Waterworksgate
As the 112th United States Congress kicks off with a fresh infusion of legislators and a newly-overhauled leadership, one simple fact has failed to escape notice: Boehner cries. A lot.
This is not to say that the newly-minted Speaker of the House should show no emotion, far from it in fact. At the same time, crying has become politically charged behavior. Let’s look at this from a comparative standpoint. In an incident I like to refer to as “Waterworksgate,” Hillary Clinton garnered all kinds of criticism after choking up during a campaign stop leading up to the 2008 Democratic primary. Mitt Romney had more crying jags than Hillary within a short period of time but didn’t have anywhere near the amount of backlash. Was this disparity due to the fact that Romney’s tears occurred during the writer’s strike, saving him from certain ridicule? Or is there a larger pattern at work?
Former Democratic Representative Pat Schroeder encountered a very similar situation in 1987; she teared up while announcing that she would not run for president and, as she reported to the Associated Press, is still receiving negative feedback to this day. For a time she kept a file of instances of male politicians crying under similar circumstances but has since abandoned it, as the file got too big.
So it’s established: not only is crying politically relevant behavior, it’s also gendered behavior. When a woman cries, it implies that she is weak and presumably unfit for public service. When a man cries, it shows a level of sensitivity that makes him well suited to serving the public or it effectively feminizes him, diminishing trust in his political “toughness.” So where does this leave John Boehner?
In his best-publicized instance, Boehner’s tears during a segment of 60 Minutes confirmed his authenticity in interviewer Lesley Stahl’s eyes. He’s been commended for being in touch with his emotions and in doing so has endeared himself to voters. However, not all feedback has been positive. Critics accuse him of being manipulative and using his emotions to sway public opinion; the most vitriolic claims insist that his tears are a product of his poorly-hidden drinking habit. If Boehner is attempting to use crying to further an agenda, it’s a scattered one at best. The BuzzFeed page “John Boehner Crying: A Comprehensive Guide” documents the Speaker sniffling over such varied circumstances as the troop increase in Iraq, the unveiling of a statue of Ronald Reagan, and his own election night speech.
The common response has been to tell Boehner to tone it down; that way, he can continue reaping the benefits of having showed emotion without it becoming a political liability. I, for one, salute Boehner for his tears. Despite evidence to the contrary we elect people, not caricatures, and these totally appropriate flashes of emotion serve to humanize him. If he cries and performs his duties well, then I have no complaints. Such an outcome would help to disentangle emotion and competence and would deal another blow to the archaic notion that women should not lead because of their delicate and emotional sensibilities. Weep on, Mr. Speaker, weep on.