I happen to love strong women. I have worked for them, hired them and worked alongside them. It is why Katherin Hepburn is my movie role model of the strong woman – intelligent and confident with a can-do spirit. In politics, I admire Nikki Haley, Condoleezza Rice, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Mier, and Jean Fitzpatrick (that last one should generate a few Google searches).
The one characteristic for me is that the strong women I respect in movies and in life are NOT whiners. They do not embrace a belief in ever-present victimization. There is a distinction between being a real victim of events and situations and assuming victimization as a political plea for attention and advantage.
There are strong women on both sides of the partisan and philosophic divide, but the so-called feminist movement – which is a faction of the left-wing Democrat base – represents the self-proclaimed victim class.
I saw an example of that on “Morning Joe” – which was presided over by Mika Brzezinski. (One of the few times she is allowed to have the platform without being put down or rudely dismissed by co-host and hubby Joe Scarborough. As a person who cows to her overbearing partner, Brzezinski is not a good example of what she preaches. But I digress.)
The subject of the ‘Morning Joe” discussion was “High Functioning Depression” by Democrat women voters over the election of President Trump to a second term. Brzezinski’s two guests were Maggie McGrath, an editor for the one-time (pre-China ownership) conservative Forbes Magazine, and Huma Abedin, former wife of cybersex flasher and former New York Democrat Congressman Anthony Weiner. (And yes, that is not his porn stage name – although it could have been). Abedin also gained public attention as a person who had state secrets on her home computer when working as an aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The discussion of High Functioning Depression was prompted by an article McGrath had penned for Forbes entitled, “Post Election, Many Women Are Working With ‘High Functioning Depression’”.
If you have not heard of that particular malady, it is because there is no such syndrome associated with political outcomes in the ledgers of medicine. In fact, McGrath admitted that it is not a recognized clinical medical issue – and is not found among the recognized Major Depressive Disorders (MMDs). Nonetheless, McGrath advised women who feel bad over the election to call their doctors to seek psychological help.
I understand political disappointment. My side has lost a lot of elections. (Remember, I was a Chicago Republican). Some of those election losses were my own. Even those did not send me on a downward spiral of mental illness. My mental condition was more challengeable for running in the first place.
I know a lot of Republican women who were not happy that Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020. I know a lot of Democrat women who were not happy that Trump won in 2016 and 2024. I do not recall any of them suffering from High Functioning Depression or any other variety of mental dysfunction. And that is not surprising because the vast majority of women – Republicans and Democrats — are strong. They can cope with disappointment.
But there is a subset of liberal ladies who play the victim card at every opportunity – because it is the only card in their deck. They are constant complainers. They see themselves as the universal victims of every aspect of life – jobs, pay, healthcare, misogyny, male toxicity, motherhood. They are the women Democrat strategist James Carville appears to have had in mind when he said his party has “too many preachy women.”
Brzezinski said that “the impact [of the 2024 election] on women’s health has been devastating.” Really? Does she really believe women are that fragile?
McGrath provided the symptoms of this new malady. There is a drop in productivity, a tendency to procrastinate, tense interactions with co-workers or total avoidance. These are possible symptoms of depression — but caused by an election loss?
McGrath also provided recommendations for employers dealing with workers suffering from HFD. (I should not use the initials since it makes it sound like a serious mental issue). She recommends that employers “acknowledge the emotional toll, offer mental health support, encourage flexibility in work assignments, foster inclusive conversations and provide management training in handling the “victim” of election-related High Functioning Depression.
This is not the first time that post-election anxiety has been viewed as something other than a lack of coping skills. You will recall that Harvard canceled classes following Trump’s victory on the theory that students could not cope with learning. According to one “expert” appearing on CBS News, “Taking a break from social media can help with post-election emotions.” Other articles referred to anxieties that would lead to a “victim’s” anger, bitterness and dysfunction –for at least the next four years.
It is fair to question whether all this public agonizing is drawing attention to a serious mental health issue – or is it creating another female victimization? Or … does it distract attention from the very serious problems of real clinical depression? I say that because I have dealt with friends and family with real depression – in one case resulting in the suicide of a niece. I disagree with promoting victimization over an election loss for political reasons. The folks like McGrath, Abedin and Brzezinski are promoting victimization by telling women disappointed over the election that they are traumatized and need to consider themselves victims of an assault on their mental stability. Unfortunately, some women will believe them.
In the progressive world, victims – real or imagined — get more privileges. In the real world, more privileges create more victims.
Brzezinski said those of us on the right would have a “field day” with these issues. Not sure “field day” is the precise term, but her statement does concede, unwittingly, that the entire issue of politically related High Functioning Depression is a subject rife with pushback and criticism.
However you want to describe women with undue anxiety and depression over an election, you do not characterize them with the word “strong.” I would argue that I have a higher respect for women than many of those hardcore feminists because I believe that the vast majority of women ARE strong, capable and have very good coping skills. They can deal with disappointment over and election without making it mentally debilitating.
So, there ‘tis.