Is it any wonder we have such crappy legislation on women's rights? These boys won't even let us swim in the same pool! Via ReverbPress.com:
The U.S. Senate has long been viewed as a good ol’ boys’ club, and the men have fought to keep it that way. Perhaps the last bastion of that effort was the Senate pool.
No woman was allowed to swim in the Senate pool until 2008. It was an unwritten rule that apparently didn’t get challenged until a little over six years ago when Kay Hagan of North Carolina was elected to the Senate. She simply wanted to be able to swim in a pool that theoretically existed for all 100 senators.
But — 2008?
The problem was that the men of the Senate liked to swim naked together, so they didn’t let women in. You read that right. They were attached to group, male-only skinny dipping.
Yes, in 2008 -- no women were allowed.
Sen. Hagan exposed their sweet set-up by speaking at an abortion rights women’s luncheon in January, 2009. She said:
“Imagine my surprise when I tried to use the Senate members’ gym recently and found out that there is a pool, but — guess what — it’s only for the men.”
A spokeswoman for the pool, Eva Malecki, then had to scramble to clean up the public perception. Within days of Hagan’s speech, she declared that it was all a misunderstanding:
“The Senate gym is a co-ed facility for senators. There are no rules prohibiting women senators from using the pool… Apparently, Senator Hagan was given some misinformation by one of the gym attendants. The practice of the gym is that the pool is only used by the male senators, but that’s not the policy.”
But some of those male senators were so attached to swimming together with their winkies dangling in full view that they still fought the change. According to the story as told in Politico, it took the intervention of the chair of the Senate Rules Committee, Chuck Schumer, to put an end to their ‘practice’ of male privilege.
Since the Politico article came out, speculation has run rampant about just who liked to swim naked. So far, one name has emerged over and over.
Did John Warnr Insist on Swimmin Nakd in the Sen8 Pool? #ChuckSchumer #intervention #JohnWarner #KayHagan #LizaMundy http://t.co/1VqaolsmJe
— Super Gossip (@_SuperGossip) January 7, 2015
Gawker has invited readers to spill information they might have.
Which Male Senators Liked to Swim Naked in the Senate Pool? - Gawker http://t.co/t3yjljLMYU
— Swimming Tweet (@SwimmingTweet) January 7, 2015
