MTG... Need I Say More?
After the Speaker of The House Debacle, committee assignments have been released for each member of the House of Representatives. Majorie Taylor Greene, a notorious election denier and self-proclaimed "leader of the MAGA voice in Congress", has been assigned to new committees for the 118th Congress. She managed to retain her seat in the GA-14 district (in which I have the personal pleasure of residing).
This news comes after her removal from all committees over the past two years due to her support for the January 6th insurrection. The insurrection, allegedly inspired by former president Donald J. Trump, set rioters to attack the United States Congress in Washington DC. Storming the capital was in response to the government certifying the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden. The democratic majority at the time moved to have Greene and a few others removed from their committees specifically for terroristic and extremist comments.
She is now assigned to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Homeland Security Committee. While this may come as a shock to people who do not agree with her comments, this does not come as a shock to many of her fellow House Republicans. Many claimed that she was not supporting American nationalism enough during the give-and-take Speaker of the House vote. While the freedom caucus was negotiating between each round of voting, they claim Greene sold out just to get back on committees.
Many Republicans are furious at the votes and words of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Some even go so far as to say that she used sexual relationships in order to achieve her position in Congress. While she may not be as liked, there is no concrete proof to make such an accusation about her. These kinds of assumptions about women using their bodies to advance their "power" are not new. She is recently divorced from her longtime husband, Perry Greene, which likely influenced comments about her sexual promiscuity. Nevertheless, citizens (and congresspeople alike) are directing attacks at Greene for her supposed relationship with McCarthy -instead of accusing McCarthy of sleeping with Greene to get her vote. It would take two to tango, but we don't see anyone attacking McCarthy in this way.
Is this because they think this is less likely? -probably not, considering the many back-room deals he had to make to win the votes for the speakership.
Is this because MTG is an easy target? -maybe, she does go on about Jewish Space Lasers and other nonsense.
Or is this because society is conditioned to shame women for sex and praise men? -we can only make assumptions, for we will never know.
The shame surrounding sex that follows women everywhere is an age old issue, the exchange of sexual favors in order to gain power is a situation which predominately women face scruiteny for and why.
ReplyDeleteIt is public knowledge that in the business of politics the phrase "I scratch your back, you scratch mine" is how things get done. There are occasional stories of selling out ideals or the party due to this practice but it is nothing compared to the level of critisism women face for participating in politics in the same way as you pointed out. While frustrations may be voiced when a man takes the same actions, women are accused of using their bodies, not making deals.
I do agree with you that MTG is an easy target, she is disliked by many on both sides of the aisle, however this particular issue is a systematic issue due to her sexuality and not her lack of allies.