When it comes to women being taken “seriously” (even though they rarely are because of what is perceived as their “emotional” delivery and frivolous nature), it still requires the likes of someone with clout such as Michelle Obama to convince people that being a woman is an empowering, “noble” thing.

Thus, without Michelle to back you DNC convention-style, you can be sitting at a stodgy bar like Teddy’s in Williamsburg and have to deal with explaining to a “man” who horns in on your conversation why someone like Madonna is actually talented, regardless of the fact that his mind has been so brainwashed by the need to regurgitate what the media has said that there’s no point in having a meaningful exchange.

When you present him with the facts, he will ignore what you have to say not just because he’s already made up his mind about his opinion, but because your aesthetic as a woman isn’t something he can process as worth accepting information from. On the other hand, perhaps if you were wearing a staid powdered white wig à la George Washington, he might actually take into consideration what you had to say, instead of turning to your “male” cohort and asking him if he wants another drink, brushing off the ninny he perceives before him.