Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

POLITICS:

No doubt: Titus is a tough talker

Dina Titus

Dina Titus

Those who know Democratic Rep. Dina Titus were not surprised to hear that she dropped an F-bomb in the presence of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

After all, this is the woman with the wicked wit, who once upbraided an aide on an answering machine message that was uploaded to the Internet for all to hear.

But her introduction to the wider Washington establishment Wednesday as the freshman who told the speaker and colleagues they were “(expletive)” if they didn’t learn the lessons from Republicans’ electoral victory in Massachusetts seals her spot as a tough-talking Nevadan.

Given the level of surprise and amusement over her language, the questions are: Can a woman talk like a man in political circles? Can Titus describe political conditions in the same profanity-laced cadence of, say, a Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff who is known for delivering entire diatribes in four simple letters?

“Women are not supposed to sweat, swear or spit,” said Bonnie Morris, a professor of Women’s Studies at George Washington University. Morris is teaching a course on differences in the expected behavior of male and female athletes.

“It’s unfair because it creates a double standard,” Morris said. Women are more confined by norms and expectations of society.

Men can be almost as crass as they like. It makes them tough. Yet foul-mouthed women walk a fine line between becoming one of the boys — and being viewed as overbearing or inappropriate.

Titus experienced some backlash during her years in Nevada, especially during the 2006 governor’s race when her tough talk was complicated by her Georgia accent, which pegged her as an outsider even though she has lived in Nevada for decades.

In Washington, Titus’ accent is just one of the many regional accents filling the House chamber.

Her F-bomb is not the first to fill the halls either. One colleague called it charming.

Titus was seen as a hero by some of her colleagues for breaking through the background noise to get Pelosi’s ear.

“Sometimes you have to speak up to get anyone’s attention around here,” fellow Nevada Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley said. “There’s a level of frustration around here everybody feels. Dina expressed it — colorfully.”

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