Krystal Ball, a congressional candidate who was photographed proudly handling a red appendage attached to her boyfriend’s nose (she smiled for the camera), is very upset that she is being “smeared” for the salacious photos. Ms. Ball thinks it is sexist to ridicule or criticize women for sexually explicit behavior, even when the evidence goes public.
Krystal is apparently running on an explicitly feminist platform, so she is never going to get an endorsement or any mercy here at The Spearhead, but her “poor me” attitude is worth noting for the very double standard she claims is afflicting her campaign (it looks as though she’ll lose badly).
In her long whine, Krystal goes so far as to reference “Name It. Change It,” which is a feminist campaign launched by Gloria Steinem, and complains that people are hurting her feelings when they show the embarrassing pictures of her eager hand on a big, red dildo:
You know, there’s a saying in China about what it means to be a politician: “Politicians need thick face skin.” When men run for and hold office, they are regularly subjected to ridicule, smears, scrutiny and often even threats. Sometimes, they are tripped up by their behavior. Back in the 1980s Gary Hart was caught fooling around, and we all know about John Edwards and Mark Sanford.
Krystal’s photos are no big deal — all they do is make her look immature and like a typical American college girl, i.e. proudly promiscuous. There’s really nothing shocking about them these days, but they do make it difficult to take the woman seriously. That’s really what Ms. Ball is upset about, but seriously, she’s a 28-year-old girl running for congress who happens to be named “Krystal Ball” — I don’t think the photos are her only problem in that regard.
Ms. Ball wants a position of considerable power and influence, yet she doesn’t feel she should be subjected to scrutiny. She has the typical attitude that she, as a woman, should be above criticism, above ridicule and treated with kid gloves.
Perhaps she has a point — maybe we do take the smears a bit too far in contemporary culture. But given that feminists have created a climate in which it is not only acceptable, but actually advantageous, for women to relentlessly smear their husbands, fathers and colleagues, no girl running for a powerful position deserves a morsel of pity for going through the same thing. As long as women continue to spit on and slander the men in their lives by the millions, the gloves should stay off, and they will.
