”What’s your name?” (asked Senator Trent Lott)

I’m Karen Hinton, I said, as we shook hands.

“Are you with Thad’s stable?”

“His what?” I asked.

“His stable. You know, the women who work for him.”

For some reason, I was feeling feisty. I wasn’t looking to pick a fight with a US Senator my first week on the job, but maybe a glass of wine I’d had helped me channel Gloria or Janice.

“Yes, I know who they work for, Senator,” I said to Lott. “Though I’m not sure I’d call them a stable. I know how to ride a horse, but I’m not a horse. I work for Congressman Mike Epsy.”

– Karen Hinton, Penis Politics

In today’s podcast Karen Hinton discusses Penis Politics and how the power differential between men and women shape women’s choices and careers.

Topics include:

• How cultural context drives women’s assessments of the options they have available and the choices they make.
• The lifelong impact that a single harassing event can have on the entire trajectory of a woman’s life.
• Why women frequently find themselves questioning their interactions with powerful men and exit rooms of power.
• How women can help change the cultural context and hold men in power accountable for their actions.

Karen Hinton is the author of Penis Politics: A Memoir of Women Men and Power.  She served as press secretary to Andrew Cuomo when he was federal Housing Secretary and later to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. She began her career as a reporter in Mississippi and Colorado; served as press secretary to Congressman Mike Espy; worked for the Democratic National Committee; and held various positions in communications and public relations. Hinton regularly contributes to the New York Daily News and other publications, focusing on the topics of #MeToo, sexual harassment, and skewering big oil, big banks, and other big bullies. A University of Mississippi graduate, Hinton and her husband divide their time between New Orleans and New York City.

Click here to purchase the book

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Karen Hinton

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Penis Politics

• Book website

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