BuzzFeed contributor Angela Serratore wrote a piece wondering about what former President Bill Clinton‘s role would be if his wife, Hillary, wins the presidency.
The author, a historian, wondered about what jobs the “First Gentleman” would do, and what duties he’d assign himself.
In what may be the most illuminating sentence of the story, she writes, “Bill Clinton, of course, has already lived in the White House, and he wouldn’t be first lady, because he is a man.”
(Really. He’s a man?)
She asks lots of important questions:
“Will the former governor and president and current head of a multibillion-dollar global foundation be content to take on a supporting role in his wife’s administration, or will his own complicated relationship to power and celebrity result in a refashioning of the job itself? If the job does change for Bill (and not the other way around), will it stick, opening up new opportunities for first spouses regardless of gender, or will the privilege to change the role of first lady be revoked once the first ‘first man’ leaves office?”
“What would it mean if we really did ask a man to do things we’ve thus far only seen women do? Would he too be feminized, or is it possible we’re ready to expand our conceptions of gendered labor?”
(Seriously. Will Bill Clinton be feminized?)
She writes that the idea of a male “First Gentleman is “fascinating.”
Which it is, if the writer had any information to offer about it.