Heinz Kerry’s boldness is justified
By Ilana Fried
Aug. 8, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Remember when Hillary Clinton got a haircut? It really
shouldn’t have been a big deal ““ but to some Americans,
it was.
And remember when Teresa Heinz Kerry, also known for her
outspoken persona, told a Pittsburgh reported to “shove
it,” and a scandal soon followed?
Of course we remember. These instances stand out in our minds
because mainstream America still feels threatened by powerful and
political women. But Teresa Heinz Kerry, spunky and independent,
remains unapologetic of her opinions ““ and I’m
glad.
For those of us who find Laura Bush even more boring than her
post-college, Vogue cover-girl daughters, Heinz Kerry should raise
all the right eyebrows on all the right people.
Like any respectable rabble-rouser, Heinz Kerry expresses her
beliefs with a challenging sense of wit and conviction.
“Before we even went to war, I think we set the whole thing
on a bad premise, on a bad platform,” she told an interviewer
about the war in Iraq, and in a later speech she alluded that
President Bush is “fazed by complexity.”
The heavily accented native of Mozambique openly discusses her
childhood “living in dictatorships,” having boldly
protested segregation in South Africa as a student in the 1950s
and, years later, comfortably admitting to undergoing Botox
treatment.
Then in July, Heinz Kerry pushed the biggest button when she
told Colin McNickle, editorial page editor of Pittsburgh’s
Tribune-Review, a paper accused of having a conservative bias, to
“shove it” after McNickle inquired about a speech of
hers.
“I am the product of living in dictatorships. It makes you
cherish the ability to be yourself, to have feelings, and to speak
them when asked. People say I’m blunt. I say, “˜No, just
honest,'” Heinz Kerry later explained.
Maybe Heinz Kerry could have uttered more gentle words. Perhaps
poor McNickle felt saddened deep inside (yeah, sure). Nevertheless,
there’s something refreshing, even radical, about a woman
like Heinz Kerry expressing such gutsy, slightly offensive
language.
I say this because we live today in the land of Laura Bush (the
anti-Hillary), regressing back to 1950s-era stereotypes of docile
housewives with few personal problems or opinions of their own.
Even after women’s liberation of the 1970s, Americans
don’t seek female politicians or leaders. On the contrary,
they fear them.
“I find (Laura) to be the perfect wife of a governor.
Instead of trying to butt in and always, you know, compete.
There’s nothing worse in the political arena than spouses
competing for public accolades or the limelight,” said the
president to The Dallas Morning News in 1995, at the height of
Hillary’s spotlight.
Simply put, Teresa Heinz Kerry does the kind of work that all
Americans should aspire to do. She’s not trying to be Laura
and, instead, she’s very much herself. Heinz Kerry defends
American freedom of speech (and the joy we take in exercising it)
““ one of our greatest and oldest traditions.
These exact same principles of free speech play a role at UCLA,
too. For example, I write this column because I’m guaranteed
freedom of speech. Many of us are able to join campus groups and
campaigns that we find worthy because the Constitution protects
these rights.
And in November we can cast our vote for the next American
president thanks to our democratic process. We may even protest
tuition, the rising textbook costs or campus activities we find
distasteful or wrong ““ it’s the American thing to
do.
And today we have Heinz Kerry, who stands as testament to these
very rights as she meets, greets and occasionally offends across
the United States.
I’ve grown fond of Heinz Kerry. It’s true.
She’s bold and she won’t (ever) sit down or shut up.
While Bush sips her milked tea and muses about Chanel No. 5, Teresa
Heinz Kerry tells a reporter to “shove it” and then
questions the President’s tactics in Iraq.
She’s very human, and she’s quite a woman. I only
hope she stays around a bit longer. So America, please let the
spouses “butt in” already. It’s high time we
heard some noise.
Fried is a second-year history student. E-mail her at
[email protected]. Send general comments to
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