Bill Kintner: Women Are My Biggest Mystery, But Men Are Simple

Women still "don’t even understand themselves," but thankfully we have senators like Bill Kintner to pass laws for us while we try to figure ourselves out. According to the Nebraskan senator in a personal questionnaire for the Lincoln Journal Star, women remain his biggest mystery, while men are actually quite simple.  

Senator Kintner, who remained single for 47 years, touts a traditional upbringing founded in the "moral absolutes of Christianity." Now a married man, he describes his marriage as life-changing, yet somehow remains mystified by the opposite sex. Despite the volume of "books and books and books" written about them (which I'm guessing he hasn't read), no one can understand them. While it's not surprising to read another profile of a conservative male senator that talks about food, baseball, and Christianity, is it too much to ask for the Senator to have a little more to say on gender? As the GOP looks to increase their base in the upcoming elections, it may be wise to brush up on some of those gender books Kintner failed to read.   

Not only does Kintner's comment perpetuate female stereotypes, but it debases males to the role of basic, simple beings. For someone who boasts such a high common sense, why is he demeaning the half of his constituent party to a mystery and the other half to a bunch of simpletons? Had he switched his confusion of the minority group to a racial group or an age-specific demographic, the party's sensor for harm might have been different. Yet when it comes to being a conservative male legislator, knowledge of gender remains acceptably sparse and out of character. While being in touch with women and gender is contradictory to the conservative male politician, it might just be what they need to stay in office.

As the GOP looks to improve their miserable election numbers, they might want to read a few of those books on females. The growing female voter demographic voted for Democrats in the 2012 election, and Kintner's comment might just highlight why. If male GOP senators admittedly know nothing about half their voter population, how can they expect the win them over in the polls? Disconnected conservative males are passing laws that directly impact the so-called confused female beings. To much of Kintner’s dismay, women are quite aware of this, and are actively voting differently.

Let Kintner's candid remark serve as a lesson to GOP as they analyze what they're doing wrong when it comes to winning the popular vote. If women don't have senators that can connect and put faith in female minds, they aren't going to put their faith in those politicians at the polls.