The U. S. House Of Make Me A Sandwich?

     Yes, yes, we had the impeachment vote and if you were surprised the House voted to impeach, you're a rare and wonderfully innocent creature.

     Did you notice that both sides had apparently provided their Representatives with talking points?  Not every Congressthing bothered to stray very far from their party's crib notes during their time at bat and the same ideas and phrases turned up over and over, which makes me sad -- to date, impeachment's been a once-in-a-lifetime event for most Representatives, and that's only if we include all the lower offices: just seventeen times since the very first Congress.*  You'd think they'd want to make the most of it.

     But what really struck me were terms of collegial address used by the Chair:

     The boys are "distinguished gentleman" and "gentleman," possibly distinguished by seniority.
     The women are "gentlewoman" or "young lady."  Consistently.

     Young lady?  A 55- or 60-year old Congresswoman with a touch of gray in her Federal helmet-hair, wearing a nice suit and the gravitas of her office† is "young lady?"

     'Splain me just how these modes of address don't inherently set the chicks a step lower down than the dudes.  Use short words.

     Look, I'm not one to exalt the dignity of elected officials; they're just hired help, after all.  The U. S. House in particular is supposed to be a little rough around the edges, closely linked to the electorate, quick to anger and to mourn, quick to forgive and to celebrate.  They're expected to be rambunctious and argumentative.  But by golly, in general forms of address I'll impugn them all fairly and equally (usually as "Congresscritters" or "Congressthings") and if I'm going to be more dismissive of them, I try to do it one at a time, on their own merits and failings.

     Back in 2017, one of the Representatives (male) addressed a recently-elected Representative (female) as "young lady" (she's not young) and she was understandably riled.  The usual newsies tut-tutted in the usual way and there appeared to be a general consensus that this was Not How It Is To Be Done.  Flash forward to 2019, and the Chair's droning out, "The young lady is recognized" and "The young lady is reminded to direct her remarks to the Chair," high, wide, mighty and routine, and not even the most long-serving woman rates a "distinguished."

     It doesn't sit well with me.  Not even a little bit.  Congressboys, you're not flattering stenographers here; even the dullest female Party hack deserves better than the same form of address rendered to female High School students.  You can either trot out out a secret codicil to the 19th Amendment that says this is okay-fine, or straighten up and play fair.
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* For those you keeping track of the stats, they're seven out of seventeen overall for convictions, and zero for two when it comes to Presidents.

† Or possibly regretting her choice of lunch.  The two expressions are very difficult to tell apart on television.  Based on my casual observations with a TV playing while I was working yesterday, constipation runs rife in the House of Representatives.