all women are subject to premenstrual syndrome and it is what it is. In an average woman's life she can get away with being crabby for a few days out of the month and she may make some rash decisions and the world will keep on turning. But can you imagine if the president of the United States was crabby for a few days, maybe even a whole week out of every month? Let's look at some of the symptoms of PMS.
  • Confusion

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Fatigue

  • Feelings of sadness or hopelessness (See also: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder)

  • Feelings of tension, anxiety, or edginess

  • Forgetfulness

  • Irritable, hostile, or aggressive behavior, with outbursts of anger toward self or others

  • Loss of sex drive (may be increased in some women)

  • Mood swings

  • Poor judgment

  • Poor self-image, feelings of guilt, or increased fears

  • Sleep problems (sleeping too much or too little)

  • Slow, sluggish, lethargic movement

As a country can we really afford to take the risk of having someone in office that has a 75% chance of experiencing all of these symptoms every month for 4 years? That's 48 weeks of their term=almost a year.

"I'm not going to make my inaugural address--I'm bloated."
"The Prime Minster hurt my feelings. I'm locking myself in the oval office until he can come up with a proper apology."
"Why is that congressman looking at me like that? What does it mean?"
"I'm calling in all of the leaders in the middle east for a slumber party and we're going to talk about our feelings and cry."
"Dear China, I'm sorry about that missile launch on your country last week. PMS!"

The president can't lock them self away for 5-7 days every month. A crisis could happen at any time and we need a person that is emotionally up for the task. I realize that not all women experience all of the symptoms of PMS and even if they do, it doesn't necessarily happen every time but the risk is there and I'm not willing to take it!



1 comment:

Letterpress said...

Ah, this sounds a bit like the Victorians, who used to take out women's uteruses to "cure" them of hysteria and sadness.

I'd much have a woman president who was dealing with cramps (although wouldn't she be past that?) than a male president who was bulging with testosterone. We've had a few of those; now we have a few wars to show for it, as well as more than one affair in the Oval Office. I think women would be more inclined towards cooperation, and thinking about long term, esp. where it concerns communities, women and children, rather than some men who are about power (just listen to the nightly news, esp. Fox, who tends to run these types on their opinion shows). There's ups and downs, good and bad, for both genders, but I'm reluctant to condemn women because of their biology. There are many women I'd be happy to call Madame President.

Maybe one day I'll be voting for you!