About Bill "meeting a girl."

[stopbush]

Let me explain something to Rachel and the other youngsters out there (yes, at 43, Rachel is a youngster): those of us who are over 60 look back on our lives from a different perspective than youngsters.

First, youngsters probably haven't even reached the point where they're looking back. But we do look back. As Bill said, we're closer to the end of our lives than the beginning, painfully so. Thinking back to our 40s means thinking back 20, 30 years into the past.

Second, we look back at things we said and did in our 40s and 50s and wonder how we could have made such immature decisions. Imagine what we think about what our beliefs were like when we were just kids in our 20s and 30s. Yes, we were boys and girls.

Third, that's how we spoke back then. If you need proof, watch TV shows from the 70s to see what I mean.

Last, you know you're getting old when you look at photos of yourself from the past, photos that you thought made you look fat at the time. Now, you're amazed at how skinny you used to be.

[uponit7771]

1. +1, Clinton called himself a boy also... I think RM got caught up with verbiage vs the story...

... it was cute

[rusty quoin]

2. I have to admit you are right. The thinking you were fat brings it all home.

Wisdom is the key. Good thread...it really gets me remembering.

[EffieBlack]

9. "I wish I were the size I was the first time I thought I was fat . . ."

[rusty quoin]

10. Oh me too.

[Tal Vez]

3. Yes, those of us over 60 might wonder why the word "girl" could cause anyone concern.

In fact, "girl" has got to be a few rungs up from the word "chick" that we regularly used back in the Sixties.

[scscholar]

11. What about bird?

Heard that one yesterday, and it bothered me.

[Tal Vez]

38. I think bird was more British, but it's the same thing.

I think that we are always safe in assuming that no matter what labels we use today, some of them will someday be viewed as primitive and demeaning. It really is a bit like pop music. How many folks are listening to Caruso or swing? Some music and some words are more durable than others. For the most part, people try to do the right thing and it's helpful to judge them in the context of their environments.

[radical noodle]

4. Yes! I'm 69 and look back on my 20s when I was a "girl"

There is truly a different perspective. Great explanation, stopbush! Look at the TV show the Golden Girls. It's when girl is used in a negative fashion "you run like a girl" or "girl, go get me a beer" that we get bent out of shape. Bill said it perfectly.

[DesertRat]

5. Well said. k&r

[zz-la]

6. Are we getting to the point where people cannot speak passionately about the love of their life

I honestly have no idea what Rachel was even talking about. "I met a girl..." is not a anti-woman slur, I mean christ how could anyone mistake that. I honestly expected that crap from the constantly morally outraged, sexually repressed conservatives, but from a liberal. SMH.

[asiliveandbreathe]

7. Very well said...

Hubby of 32 years and I look back all the time - good times and not so good times.

- we laugh, we cry, and everything in between - we forgive and learn -

Everyone has a story - it is just Bill and Hillary are in the public eye - I heard Terms of Endearment -

For those who are uncomfortable with my girl..here ya' go -

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=my+girl+song&view=detail&mid=DB266FEBBC191822293CDB266FEBBC191822293C&FORM=VIRE


My girl - The Temptations

[Cha]

8. Great points, stop.. I still

say "girl" @ times.. so sue me!

[riderinthestorm]

12. WTF? You are justifying infantalizing a Yale Law School student?!

I'm of that "age".

He's demonstrated his utter disdain for grown women.

I shudder.

[giftedgirl77]

16. Lol

[ecstatic]

18. Please tell me that is sarcasm? nt

[Maru Kitteh]

19. Oh, for cripes sakes. Fuck if he did, and you know it. Fauxrage, try selling it elsewhere.

You shudder, I laugh. Heartily.

[msanthrope]

20. Okay....that's the four letter word describing HRC you are worried about? nt

[JI7]

21. maybe the thinking is that if they are outraged enough

at things like "girl and boy" or criticism of melania it can make up for the use of the C word towards Hillary.

[BainsBane]

24. Some seem to prefer

Terms like c..t, w...e, and b...h. Whereas a man describing his young courtship as between a boy and a girl is unacceptable. Meanwhile, those of us who supported her in the primary were called vagina voters, and her extensive qualifications undermined by those insisting her gender was all she has going for her.

I'm not falling for this charade. It's the latest excuse to undermine her candidacy.

[Chitown Kev]

22. oh my stars and garters!

[FSogol]

30. LOL, we should get rid of all terms of endearment, right?

[greatauntoftriplets]

37. Oy.

[stopbush]

41. It gets worse: people of all ages call their partner "baby."

Extreme shudder!!

