On Thursday night, Hillary Clinton delivered a rousing, well-received acceptance speech in Philadelphia to close out the Democratic National Convention, outlining her qualifications for the presidency and whacking Donald Trump as incompetent, ignorant, and dangerous.
Quite a few people seem to have missed the substantive parts of her speech though, instead preoccupied with important details such as Hillary’s smile and her tone of voice. On the night the rest of the country watched a woman accept a major party’s nomination for president of the United States for the first time in history, some men couldn’t give their sexism a break even for an hour.
On her voice:
For years, Clinton has had to deal with men complaining about the sound of her voice. She’s too shrill, she’s naggy, she’s too loud. Men of every political persuasion can’t seem to get past the idea of an authoritative woman speaking into a microphone.
And Thursday night was no exception. “She has a habit, when speaking, of breaking into a kind of a sharp, lecturing tone, makes you feel like ” opined journalist Brit Hume on Fox News. “She has a great asset, as a public person, which is a radiant smile, but she has a not so attractive voice.”
On Twitter, plenty of other conservatives were happy to point it out as well:
[whispering]
It’s because Hillary's voice is annoying and she’s a mediocre speaker. https://t.co/1NaXdOhwzP
— Sonny Bunch (@SonnyBunch) July 29, 2016
More interruptions and heckles, Hillary's voice in near screech. #unity
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) July 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/PatGarofalo/status/758858297088675840
Peroration was flat. Poor dynamics. No sense of music. An unfortunate voice. Ah, well. The Trump-Hillary debates will be interesting, yes?
— Jay Nordlinger (@jaynordlinger) July 29, 2016
Male journalists covering her speech also joined in:
https://twitter.com/AVCoppola/status/758857241738907648
@PBS disappoints again: David Brooks disdains the "combative tone" of @HillaryClinton's speech. #DemsInPhilly #DemConvention Srsly.
— Ann M. Little (@Historiann) July 29, 2016
Interesting to hear the women on @NPR talk about how awesome @HillaryClinton's speech was while the men are like meh and mention her voice
— harper (@harper) July 29, 2016
On her smile:
Of all the sexist tropes out there, men telling women to smile more is perhaps the most pernicious. Not only is it deeply patronizing, it’s almost always delivered by men who think they’re actually being helpful.
Naturally someone just told Hillary to smile. pic.twitter.com/fP5McO3n04
— Peter Feld (@peterfeld) July 29, 2016
Instead of lecturing 2 citizens @HillaryClinton needs 2 have conversation w/us. Modulate voice. Tell stories. Set hopes. Smile #DNCinPHL
— Steve Clemons (@SCClemons) July 29, 2016
Hillary Clinton is one of the most accomplished women in the country, one of the smartest in the world, and dude tells her to smile
— August 21, 1831 (@FeministaJones) July 29, 2016
"Hillary should smile." pic.twitter.com/T8aYQVetjK
— nicole tersigni (@nicsigni) July 29, 2016
It's as if Hillary Clinton's smile and her dress are what will make life and death decisions in the White House… #ConcernedDudes
— ✡️ Shahryar ☪ (@JShahryar) July 29, 2016
And then of course there was Donald Trump himself:
Crooked Hillary Clinton made up facts about me, and "forgot" to mention the many problems of our country, in her very average scream!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016