ABC of Politics: Honor

When Alexander Hamilton agreed to a duel with Aaron Burr, his reason was that, as a General in the US armed forces, he had to have a reputation for courage.

Among men, according to James Bowman in Honor: A History, honor is the reputation for courage. Among women, honor is the reputation for chastity. I believe that male courage is to be understood not just as physical courage, but the moral courage to do the hard thing. I believe that female courage is to be understood not primarily as sexual chastity, but in being "practically perfect in every way."

Now, I believe that the male concept of honor spawns two cultures: the first is the Culture of Courage; the second is a reflection of the Culture of Courage, the Culture of Insult. A man can demonstrate his courage by his fearless actions, that "boldly did outdare / The dangers of the time." Or he can engage in friendly insult with his fellow men, preferably during a friendly mutual consumption of adult beverages.

For women the female culture of honor spawns two cultures: the first is the Culture of Kindness; the second is the Culture of Complaint. A woman can demonstrate to the world her pure femininity by a constant life of kindness. Or she can advertise the lack of kindness in others by constant complaining. George Eliot in Adam Bede suggests that the Culture of Complaint is in fact a desire to be "soothed."

You can see the application of this in the world of politics. The male politician always needs to advertise his courage, his determination to fight for his nation, or for some particular group of voters: "Fighting for Seniors." He can choose either the high road of the Culture of Courage, just demonstrating to the world his courageous nobility, or he can get down and dirty with the Culture of Insult and deploy pejoratives like racist, sexist, or homophobe.

But for women politicians things are more complicated. She must seem to be courageous, yet not aggressively so, and she must combine kindness as a Lady Bountiful with the tough feminist carapace of complaint against the monstrosity of male privilege. And there is always her secret weapon, that a woman's tears always win against a man.