Women are always in the wrong--particularly in politics. Our culture is sexist, and we don't even see it. Gloria Steinem said, "We'll do anything not to elect a woman." Women are attacked whenever we go public. Think of Eleanor Roosevelt, Bella Abzug--and Hillary Clinton. So Clinton has run a gauntlet. All her life. From Wellesley student to Yale student to lawyer to governor's wife to First Lady to senator to presidential candidate. I get it. I've run that gauntlet on a much smaller scale--and I don't even want to live in the White House.
My heart goes out to her. I admire her tenacity, her grit, and her courage. I do not find her an automaton. I find her real. True, I hated her voting for the Iraq war resolution and voting for that creepy Iran resolution. But maybe she was trying to be a politician. Anyway, if she had a penis, nobody would have cared.
Erica Jong is the author of Fear of Flying.
Part one: Randall Kennedy
Part two: Judith Shulevitz