Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, is wildly accomplished by any measure. She has an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and she is an author, a civil-rights activist, and the first Indian-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. But — and here’s the catch — she’s also a lady, which means despite her qualifications she is still subjected to smug condescension from her male colleagues, who seem to worry that she’s unable hear over the deafening sound of her ovaries. On Wednesday, Jayapal posted a video to Twitter in which she calls out GOP congressman Darrell Issa for “mansplaining” to her during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
While discussing proposed amendments to the Agricultural Guest Worker Act of 2017, which would would cap the number of guest workers at 450,000, Issa said: “Amendments have consequences, and what I find a little bit frightening about this amendment is the naïveté of the gentle lady from Washington.”
Later, Jayapal responded: “If that is naive, as my distinguished colleague from California suggests, then perhaps we should all go back to being naïve and actually fight for our constituents and fight for the rights that make this country great.”