People Have a Lot of Feels About Hillary Clinton’s Voice

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There’s absolutely nothing in this world that seems to bring out the ingrained sexism in people more than politics, and last night during Hillary Clinton’s historic speech at the DNC, the sexist assholes just couldn’t stop talking about her voice.

A BBC presenter last night shamed Hillary for her voice and tone by saying that she has a “slightly shrill tone,” and it’s strange because people seem to be less interested in what Hillary is saying, and more interested in how she is saying it.

And even back in March during MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews”, they stopped talking about what she was saying and switched to how she sounded.

Lawrence O’Donnell, one of the guests on “Hardball”, told Chris Matthews, “One of the trickier things to teach people about public speaking is that the microphone works, you don’t have to actually yell,” implying that Hillary was yelling instead of speaking.

Like, I’m sorry she was pumped about her platform?

You know, it would be one thing if Hillary truly had an issue with her voice like physically could not speak properly, but she doesn’t? So wtf is the issue? And it’s not just dudes doing it. Women are shaming Hill for her voice too.

Here are more hella sexist tweets from Fox News contributor Howard Kurtz after Hillary won the majority of the votes in huge states like Ohio and Florida on a Super Tuesday Primary:

And of course Joe Scarborough from MSNBC felt the need to tell Hill to smile. Honestly smh. 

But it’s so much more than just tweets. It seems like people that feel this way have an actual problem with women having a voice to begin with. They have an issue with a woman using her voice for good instead of spouting off hateful and negative commentary like a certain someone does.

Offender number one of perpetuating sexism (obviously) would be Donald Trump who tweeted this mess last night after Hill accepted the nomination:

Crooked Hillary Clinton made up facts about me, and “forgot” to mention the many problems of our country, in her very average scream!

The last time a presidential candidate was scrutinized for their voice was in the 1940s when Harry Truman was running for office. Similarly with Hill, people made fun of Truman for his voice. According to NY Magazine, “it was shrill and reedy, a jarring and unpleasant contrast” when compared to the president before him, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. And apparently, Truman was so embarrassed by his voice that he even hired a vocal coach to work with him on his diction and pronunciation.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, like Barack Obama, was known as a pretty solid speechmaker. Like Truman, Hillary Clinton has an impossible task when it comes to living up to her predecessor’s oratory skills.

But the tone of her voice has literally no bearing on how she’ll do as president. So what’s with all the criticism? Well, it’s been proven that when women are in positions of authority, they are more likely to be given criticism for their demeanor. A.K.A. they are told to basically “pipe down.” It’s no surprise that people expect someone who’s got a shot at being the most powerful woman in the world to quiet down. But it is disappointing.

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