Ephronology

I quote from Ms. Ephron's most recent cri de coeur about us boors: "To put it bluntly, the next president will be elected by them (white men): the outcome of Tuesday's primary will depend on whether they go for Hillary or Obama......"

'Hmmm,' I says to myself. 'Whatever could our Merry Muse mean?' Typical white man that I am, my first plan is to check the....I think the word is.....data. The latest poll (which has Senator Clinton ahead by six points) comes from Survey USA, released Monday. I notice that one percent of men, and two percent of women, are undecided. Since I assume there are roughly equal numbers of men and women in the population (although some statistics suggest there are more women, and other statistics find that women tend to vote more than men), I start wondering. Silly (and, presumably, angry) white man that I am, I ask myself: 'Exactly who is doing the deciding here?' I begin to feel this question gnawing at my innards, which, to mix my anatomical metaphors, flies in the face of my gender-based certitude. Could it be that I and my fellow guys are actually NOT in control?

'But no,' I says to myself. It couldn't be merely the data; after all, I've titled this piece "Ephronology," not "Ephronomics." Surely, we're in the realm of metaphysics, not statistics. So I return to madame's ur-text to find that "....it's suddenly horribly absolutely crystal-clear that this is an election about gender and race."

Uh oh. W(A)M that I am, I'm suddenly more confused than before. 'Geez,' I says to myself, 'I didn't know this election was about gender OR race!' That is, not until the chattering classes began putting such thoughts into my foolish male brain. Silly me! My original thought about Senator Obama's campaign had been: 'Wow! Here's a black man who is NOT running as a black man!' (May I leave aside the fact that this black man is half white? Thinking about that makes my head hurt.) Compounding my obtuseness is my pigheadedness (that's another guy thing, right?) -- I can't seem to shake this idea that the race is about gender and race because......everybody is TELLING me it's about gender and race!

A most unlikely word pitches up here from the world of letters -- a world that Ms. Ephron knows much better than I. But here goes anyway: the word I'm thinking of is deconstructionism, by which a literary work -- or for that matter, a political campaign -- does not and cannot have its own essence; instead, it can only reflect the cultural and political millieu surrounding it. Thus, we must not waste our time on the "intrinsics" -- ephemera such as policy, truthfulness, consistency, message, thoughtfulness. No, no, no -- we must not jump into those briar patches!

Wait a second. Hold on a moment. I just realized that, predictably, I have been focusing on race because race is about the guy candidate and the terrible truth is: I'm a guy and Obama is a guy. In fairness, I should talk about gender and Senator Clinton's campaign too. And sure enough, my intrinsic undependability bursts forth: I can't shake the notion that gender wasn't an issue until the Clinton campaign MADE it an issue! She was being ganged up on, we were told. The playing field wasn't level, she explained. I wonder if Ms. Ephron recalls these instances. Could it be a case of Ephronesia?

Or is it I who is having the memory lapse? Try as I might, I cannot recall a single complaint from Obama that his race was being held against him. Perhaps he missed an opportunity, and that would hardly be surprising: he is, after all, a half white male.

So I don't know what to say. I'm not even sure I know what I mean. I can promise you one thing however: the last thing I'm suggesting is anything resembling Ephronoia. I concede, however, that I cannot be relied on, even though Ms. Ephron and I never dated.

Comments

[deadbolt]

I can think of something to say to Nora: Shut the f*uck up!

[LABC]

Thanks for this article. I am a woman and I find Ephron's privileged white woman navel gazing at an all time whine in her latest "Men bad...women good" screed. I could barely stand listening to her on her "I hate my neck" book tour and I just loathe the entitlement she brings to her sweeping critique of white men. Maybe she can form a book club with Cokie Roberts, Erica Jong, and Gloria Steineim - they can all whine about Hillary's plight and blame men rather than look at how that campaign shot itself in the foot.

[tsipos]

Thanks. It is nice to see an appropriate response to a simplistic and cynical commentary.

[dapperd72]

HuffPost's Pick

Thanks for a good laugh, Marc. I'm impressed by your wit for a human rights activist & veteran journalist. Much of what I've heard from Clinton & ALL her surrogates for the past several months has been perpetual intellectual dishonesty. When not lying through her teeth, she whines about her critics attacking her b/c she's a woman. When denying her gender-card exploitation, she insults the dignity of anyone who challenges her integrity as a candidate. I'm a white male heterosexual who actively campaigned for Clinton in 1992 & worked closely at the grassroots with my local NOW chapter in the early 90's. I've been a longtime feminist & I recognize a bona fide feminist when I see one of either gender, but Hillary is certainly not. Obama earned a 100% rating from NARAL along with Kate Michelman's hearty endorsement for excellent reason. He also knows how to attract political support from all ends of the political spectrum, including many Republicans. This is how he won state elections in Illinois without compromising his principles. Clinton claims to have 35 years of experience while her record says otherwise. Obama was a State Senator for several years before running for the U.S. seat, after his career teaching Constitutional Law & community organizing. His record on death penalty reform & his fearless opposition to the war in Iraq speak for themselves. Like Yogi Berra, I call `em like I see `em. Clinton is too transparently phony to fool me & I hope the superdelegates

[NABNYC]

I wonder why it is that men always use this extreeeeeemely annoying condescending and arrogant tone when responding to a woman with whom they disagree. Could it be testosterone poisoning? Is it really helpful to be so f-ing snotty? Does that prove anything, except perhaps immaturity? Should we expect some farting jokes as a closing line?

