I have always had an interest in politics, but over the years I have found myself further and further removed from the leaders, platforms, and political party agendas. Family, career, friends, and other life balances tend to take precedence. The other day, I came across a CTV tweet: Opinion: Christy Clark still faces that double standard, an article by David Obee, a columnist from the Victoria times.
The article gives what I believe to be a level headed view of a controversial question asked of our Premier Clark on December 19 while being interviewed by a Courtney Radio station.
98.9 JetFM host Drex asked, “On behalf of a listener, what it is like to be a MILF?”
“You know, I take that as a compliment … you know, it’s one of those things,” Clark said. “Better a MILF than a cougar … so tell him I said thank-you.”
The article interested me enough to learn more about the instance. I googled “Christy Clark MILF” and found most other columnist and bloggers were not as forgiving as Obee, and were outright disgraced with Clark’s off-the-cuff remark that “mocks” all women. Others even harshly attacked David’s article for being clearly a Liberal suck up.
Although I feel that this issue has been largely overblown, I can see the pros and cons of the situation.
PROS For Clark |
CONS For Clark |
| It was an inappropriate question for the DJ to ask in the first place and she answered the question quickly and with whit to move on to the next topic. | Clark had an opportunity to make a stance on women’s rights and chose a more conversational approach. Even though the answer was playing along with the station, it was not a politically intelligent response. |
| It was a compliment, why wouldn’t you want to be a MILF; far beats being told you’re a dried up old hag. After having kids and working in politics for years, feeling attractive can really help to spice things up a bit! I don’t see how MILF is equal to slut or whore (as stated by bloggers)…it came from American Pie for crying out loud. Just because someone would like to be with you, doesn’t mean you’ll let it happen. | A MILF or not, the question should never have been asked to a political leader, regardless of the radio station and its listening audience’s demographic. A compliment or not, it has an air of disrespect when asked to a leader in a public forum. |
| The attention brought awareness to Clark’s BC tour. | The attention also brought comparisons to Clark’s previous incident with Richard Branson and his nude kite-surfing invitation. |
| She has a sense of humor, dresses a little more risky and speaks before she thinks. | It would seem the public is asking for dry personalities, fully covered bodies and completely scripted conversations at every waking moment…Ah that’s why we have so many fantastic, interesting and likeable politicians! |
| The interview has been removed from the internet out of respect of the Premier and her family. | What else was discussed? Why can’t the public hear it if it was already distributed. What about all the blogs…it’s being reported anyways. I would love to know how she handled all the other questions from that particular interview; you would hope that could work in her favor? |
| The question was asked in an environment of fun and whit – a rock radio station. Some times the public needs to let the guard down and let fun and games be fun and games. | Obviously some people will always take her comments more seriously and literally than others. |
| She showed her street smarts by understanding “MILF” and responding with another common reference; “cougar.” | Not the time to prove what you know and joke about it. As Premier, her audience will often extend beyond its initial one. |
Ultimately, I think the question was asked in fun and Clark answered in fun. She took the question in stride and showed her lighter side. I understand if others disagree and see this as a serious political and feminist faux pas, but you know what – it really didn’t matter what Clark said, she would have been blasted even if she disregarded the questioned or said that it was inappropriate. Clark would have been picked apart by those who either think she’s an extreme feminist or not able to understand good fun. Quite honestly, how could the Richard Branson “nude kite-surfing invitation” even be comparable to this MILF comment. The only thing common to me is that both were instigated by male counterparts that obviously have a “thing” for Premier Clark.
