Pneumonia under the glass ceiling
author: annie trussler | op-ed editor
credit: donkeyhoteyweb
It will burn, I may want to puke, but I won’t die. At worst, I’ll suffer a political hangover.
The American election is a joke, and not a funny one. No one is laughing. Even now, I partially believe I will roll over in bed and wake up from this political nightmare, and carry on with my life. I won’t bore you with the details of who is more evil than whom, who will do damage where, or how many times I have considered a four-year-long hibernation just to avoid this upcoming travesty. I am not a bear, and you already know the facts, so let’s get into the freshest piece of Republican nonsense.
As many may know, Hillary Clinton collapsed at a 9/11-memorial service, only then to be diagnosed with pneumonia (for reference: this is an inconvenient illness, not a terminal one). Almost instantly, the right side of the media world plastered Clinton’s face on every corner of the internet, screaming from their soapboxes that she was no longer fit to lead, that Trump is in perfect health, that we should build a wall now and cut out the middleman!
Don’t get me wrong; for anyone who has read my previous article on the matter, I abhor Hillary Clinton. She is fickle, insincere, corrupt, and I’m fairly certain she would burn Bernie Sanders’ home to the ground had she the chance. However, when given the option between swallowing vodka and poison, I’m going to pick the former. It will burn, I may want to puke, but I won’t die. At worst, I’ll suffer a political hangover.
This issue lends itself to far more than avoiding a Trump-induced nuclear winter. This issue is a perfect depiction of how women are treated in the workforce. No matter a woman’s status, accomplishments, or salaries, they will be held to a far higher standard in reference to health, family, and tragedy.
Pneumonia is not a terminal illness. Modern medicine and eight-hour nights can let the average middle-aged woman recover within a few weeks, but a rigorous political campaign does not allow for bed rest and lemon tea. Clinton, despite her illness, has persevered through television interviews, campaigns, debates, speeches, countrywide travel, and still, Republicans have the audacity to say she is unfit for the position?
This is a plague upon all working women. Pregnant? “Oh, honey, maybe this job is too much pressure.” Menstruating? “You’re irrational, clearly unfit for the position.” Being a woman with a job and succumbing to the human condition? Unheard of! It does not matter how old you are, what race you are, or if you have the common cold, women are held to an inhuman standard in the workplace.
Hillary Clinton is, in my eyes, a corrupt, conniving, blackmailing con artist who pays under the table to get her mistakes erased from the everyone’s hard drives; that aside, Hillary Clinton is also a woman who has worked infinitely harder than her Republican counterpart, even with a vicious respiratory illness, and still leads the polls. She pushed through inconvenience and discomfort, which eventually led to her collapsing in the heat, and that is, honestly, incredible. It’s inspiring. Women in the workplace are always told to tough it out or beat it, and there is no way she is surrendering the country to a power-hungry tycoon; thus, she, like so many other women in minimum wage positions, corporate jobs, and independent employment, was forced to tough it out. If she grinned and bore it, maybe it’s time for the other side to beat it instead.
