Feminists: Have They Lost Their Little Rabbit Minds?

Lalita Amos | 08/15/2008 - 16:49

In a comment on another post, Bob M, from South Shore Progressive (peace and blessings be on his noggin) asks "Would they (Hillaristas) really rather have a McSame presidency?"

Yes, Bob. They would.

Now, as one trained as a social scientist, I'm facinated (like when you see a mean-looking, hairy, ugly bug crawling on your arm) with the psychology of women--putative feminsts--who would rather see a president who would:

  • Dismantle Affirmative Action (which has benefitted white women more than any other group),
  • Put anti-civil rights judges on the Supreme Court,
  • Sashay reproductive rights back to, say, 1952, and
  • Continue to send their sons and daughters to fight and die in a war we were lied to about the need for

purely, it would seem, out of spite.

Like many Black women, I've been giving the cocked eyebrow to the feminist movement since I came of age in the 80's, wondering why throughout the history of the movement, there has been such a single-minded focus on what was good for white women. An example is the "appropriate work" acts of the 60's and 70's which said, in essence, that if the caseworker could find you "appropriate work," you had to take it. For Black women, it tended to be labor-intensive. For their white sistren, it tended to be work with a discernable career path and less, well, sweat. The racialization of welfare continues today, with case workers regularly treating Black women on welfare differently than their white counterparts.

Here's the kicker: most of the workers in the social welfare system...women.

I'm just going to say it (begin Lalita rant #24): since Sojourner Truth marched up to the front of the church and asked the gathered white suffragettes, "Ain't I a Woman," many white feminists have refused to see race as a feminist issue. I can understand, from having read slave mistress diaries, how powerless they were to impact the overarching system. By the same token, I've read slave mistress diaries, and can see how many of these women reveled in the outright cruelty they could inflict on their dusky "rivals" including having them beaten for burning the morning's pancakes (end Lalita rant #24).

Where am I going with this? Maybe nowhere important, but I think it needs to be said that the FemiClintons don't speak for me...or a whole lot of women who are looking at them with sadness...

...and more than a little fear.

What they stand to do is wreak havoc on the Democratic Party (for whom this election was theirs to lose); divide Blacks and whites, in general--claiming that Blacks are only voting for Senator Obama on the basis of his pigment while ignoring their desire to have women of every color vote for Senator Clinton the basis of their plumbing; and white women from women of color in particular over very different agenda on race, gender, culture and inclusion.

If I wasn't such a lady, I'd tell these chicas to "shut the sweet fuck up."

See? Momma would be proud.


Rebecca Vasko | 08/16/2008 - 16:28 |  on feminism

I agree and think it's important to keep in mind that the most radical elements of any movement are never representative of the whole; they just attract the most attention.

If the Hillarista feminists are of the most extreme variety, then Obama's skin color matters not one whit. They would be happy only if both candidates were women.



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Sheila Suess Kennedy | 08/15/2008 - 17:17 |  Defining our terms

What I find astonishing about the attitude of these particular Clintonistas (and we need to duly note that not every woman who supported Clinton in the primary falls into this category) is their evident definition of feminism--which is apparently "my female candidate no matter what."

My feminism--and I claim the term--is the right to compete on a truly level playing field. That includes the right to fail, just like the guys do.

The bottom line is that this nomination was Hillary's to lose, and SHE LOST IT. It wasn't gender bias, although there was plenty of that, just as there was plenty of racism against Obama. She ran a shitty campaign, a veritable soap opera. What that told me was that whatever her talents, administrative skills weren't among them. As the recent disclosure of her campaign memos makes obvious, she did not control her own people. That doesn't say much for the sorts of skills a President needs. The same criticism is being made about McSame's campaign, and he deserves to lose for the same reason Clinton did. When he does lose(God willing), it won't be due to ageism, which is ALSO there. It will be because he ran a poor campaign.

In my view, the Democratic primary gave us feminists what we have an absolute right to--a fair fight.
Sheila Kennedy



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