TPM Reader SG:
I despise Michelle Bachmann’s politics and have no doubt this early infatuation some GOP voters have with her will fade.That being said, from the beginning of this migraine business, I’ve thought it was sexist, sexist, and sexist. Men get migraines, yes. But women are known to get them more. And because migraines often produce no external symptoms, you have to take the person’s word that one is happening. I get them, and from personal experience, people who have never had one think I’m faking it to try to get out of something, or that I’m a weenie who can’t handle a little headache.
If it was a man, this would never even become an issue. The argument that a predisposition for migraines in any way makes her unqualified to run for President (or, forbid, BE President). Similar to claims that women are too emotional for some political positions, this fake controversy reflects the acceptability of looking for evidence of “weakness” in women that would never be a problem in a man.Migraines are manageable and common - and they are most common in Type A, aggressive women. Bachmann is one of those.
It’s sexism. Period.
David Kurtz
David Kurtz is Managing Editor and Washington Bureau Chief of Talking Points Memo where he oversees the news operations of TPM and its sister sites.