Big Girls Don't Cry — if They Want to Be President

Ellen DeGeneres’ crying jag on national television over a dog named Iggy has prompted a great deal of reflection by pundits and misfits.
The terrier wasn’t dead, maimed or missing. The previous owner, a pet rescue agency, had taken it away from DeGeneres’ hair stylist who got it from DeGeneres when she found it didn’t get along with her cats.
That’s more than you need to know.
But with so many people who have nothing better to do than post to and peruse of the Internet (the 20 seconds of loud wailing have been viewed by millions), the issue has been expanded by some to question whether a male President can shed tears, but a female president —now who are we talking about? — wouldn’t dare.
Former President Bill Clinton has shed tears more than a number of times. Imagine his sadness when he learned Monica Lewinski hadn’t had her infamous blue dress dry-cleaned. But in general, Clinton’s salty tears have indicated compassion while some suggest a female politician’s would reflect weakness.
There are exceptions. Women are allowed to tear up when a man asks them to marry. Men are allowed to weep if there’s no beer in the refrig just before the big game.
The acceptance of a powerful man (Lincoln) with tears in his eyes was once okay, then went out of favor. As AP writer Jocelyn Noveck has pointed out, Sen. Ed Muskie’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972 was wounded by his alleged tears in response to attacks in a New Hampshire newspaper on his wife. (Muskie argued his eyes watered in the extreme cold and wind.)
The AP article alludes to a study by Yale social psychologist Victoria Brescoll due to be published in Psychological Science. She found that many might admire an angry male president for looking tough, but an angry female president would scare hell out of some.
It’s sexism, of course. But it’s there, isn’t it?