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Cognoscenti: Great Man, Wily Temptress?

November 16, 2012
Former Commander of International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Gen. Davis Petraeus shaking hands with Paula Broadwell, co-author of his biography, "All In: The Education of General David Petraeus." (ISAF/AP File)

Former Commander of International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan Gen. Davis Petraeus shaking hands with Paula Broadwell, co-author of his biography, “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus.” (ISAF/AP File)

Paula Broadwell, the woman with whom General David Petraeus admitted to having an affair, has captivated the American media since we were all introduced to her a week ago.

She’s been called a “siren” and a “temptress,” but journalist and professor Eileen McNamara calls Broadwell something else — a disappointment to the gender equality movement. McNamara joins Radio Boston to explain why.

Guest:

  • Eileen McNamara, professor of journalism at Brandeis Univeristy and Pulitzer Prize winning former columnist for The Boston Globe

More: 

  • J__o__h__n

    How is this local news?  Just because it was the subject of a Cognocenti essay by a local journalist/columist?

  • J__o__h__n

    Broadwell isn’t as nearly accomplished as Petreus.  She didn’t even write the book as she had a ghostwriter.  Her role in the scandal isn’t what will prevent her from being offered a college presidency. 

  • Yobo2

    Why doesn’t it occur to Eileen McNamara that she is one of the very people who is judging women more harshly than men?

    And, anyway…. Did she  just say what I think she said? – that she used to decry the double standard but, since things haven’t changed (or haven’t changed fast enough), she has not only given up, but has joined the ranks of those who demonize women?  What a freakin’ lightweight! I say get lost, Eileen — the women’s movement doesn’t need a woos like you anyway.

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