There was so much talk in 2008 about how far women have come in politics.  You know, shattering the glass ceiling and whatnot. Although I want to believe that 2008 was the year of the woman, I’m not convinced.

As a huge Hillary Clinton fan, I was singing that W.O.M.A.N. song for a long while. Then I watched her campaign fall apart with a communications strategy that made me want to cry (sigh).

Suddenly my I-am-woman-hear-me-roar chant was silenced; in it’s place, a defiant don’t-choose-her-just-because-she’s-a-woman rant each time I heard or read the words “hockey mom” and/or “Joe.”

Here’s my issue: I know both of my mantras are sincere, but I’m a little confused as to how I can feel so strongly about two absolutely conflicting ideas of women in leadership.

I never could peg the true source of my passion/disdain until I read Danielle Sacks’ FastCompany.com post today:

Last week Amanda Fortini articulated what many women felt by the end of the election: “both Clinton and Palin came to represent???and, at times, reinforce???two of the most pernicious stereotypes that are applied to women: the bitch and the ditz.”

Holy crap. THAT IS IT. And what this says about me is that I’m much more comfortable with the “bitch” than the “ditz.”

I’m totally fine with you “wearing the pants” and losing some of your southern belle qualities; however, the moment you sashay into a room, wink at a dude and act dumb I’m livid.

Clearly, choosing between two stereotypes like this is no way to pick the leader of the free world. Sacks sums it up well here:

It’s astonishing that as one of the most developed and supposedly progressive countries in the world we still can’t seem to get the female leadership thing right. (However, I would argue Palin was far more the symbolic setback, than Hillary). Even decades ago, England had Margaret Thatcher, Israel had Golda Meir, and India had Indira Gandhi; Bosnia has Borjana Kristo, the Ukraine has Yulia Tymoshenko, Finland has Tarja Halonen and Ireland has Mary McAleese. Meanwhile here in the U.S. we seem paralyzed by these polarizing versions of what a female leader should be.

We are still picking woman leaders based on which kind of woman we are most comfortable with and that is ridiculous.

This is why 2008 simply isn’t the year of the woman. I’ll celebrate that year when I support (and we elect) a national candidate who happens to be woman instead doing so just based on what kind of woman I like best.