Let me start by saying this is NOT a political debate. Nancy Pelosi has got to be the most controversial, celebrated, hated, admired, polarizing, revered, parodied, and sometimes feared politician today. She is a complex one. The 70 year old Speaker of the House holds much power in government. Republicans hate her. (Some) Democrats love her. She has a split consensus amongst women. Each day I read stories about her and think either she is really good at her job and has harnessed her power well, or maybe she really is inept. Either way people aren’t that fearful of someone for nothing. So what’s the deal?

Nancy Pelosi is in her second term as Speaker of the House of Representatives, having made history in 2007 when she was elected first woman to serve as Speaker of the House.  Speaker Pelosi has proved to be a strong, pragmatic leader, unifying her House Democratic caucus more than any other leader in the last 50 years to pass critical legislation moving America in a New Direction after eight years of Republican control. From her bio on Speaker.gov

Some people might say that Hilary Clinton and Sara Palin fall into her category. Now I’m not here to debate whose better or worse. But as I read the comments on a Washington Post article, there seemed to be a running theme of women “shouting” that Pelosi is getting an unfair shake just as Palin and Clinton because she’s a woman. A commenter stated that the Republicans and men in general were afraid of women like Pelosi, Palin and Clinton. Can you realistically compare the three of them under the same light? I can’t say for sure.  Speaker Pelosi is often referred to as iron-fisted in her dealings. If she were a man, would she be as scrutinized by her firmness? If she were a Republican, would she draw the same criticism?  The woman in me is inclined to believe that yes, she is getting unfairly labeled and ostracized because she is a woman. Nobody ever criticized, say, Newt Gingrich for operating too iron fisted. OK maybe they have. But it was expected.

So let’s look beyond the political and party disagreements and focus on the gender issue. Yes, I’m opening that can of worms. Do people think it’s ok to be outright disrespectful to her because she’s a woman? Because she’s 70? Because she’s a Democrat? Let’s put aside whether or not we disagree with her stance on certain political issues like the Health Care War. We can be here all day speculating and theorizing the whys of it all. The real question I want to ask  is should she care what people say about her? I don’t care to discuss her political views or my own for that matter. That’s not what this conversation is about. Why is it not OK for her to NOT care what people think of her? If she weren’t Speaker of the House, would people still criticize her as harshly?

How do you think she should handle her criticism?  Does she have the right to not give a damn what people say about her as long as she does her job? Please share your opinions.