The anger of Hillary Rodham Clinton

There’s a lot of snickering in the media and political worlds about Hillary Clinton’s temper flare-up while traveling in the Congo.

Asked about her husband’s opinion, Secretary Clinton replied with incredulity:

“You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?”

The AP reported:

“My husband is not secretary of state, I am,” an obviously annoyed Clinton said sharply. “If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channeling my husband.”

The video, which you can see here (scroll to the bottom) shows the Secretary of State in a rare unguarded moment.

She is, to put it mildly, furious.

The scene put me in mind of this recent clenched-teeth moment with California Senator Barbara Boxer.

She asks a military officer testifying before her Senate panel to call her “Senator” and not “ma’am.”

“It’s just the thing,” Boxer said. “I worked so hard to get that title. So I would appreciate it.”

These moments are fascinating markers, evidence of a wholesale shift in American society.

Women hold more and more positions of real authority. And that makes people nervous, resentful, angry.

(I think Bill Clinton’s fascination with essentially powerless women says more about insecurity over his wife than it says about his libidio.)

Women, too, are still exploring what their new power means.

If they haven’t shattered the glass ceiling, they’ve at least hoisted it far higher than their mothers (and fathers) imagined possible.

These gains are incredibly recent and there are still a lot of raw nerves, a lot of questions of style and etiquette still being worked out.

All the snickering tells you just how far women (and men) still have to go.