Terminally whinyWhiny means having an unpleasantly complaining tone, but it is also associated with having a kind of high-pitched voice. Think about the whine of a drone or a schnauzer. Further, it is associated with trivial and unimportant issues.
Always complaining about something trivial. That’s me. And Hilary Clinton. Also, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie.
When people are categorized as whiny, it is suggesting that the issues they are raising and for which they are advocating aren’t serious. It has a connotation that we are unable to solve our own problems so are forced into this juvenile form of complaint.
If being described as whiny sounds a bit sexist, that’s because it is. How often do you hear men in positions of power categorized as whiny?
In categorizing me as whiny, it is a personal attack on my voice and style of speaking in as much as it is a dismissal of the issues for which I’m advocating.
Whining again about inequity? Ugh.
Using my whiny voice to talk about racism, sexism, ableism? How annoying!
The fact is that women in any form of leadership are punished for embodying what are often perceived to be more masculine traits such as being plain spoken, strong, and formal. We are also punished for being feminine and seen as too soft to understand or advocate for infrastructure, budgets, and the economy. When we stand up for issues which impact people in our community in a real way, we also receive gendered attacks for being whiny (Tolley et al., 2023). It’s more than “damned if we do, damned if we don’t”, but it’s also “damned however we do.”
With that in mind, I will continue to stand up for issues that I know matter to people in our community, even with my little whiny lady voice.
References
‘Whiny, Fake, and I Don’t Like Her Hair’: Gendered Assessments of Mayoral Candidates. Erin Tolley, Andrea Lawlor, and Alexandre Fortier-Chouinard. Urban Affairs Review 2023 59:4, 977-1012
Nadine Nakagawa 