Food and Feminist Politics

[hrj]

I did another experiment in chestnut flour puddings last night (courtesy of the bag of very very ripe mangoes in the discount produce bin at Berkeley Bowl):

Mango-Chestnut Pudding

Scrape out the pulp of 2 large extremely ripe mangoes. (ca. 400-500 g)
Puree in your food processor.
Add 1/2 cup half-and-half and mix.
Add the following spices: 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/16 tsp cloves.
Add 3/4 cup chestnut flour in three portions, mixing between each one.
Portion the pudding out into individual ramekins (or, for lunch-at-work use, into small plastic food containers with lids). A nice number is 8 for this batch size, which is about 3/8 cup pudding.
Microwave in 2-minute sessions until warm to the touch, then allow to sit in the microwave to finish cooking for ca. 10 minutes.

(In these proportions, the recipe comes to 75 cal per serving.)

Evaluation: Tastes good. Just the right amount of thickening and spices. Would be nice with some crushed fresh fruit on top, too (e.g., berries or fresh pineapple).

And on to the politics side of things.

I would be absolutely delighted to see a woman become president of the United States of America. I would be more than delighted -- I'd be ecstatic. But entirely setting aside any issues around the specific positions and policies that Hilary Clinton maintains, and entirely setting aside the unfortunate fact that she has become a lightning rod for free-floating misogyny, there is one thing that makes me less than enthusiastic about Clinton becoming that precedent-setting First Female US President.

Quoting from the senate.gov web site: "The first woman elected to the Senate was Hattie Wyatt Caraway of Arkansas. Appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of her husband, U.S. Senator Thaddeus Caraway, Ms. Caraway then sought and won election on her own in 1932" (Previously, Rebecca Felton had served a symbolic 24-hour appointment as senator from Georgia -- she too was preceded in congress by her husband, although not in the same seat. The appointment had previously been offered to her predecessor's widow.)

On the congressional side, things are cheerier (from wikipedia): "Jeannette Rankin (June 11, 1880 – May 18, 1973) was the first woman elected to the United States House of Representatives and the first female member of Congress." And she did it without being the daughter or wife of a politician, unlike two out of three of the next batch of women in the House: Winnifred S. Huck (who succeeded to her father's seat), and Mae Ella Nolan (who succeeded her husband).


Also from wikipedia: "The first female governor [of a U.S. state] was Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming who was elected on November 4, 1924 and sworn in on January 5, 1925. She was preceded in office by her late husband William Ross."

Well, you may be able to see where I'm going with this. I'm not saying that Hilary Clinton is any less qualified to be president because her husband did it first. (I'm not saying that any of the above women were unqualified for their offices simply because they got a foot in the door via family connections.) I'm not saying that I think she isn't qualified to be a Senator simply because her previous "government" experience was as First Lady (although I certainly think she got a fast-track out of it). But I'd be so much happier if the first female U.S. president could be someone free of any whisper of a suggestion that she wouldn't even have been in the running if she hadn't "inherited" the position from a husband. Why aren't we long past this?

Comments

[blaurentnv.livejournal.com]

I wish I could explain why we aren't long past this. However, no one has been making a lot of fuss over the fact that she's a woman, Obama is biracial or Richardson is Hispanic. These are all mentioned, of course, but most people I know seem to be making their decisions based on views rather than gender or ancestry. Religion seems to be more of an issue, especially in terms of misinformation about Obama and on the Republican side.

Now, if the Clinton campaign would pay its debts, it might get some more respect in this area :)