Connemaras and women face same bigoted world

CNN is running a series on beauty, and one of the reports centers on a documentary called “Miss Representation.” It suggests that women are losing ground in the battle to be taken seriously in the world.

The documentary’s director, Jennifer Siebel-Newsom, says “Women are aspiring to do great things in leadership, yet the glass ceiling is still there because of the way media depict women.”

The article quotes experts as saying women are more objectified (regarded as objects) than ever due to the onslaught of media images that use “breasts and a coy smile” to get people’s attention. Only shocking images can get through the clutter these days, experts say.

CNN says women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population but hold only 17 percent of seats in the House of Representatives and 3 percent of the CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies.

The documentary shows clips of pundits on mainstream news outlets continually taking shots at Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin over their appearance. It says sexism in the media is affecting women across the board, causing them to cede centuries of hard-fought gains. No matter what women are made of internally, no one looks beyond their outer shell anymore.

Welcome to the world of Connemaras, ladies. It’s all about the shell.

Connemaras the world over are subjected to inspections that measure them from head to toe like beauty pageant contestants. If their measurements aren’t just right, they are tossed out of the pageant.

Nowhere in the inspections process does anyone look at the horse’s heart, ability or mind. In fact, these horses don’t even get the cheesy interview.

But they aren’t just missing out on a $25,000 scholarship. In some countries, the genes of “less than perfect” Connemaras are tossed out like yesterday’s trash. These horses are not allowed to have offspring that can be registered.

The Connemara breed promotes its animals as being some of the smartest, most sure-footed riding animals on the planet. So, people who get a Connemara expect it to do something.

The inspection process assesses horses on doing nothing and casts aside a good many animals based on criteria that have nothing to do with ability.

You wouldn’t take the measurements of the guy you want to fix your brakes.

You wouldn’t take the measurements of the teacher you want to enlighten your child.

You wouldn’t take the measurements of the next president of the United States if he were a man (apparently some people care about the measurements of the candidate if she’s female).

Yet, we are taking the measurements of an animal that we’re promoting for its skills. And we’re discarding many animals because they don’t fit the measurements when in fact they may be far more endowed with the skills we want for the role.

Where are the skills in the inspections?

This is not to say I would be for inspections if they included skills, because I wouldn’t.

I’m saying the whole process is filled with flaws, and this is perhaps the biggest.

Women may be losing ground, but they won’t reach the low bar set by Connemara societies until they are not allowed to have children if they don’t fit the mold.

For women, the mold is being set by men.

Oddly, for Connemaras — at least in America — the mold is being set by women, the very people who suffered to make the hard-fought gains in the first place.