Equinox

The episode of The West Wing that’s always bothered me is “Evidence of Things Not Seen,” which is Episode 20 of Season 4. It takes place on the day of the equinox (in March, not September, but I remembered it because today is an equinox), and one of the continuing subplots is C.J. trying to convince the others that you can stand an egg on its end at the exact moment of the equinox and only at that moment. Oh, and it has to be the vernal equinox, not the autumnal one.1 That someone in the glorious Bartlet White House believes in nonsense isn’t what bothers me. Lots of smart people believe silly things. What’s wrong is that it’s C.J., the primary female character, who believes in superstition while the men around her are pooh-poohing it. I’m sure plenty of women will tell me that’s par for the course for Aaron Sorkin, but it still bothers me. There are two small counters to the general sexism of the egg subplot. First, the men who tell C.J. she’s full of it are themselves wrong. They…