How to treat the ladies
At the Clinton Global Initiative today, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was invited to represent her country and talk about green investment in the Philippines. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, in an attempt to flatter her, said that she was his only "pin-up" in his office.
Naturally, Macapagal-Arroyo, not wanting to ruin the panel by acting like one of those humorless feminists, gave a little smile and chuckle and the bulk of the audience laughed at the joke. Tutu and the other men on the panel thus came away with their belief that this is an appropriate way to treat a woman head of government. And the circle of life continues.
Brian Beutler: Surely this isn't the only time Desmond Tutu has appeared in public with accomplished women, and surely he knows the difference between good, feminist-friendly pleasantries and bad, slightly objectifying ones. Perhaps upon reflection he'll regret the quip. But what's more important, I think, is that Desmond Tutu appeared on stage with the president of woman-friendly Afghanistan in a room full of people, many of whom have a lot to learn from people like, well, Desmond Tutu, about how to treat women both publicly and in private.
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