There are a lot of lessons Hillary Clinton has had forced upon her during this primary season, most of which are uniquely related to her status as a successful, competent woman candidate. She’s been told to shout less, smile more. But yesterday Clinton revealed that there is an even sadder lesson she has learned: She can have cake, but she can’t eat it, too (at least not in front of the press corp).
On Saturday, Clinton stopped by famed Brooklyn cheesecake emporium Junior’s for a photo op, where she sat at the counter and … looked at three slices of cheesecake. “I learned early on not to eat in front of all of you,” she said, when asked if she was going to partake of any of the desserts. “So, I’m sitting here just pining, pining for a bite with my friends here.”
Hillary perfectly embodies the warring impulses of women and public eating. One side, the socially enforced desire to appear ladylike and in control, battling, on the other, with the desire to scarf down half of a strawberry cheesecake because you just lost Wyoming. For cake’s sake, let’s all members of the media agree to look the other way and let the woman have a bite.