[nolabear]

44. To quote the great Ryan Gosling: "Hey Girl..."

If Mr. Bear spoke about me in the glowing, love and friendship terms Bill Clinton used last night the fact that he'd called my 21-year-old self a girl would be sweet. Boys and girls. Kids. One in love with the other. It was lovely and to jump on that shows a lot about a deep prejudice in a woman I admire (Rachel).

[Tatiana]

47. It would be no different from her saying "I met a guy..." in reference to Bill.

They are friends, confidants, and life partners. They aren't in a simple business or transactional relationship. That was the point Bill was making in trying to portray Hillary as softer and more human.

Everyone knows about her intellectual bonafides. What they need to see is Hillary the woman.

[Ms.Lib]

13. Totally agree.

I thought it was very sweet & endearing. And Rachel wasn't exactly the demographic he was shooting for, which apparently blew right over her head.

[lucca18]

14. You said it perfectly!

I can relate to exactly what Bill Clinton was saying.
He took us on a journey of their life, and it was lovely....

[phleshdef]

15. I'm 36 and would definitely describe my wife who I met in our early 20s...

...as a girl when describing her at that age. She would also describe me as a boy or "some guy" when talking about me at the same age.

[leftofcool]

17. I used to be a girl. Still skinny but now I am just an old crone

[nolabear]

46. Never preface "old crone" with "just." I hate that word but it denotes power and wisdom.

We women of an age rock the world. Always did.

[BainsBane]

23. Ridiculous poutrage

That completely ignores the seriously misogyny evident thoughout this election.

[duncang]

25. Even now we use some terms close to it

My wife was my girl friend before we married. I was her boy friend then. (Still are after 40+ years) Using boy or girl as a sign of endearment is nothing wrong. I'll admit to still saying to her "come on girl lets go". And she is real close to retirement.

[BeyondGeography]

26. Girlfriends and boyfriends

Who knew we were violating one person's future codes of correct discourse.

[Mike Nelson]

27. Hope someone sends these to Rachel...

...she's wrong. I think someone might have suggested Bill change "girl" to "young woman" but I'm glad he introduced her as he felt. The Clintons have been criticized for being to "programmed" and inauthentic. It is not wrong for men and women in their 50s and 60s to refer to themselves as girls and boys in their 20s. It is real.

[Koinos]

28. Here is an excellent analysis of Bill's speech and why it worked so well.

"Bill Clinton Pulls Off a Presidential First: A First Lady Speech Delivered by a Man"

http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/07/clinton-is-first-man-to-give-first-lady-speech.html

I believe that "boy meets girl" perfectly describes how they felt about each other. Bill was telling us how he fell in love with her.

This narrative totally demolished the Republican "made up" caricature of who she is. Bill revealed the real humanity of Hillary to us, and he did it with facts.

His speech was a home run.

ETA: Has Rachel ever listened to how elderly married people talk fondly about how they first met?

[Native]

29. Gee, I thought it was contextually significant to use the term "girl."

You know, in order to contrast the younger Hillary, the "girl" he first met, with the woman she soon thereafter became. This was his story. He was the author. He's allowed some artistic license. Rachel seems to forget that this is part of his biography - how he looks at life and remembers his and Hill's history together. It was not a news report.

She was way out of line.

[sufrommich]

31. Very well said. My first thought too. I'm 59 and

also look back to my early twenties as being a kid.

[PatSeg]

32. Yes

And we would refer to a young Bill as a "boy". Some people are over analyzing again.

[OnDoutside]

33. I have EXCLUSIVE video of where Hillary asked Bill out...see here

[tammywammy]

34. This is really a thing? I'm glad I watched the convention on PBS. n/t

[R B Garr]

35. Agreed, and based on how he presented his thought processes, he was emphasizing

that he was awkward at the time. That was very clear, and it makes sense he would think in the terms of the "boy meets girl" stage of life.

[workinclasszero]

36. With all the horrible things going on in this world

Its amazing to me that Rachel chooses Bill Clinton calling his future wife "girl" 40 years ago or so is what she chooses to throw an on camera fit about.

[stopbush]

43. Imagine if Bill had called her "schmoopy."

(Seinfeld! reference)

[workinclasszero]

45. LOL

I guess it would be the end of the world at Rachel's desk

[nolabear]

48. LOL! I love "Schmoopy."

It's so perfectly maudlin.

[Peacetrain]

39. Well stated

[Turin_C3PO]

40. Hell,

that's how us Millennials speak, for the most part. I am 32 years old now but until my late 20s whenever I met someone at a bar I would say, "I met a cool girl last night". I never thought it to be misogynist.

[alcibiades_mystery]

42. I'm glad I'm still a youngster!

[DFW]

49. When I was 22, I met a girl

Now, 42 years later, she's my wife. It's all just terminology of the time. We don't use any of those English terms anyway, since we have always spoken German together since the day we met.