The 2018 midterm elections brought historic results. More women than ever, well over 100, now serve in Congress. All of that is cause for celebration.
Lately, however, we’ve been subject to a great deal of lament, often from journalists. They wonder why female politicians get judged on likeability more than men, which is debatable, why women have to act “tough” to draw comparisons to men, and so on.
They have a point, but the call is coming from inside the house.
On Feb. 13, CNN’s Dana Bash did a four-minute report about Reps. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the appropriations committee, and Kay Granger, R-Texas, the ranking member. The clip noted it was the first time two women headed a committee since 1977, and that was a select committee on the house beauty shop.
The appropriations committee is one of the most powerful in Congress, and Bash could have asked Lowey and Granger how they’d work together on the next budget. Instead, Bash retreated to the same tired tropes we’re being shooed away from so often these days.
Bash warned viewers not to “let their congeniality fool you.” Walking around in Statuary Hall at the Capitol, Bash pointed to the statues saying “Man. Man. Man. These men probably never imagined who would be in charge today!”
Bash also said that Lowey and Granger represented a “female oasis of bipartisanship on a crucial House committee” and finished the segment by noting that both women are grandmothers and asked if that bonded them in any way. It’s highly likely that no one knew from watching CNN that the former GOP chairman of the committee, Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., has two granddaughters.
It’s impossible to imagine CNN covering two men the same way. While the network probably intended to play up the roles of Lowey and Granger, it instead diminished them.
Both are seasoned political pros, well-versed in the machinations of Washington and the legislative process. The budget process is broken. The two of them could, perhaps, get it back to regular order, doing away with constant drama of continuing resolutions and omnibus spending packages. We don’t need to hear about their congeniality.
If the news media want women in politics treated with the same respect and reverence given to men, they should lead by example.
