Stuff like this makes me sad. Over and over again I see and hear and find that demeaning, underestimating and abusing women is more acceptable than doing the same to men. Whether it is this hilarious article rebutting an flawed article on women’s inherant inferiority (apparently we can’t manipulate 3-D objects very well). Or this illuminating essay on demeaning language and tactics in the current presidential race called “Goodbye to all that.2” by Robin Morgan. Here are some of her best points:
“Goodbye to the double standard . . .
“Hillary is too ballsy but too womanly, a Snow Maiden who’s emotional, and so much a politician as to be unfit for politics.”
“When a sexist idiot screamed “Iron my shirt!” at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted “Shine my shoes!” at BO, it would’ve inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor”
Goodbye to the toxic viciousness . . .
“Nixon-trickster Roger Stone’s new Hillary-hating 527 group, ‘Citizens United Not Timid‘ (check the capital letters).”
“John McCain answering ‘How do we beat the bitch?’ with ‘Excellent question!’ Would he have dared reply similarly to ‘How do we beat the black bastard?’ For shame.”
“Goodbye to the most intimately violent T-shirts in election history, including one with the murderous slogan “If Only Hillary had married O.J. Instead!” Shame.”
Goodbye to pretending the black community is entirely male and all women are white . . .
“Surprise! Women exist in all opinions, pigmentations, ethnicities, abilities, sexual preferences, and ages — not only African American and European American but Latina and Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, Arab American and — hey, every group, because a group wouldn’t be alive if we hadn’t given birth to it.”
Goodbye, goodbye to . . .
“blaming anything Bill Clinton does on Hillary (even including his womanizing like the Kennedy guys–though unlike them, he got reported on). Let’s get real. If he hadn’t campaigned strongly for her everyone would cluck over what that meant.”
“an era when parts of the populace feel so disaffected by politics that a comparative lack of knowledge, experience, and skill is actually seen as attractive, when celebrity-culture mania now infects our elections so that it’s ‘cooler’ to glow with marquee charisma than to understand the vast global complexities of power on a nuclear, wounded planet.”
“the notion that it’s fun to elect a handsome, cocky president who feels he can learn on the job,”
“goodbye to George W. Bush and the destruction brought by his inexperience, ignorance, and arrogance.”
Goodbye to a misrepresented generational divide . . .
“Goodbye to the so-called spontaneous “Obama Girl” flaunting her bikini-clad ass online—then confessing Oh yeah it wasn’t her idea after all, some guys got her to do it and dictated the clothes, which she said ‘made me feel like a dork.'”
And finally, a statement very close to my own heart:
“Me? I support Hillary Rodham because she’s the best qualified of all candidates running in both parties. I support her because her progressive politics are as strong as her proven ability to withstand what will be a massive right-wing assault in the general election. I support her because she’s refreshingly thoughtful, and I’m bloodied from eight years of a jolly “uniter” with ejaculatory politics. I needn’t agree with her on every point. I agree with the 97 percent of her positions that are identical with Obama’s—and the few where hers are both more practical and to the left of his (like health care). I support her because she’s already smashed the first-lady stereotype and made history as a fine senator, and because I believe she will continue to make history not only as the first US woman president, but as a great US president.”
Inspirational Quote:
If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the precipitate. – Henry J. Tillman
A great article, now go and watch millions of women vote for male candidates! It will happen and it has happened. Millions of feminists are going to vote for men, and so all of this doesn’t matter. IF we can’t back our own feminists and women liberal leaders, you can complain all you want about unfair treatment of Hillary. The ultimate insult is the rejection at the ballot box.
Want to fight back? What to show how powerful women really are? Then get these liberal/radical/moderate/ conservative women out there supporting and voting for other women running for office.
It’s very simple. Call me simple minded, but success on election day is my revenge agains every male insult to women in public life. It is Bill Clinton’s penance for his stupity in office. Every liberal man out there can get sins forgiven by voting for Hillary.
When men know that they won’t win ever if they are sexists or ignore feminists, well then things will change. We have the power, we have the vote. It is ours to lose!
While I agree that the rampant misogyny of our society is a problem, it does not seem to me a good enough reason to vote for Hillary Clinton. Yes, she is a woman, but there are other attributes I believe we should seek in a leader. While she may be suffering attacks from bigots and the right, Barack Obama is suffering racist attacks from *the Hillary Clinton campaign itself*. How can she play victim while at the same time barely even condemning Ferraro’s remarks? I sincerely hope the United States has a female leader, but please can it be one who does not viciously attack people who should be our allies and play fear instead of hope?
Hey Guys,
Thank you very much for your very different comments. While I think it absurd to vote for Hilary because she is a woman, the fact that I feel she is the single best mainstream (there I go, capitulating to CNN) candidate is why I support her. To Eric, Goddess I wish there was a viable cyber-libertarian candidate who was neither isolationist nor so rampantly anti-government that s/he could see no use for it at all, but until that time comes I sort of have to make do.
I guess my problem with Barak is that, though I get shivers listening to him speak, I can get that reaction listening to a tenor sing a high C. I’ve looked at his voting record:
http://www.ppaction.org/ppvotes/person-vote.html?person_id=19820
http://action.aclu.org/site/VoteCenter?congress=110&repId=25424&session_num=0&page=legScore
vs Hilary’s
http://action.aclu.org/site/VoteCenter?congress=110&repId=455&session_num=0&page=legScore
http://www.ppaction.org/ppvotes/person-vote.html?person_id=23245
My biggest problem is: he didn’ vote on some of the greatest human rights issues of our decade. Not because he is anti-choice–but because *he wasn’t there*. Obama 12? Yes! Obama 16? Even better. But we’ve seen what idealism without insider support does in a divided country (see President Carter, best ex-president we have but one of the least effective ever) and to use a bumber-sticker phrase: the President of the United States of America is not an entry level job. Barak has so much potential but I am unswayed by his outsider posture: I think you have to know a system to be effective within it, and I think he needs to learn to live inside the belt-way before he makes much of how broken it is.
Here is my best evidence:
Barak on Petraeus:
Hilary on Petraeus:
Here Clinton impressed the hell out of me; Obama did not. Anyhoo, I am open to disagreement as always! Thanks again for posting (PS: you just got my butt in gear for this post: I have been meaning to put all of this together for a month!)
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Ooops, this poster left her URL as http://www.ooprint.com/obama
I’d rather keep my political views off of my physical business cards–I can’t even imagine trying to apply with a smiling presidential candidate staring my interviewer in the face. Yuck!
If you want to see what a white woman can do for America all you need to do is watch Sex In The City.
I’m not sure of the relevance of your comment, but thanks for visiting! I think comparing the vapidly entertaining rich ladies of Sex and the City (whose many positions are not elected as I understand it) to the hard work and political know how to Senator Clinton is like comparing Barak Obama to Martin Luther King Junior. Racist, inaccurate and quite silly. Drawing conclusions on what anyone can do for America based on their race is essentially racist. Just saying.