It doesn't matter how much men ridicule and demean people who speak the truth, because the truth will out. And that is that racism keeps minorities down and out, and sexism keeps women down and out, which is why white men cling to both. White men in this country take all the best paying jobs, promotions, titles, for themselves, then pass them on to younger white men. So it has been for generations, and so it is today.

So yes, gender and race are critical issues. Some people will find them to be decisive issues, and will vote for that idiot McCain for two reasons only: he's white, and he's male.

[jvarga]

Maybe you didn't read Ms. Ephron's post. If she (and her pack of supporters) want to be treated with respect, they should reconsider their absolutely disgusting racism and sexism. To treat her, them, and their ideals with respect is unacceptable.

[S1m0n]

People whose only criteria for choosing a president is gender have a hard time grasping that others DON'T judge every candidate by their gender.

Thus, if Hillary's losing, it must be because more people WON'T for any woman exceed those who will vote for just any woman.

[DickTater]

HRC Camp: Whine Whine Whine
time passes....
HRC Camp: Whine Whine Whine
time passes
HRC Camp: Quit Whining.
HRC Camp: Kitchen Sink Heat Get Out!
HRC Camp: (sounding like a parrot) Farrakhan
HRC Camp Quit Whining
time passes
HRC Camp: Whine Whine Whine
HRC Camp: Whine Quit Whining Whine
HRC Camp: (sounding like a parrot) Reverend Wright!
WJC: I Did Not Play The Race Card On That Boy!

[LoKeys]

Great article, i too read Norahs article, the rantings of a lunatic insulated bipolar one track feminist who has to make everything about men vs women. just dumb

[Lon]

I can feel Ms Ephron's pain. I have to go to vote after work, and I have not been able to avoid the frustrated result that not only will I be voting, but millions of other people will be voting as well, and their votes by sheer number will likely drown out my vote. It would be so much better if only I was voting today. Plus the lines at the election poll would be shorter.

[Thatcher]

Thank you ... neither Clinton's sex nor Obama's race were explicit issues in the campaign until Clinton (either Hillary and/or Bill) made them issues. Hillary and the "gang up" of the "old boys" - Bill and SC Jesse Jackson statements.

[Burnsey]

Funny.

I also note that it's always an excuse with the Clinton campaign. First the sexist media, then Bill's defense that the guys were picking on her (Oh and wasn't it Hillary herself, who said at an earlier time "They aren't picking on me because I'm a Woman, They are picking on me because I am ahead") then it was the small state excuse, then it was the medium state excuse, then it was those mean ole Moveon.org activists who are picking on me. It seems the real issue in this race is excuses. Or the "It's everyone's fault but my own." I had enough of that over the last 8 years. Hillary would be just more of the same. Same ole "WHY is everybody always pickin on me?"

And by the way, Whit men will only be the deciding factor if Hillary losses. They won't get the credit from Nora if they did put her over the top, cause, yea, it's always the white guys fault, but never to his credit. It's all about how they hate one group more than the other, funny, I thought elections were always about liking someone better than the other one. But Nora has to embrace the hate....

[GuyInNC]

Or is it I who is having the memory lapse? Try as I might, I cannot recall a single complaint from Obama that his race was being held against him. Perhaps he missed an opportunity, and that would hardly be surprising: he is, after all, a half white male.
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You make the common mistake of assuming that if something doesn't come directly out of Obama's mouth, that it then necessarily isn't coming from his campaign.

The constant claims by the Obama campaign that someone was "playing the race card" started early and often in this primary. And, more often than not, the claim was made using either flimsy or distorted evidence. But, it's what he had to do in order to start taking the support of the black community away from Clinton. Michelle said it herself, that blacks would wake up and realize they should be supporting Obama. Could her call on all blacks to support Obama based on his race be any more racist in and of itself?

[grendl]

Ms. Ephron just wanted another excuse to take a dig at all the white males she's dated who couldn't take her talking about herself anymore. It had nothing to do with the race.

Just like Erica Jong, they use this board to keep their fossilized ideas about the war of the sexes alive, so as to make themselves appear relevant.

Hillary's been running her campaign as vicious as any male would, so she's not really running as a woman.

Barack has been running his campaign focusing on economics and the war, trying to downplay race which was thrust into his lap by the Reverend Wright debacle. Thing is, if a Harvard educated mulatto gentlemen, gangly and at times ungraceful can't win an election because he's too black, what chance does any person of color have in the next century. He's nearly as white as I am.

And thats neither an insult not a compliment, just an observation. if anything this race goes to show these candidates are simply human, and more alike underneath it all than the special interest groups, and cheerleaders like Nora Ephron are willing to acknowledge and admit.