Is This What Male Liberation Looks Like?

Bill Clinton’s reaction to the balloons at the end of the Democratic Convention was extensively captured and covered under headlines such as “Bill Clinton’s Love for Balloons”, “Bill Clinton Gleefully Playing With Balloons Was the Best Part of the DNC” and“17 Pictures Of Bill Clinton Playing With Balloons That You Need To See Before You Die”. While the media quickly captured Bill with the balloons and characterized the moment as adorable, childlike and happy, the eye of a feminist can’t help but capture it also as an allegory of male liberation.

The idea that the patriarchy harms men, as well as women, is certainly not neoteric in any way; it is an idea that has been corroborated and oft-quoted throughout history. The patriarchy limits the male collective conscious to a certain creed in regards to gender roles, men and women. It not only objectifies females and attempts to control them by subjecting them to a phallic morality and reality but also limits the male collective conscious by doing this and painting a narrow path of growth for it. By dictating and limiting women to a certain reality, inadvertently perhaps, the patriarchy ends up enforcing a constitution of masculinity for men too. This hinders the collective growth of the human race as well as that of individual men and women. Therefore, breaking the glass ceiling of the patriarchy is liberation for both men and women.   

This was evident at the Democratic National Convention. With the selection of the first female to win the major party nomination in place, the selection of the first potential First Gentleman was confirmed as well: Bill Clinton. As the spotlights and eyes turned to Hillary, a woman in the forefront, the chink in the patriarchy was finally visible and Bill Clinton’s moment with the balloons certainly added to it.

This liberation was not only for women but also for men as for the first time a former male president, her husband was objectified and presented simply as Hillary’s adorable embellishment rather than the embodiment of patriarchal ideas of masculinity. While the importance was given to Hillary, Bill only made it to the news for a cute, inconsequential, aesthetically pleasing action, creating a persona that is most of the time peculiar to females in the media. Obviously, this is not something that should be lauded as the feminist ideology promotes equality for both. However, a little bit of female sexism in this patriarchy should be allowed.

Bill’s gleeful moment with the balloons that closed the event, which marked Hillary’s victory, when his wife was at the front of the stage in front of a cheering crowd, could certainly be seen as symbolic for freedom from the pressures and burdens that come with the creed of masculinity, one that has been enforced on men for centuries. His diminishment to just cute and adorable playing with balloons at such a pivotal moment is certainly a dent in the image, which was based on the patriarchal doctrine, that the media has embedded into American minds for the longest time.

It is liberation since a man no longer has to be the one carrying the woman; a man no longer has to succumb to the expectations, burdens and pressures that come with a patriarchal setting. Here, for the first time, the pressures were lifted. Thus, looking at this lighthearted moment, one can’t help but ask: Is this what male liberation looks like?  

Featured Image via [AP Photos/Carolyn Kaster]