Katie Pavlich: Breaking the glass ceiling is not just for liberal women

Last week the ladies of “The View” proved once again that they never left the “mean girl” stage of high school, even when it comes to discussing presidential politics. 

GOP candidate Carly Fiorina “kicked off her thing saying, ‘You know, people tell me I didn’t smile enough during the last debate.’ She looked demented. Her mouth did not downturn once,” co-host Michelle Collins said in response to the former Hewlett-Packard CEO’s joke during the CNBC debate in Boulder, Colo., last week.

{mosads}“Like a Halloween mask! I love that!” Joy Behar piled on as Whoopi Goldberg nodded in agreement.  

“The ‘Smiling Fiorina,’ can you imagine,” Collins continued. 

Interesting how the men on that same debate stage weren’t described in the same derogatory way. How sexist. 

That conversation made headlines and prompted a response from the 2016 White House hopeful over the weekend. 

“I think what these women represent is a set of liberal feminists who believe that if you do not agree with them on their liberal orthodoxy, that you don’t count. I’m tired of being insulted by liberal feminists who talk about women’s issues when the reality is every issue is a woman’s issue, from the economy to ISIS to Russia to healthcare to education to the national debt, women care about all of that,” Fiorina said during an interview with “Fox News Sunday.” 

“It’s funny, I was on ‘The View’ a few months ago, they said none of that to my face,” she went on. “There is nothing more threatening to the liberal media in general and to Hillary Clinton in particular than a conservative woman. So of course there’s a double standard, and conservative women from Sarah Palin to Michele Bachmann to Carly Fiorina are long used to this.”

Feminism is defined as “the doctrine advocating social, political and all other rights of women equal to those of men.” Unfortunately for the left, conservative Carly Fiorina fits into that definition. 

Fiorina started her career as a secretary, and through hard work and equal treatment, she made her way to CEO of one of the biggest technology companies in the world. She was the first female chief executive of a Fortune 50 company in a world of Good Ol’ Boys clubs. 

Throughout her entire career and during her time at HP, Fiorina had to make difficult decisions and tough calls and weather controversies. That’s the definition of leadership. She did it as an empowered woman who was willing to put in the work and take the hits. She was held responsible for her actions in the same ways the men were. 

Isn’t this the type of career liberal feminists have been demanding for decades? 

Not only has Fiorina advocated for equal rights for women, she’s lived her entire life as an example of equality and the American dream. And today, she’s running for president of the United States as a Republican. 

Fiorina’s campaign is a threat to the bogus idea that the left has a monopoly on political thought, and it destroys the notion that women should vote for Democrats if they know what’s good for them. The attack by the ladies of “The View” isn’t about Fiorina, it’s about circling the wagons around Hillary Clinton in her bid for the presidency, embracing character assassination and snuffing out female competition without intellectual debate. When they talk about Fiorina’s “demented face,” they aren’t talking about her long record in business, and they certainly aren’t comparing it to Clinton’s record. 

Fiorina describes herself as Hillary Clinton’s “worst nightmare,” and that’s because she is. Rather than treat women as a special interest group, Fiorina treats them as equals with interests outside of their reproductive system and understands that the policies of the Obama administration, which Clinton plans to carry forward, are detrimental to everyone. 

Fiorina will appear on “The View” Friday and will certainly add substance to the conversation. Whether Michelle Collins will be prepared for the challenge is uncertain. 

“I will face the ladies of ‘The View’ for the second time Friday. I’m looking forward to it. I don’t need an apology,” the former businesswoman said Monday on “Fox and Friends.” “My message to the ladies of ‘The View’ is man up. If you want to debate me on policies, the Obama administration, for example, has been bad for women, Planned Parenthood is harvesting baby parts — if you don’t like those facts or those messages, man up and debate me on them. But don’t sink to talking about my face. 

“My candidacy has been called offensive to women, by women. I’ve been told I hate women because I’m pro-life, by women. This is what liberals do too often, they attack the messenger instead of dealing with the truth of our message.”

Breaking through glass ceilings isn’t reserved for liberals. As Fiorina has proven, conservative women break glass ceilings too. 

Pavlich is the news editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.