“Hillary Clinton is the Only Man in the Obama Administration”: Dual Character Concepts, Generics, and Gender

An acquaintance of mine once remarked, “Hillary Clinton is the only man in the Obama administration”. This acquaintance was not confused about basic descriptive facts concerning the Obama administration, but rather was offering a colorful, negative evaluation of the members of the administration. With this comment, the speaker managed to derogate both the male members of the administration by deeming them not to be men, and Hillary Clinton by deeming her to be a man, and thus not really a woman. The comment is primarily insulting to the male members of the administration – implying that they are weak, passive, and ineffectual -- but is also insulting to Hillary Clinton, suggesting that she has taken on mannish characteristics to the point where she is no longer a woman. The comment further demeans women in general, associating them with undesirable features such as passivity and weakness -- yet at the same time, it cautions women against rejecting these features, lest they end up like the mannish Hillary Clinton.