Yeah, What Melissa Said. Although I expect it to do zero good right now. Too much macho celebrating going on. And, we're smack dab in the middle of a retrograde Mercury, which, doesn't, you know, help.
To which, I'll just add that the oppressors don't get to determine which behavior/language/actions are oppressive. I'm a white woman and that means that I don't get to tell African Americans, "Oh, hell, that's not racist! Grow the fuck up!" If they tell me that my behavior wounds them, there's a 99.95% chance that my behavior is racist, even if I didn't "mean" it as racist and even if I'm "sorry if they got offended."
The same is true of sexism. When you have a whole hell of a lot of female bloggers saying that this campaign has been full of wounding, sexist behavior and comments -- when even today, I was told that Clinton's supporters just need to go see Sex and the City, have a cosmo, buy shoes, and see Chippendales, but when I mentioned the sexist nature of the comments was told that all I had was a hammer so everything looked to me like a nail -- then, you need to listen and consider, in the bowels of the Goddess, that you may be wrong. Your behavior/comments are very likely sexist. And continuing to repeat them won't do anything to help us all unite -- as we need to -- behind the historic opportunity to elect America's first African American president.
I am just saying.
9 comments:
Thanks for the link, hecate.
Aside from what were once "liberal" MSM voices, eg., Olbermann (see digby's post on that), I've been saddened by the misogynistic discourse at favorite blogs, too, some of the biggest offenders being younger women.
After nearly eight years of Republican hate, fearmongering and divisiveness, it's terribly disappointing to see it happen within groups of people who first found each other looking for sanctuary from all that.
Hecate, I am really broken hearted and devastated beyond belief right now about what the media and some party leaders have done to her.
I know that you are a lot older than me and that you have seen things like this your entire life, but call me a good natured person who believes, stupidly of course, in a fair and just world.
We had a CHANCE Hecate. We got SO CLOSE. And what's worse, she won the popular vote. More votes than any other Presidential Primary Candidate in history. She won more votes Hecate, than not only Barack Obama, but FDR, JFK, LBJ...
More Presidential Primary votes than any other man.
And she STILL didn't win.
And I am just so stunned and so shocked about what has happened.
Undermine the Patriarchy, every chance we get, I know.
Hecate...
Little Isis needs some comfort. Come over to my blog. I am really sad right now.
The patriarchy stole the last two elections. Now, it steals the most important primary ever. I'm crying.
My boss is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. She and I were both going to vote for Hillary for President. It seems like every woman I know over the age of 35 is angry and heartbroken today.
I fear for this country. I was so looking forward to this election, this election that was going to start the healing from the hell of the last eight years, but, now, I'm more scared than ever. We have a mad, warmongering, loose cannon facing off against the Jimmy Carter of the Third Millennium. Yes, that's what I've been calling him for months. I well remember Carter's disastrous presidency. The presidency that opened the door to the neocons.
I said to my boss, "My idea of moving to Canada is looking better, isn't it?" She looked sad and nodded. She's also scared to death to have either of those idiots in the Presidency.
I saw your post and the one at the link you posted. Both encapsulated my feelings of sadness. I also fully understand the Clinton supporters who are angered.
I feel like those who want to celebrate and there are plenty of places to do that, but if some us want to withdraw quietly a bit to morn or not so quietly bitch just let us be. There is plenty of time until November where we can I hope again find common cause, but not if we are scolded like a bunch of children.
K.
As my FB status read yesterday: "Elizabeth is hoping the Obama supporters can tone down the misogynist comments for at least a few days to give us time to adjust."
Well, no such luck. Daily Kos, I'm looking at you.
I have no problem with Obama other than the fact that he seems pretty inexperienced. Pace JFK, though, that might not turn out to be a big deal.
I have HUGE problems with his supporters. So I'll vote for him, but the chances that I'll be campaigning or donating any of my upper middle class over 35 salary to help his candidacy are pretty slim indeed.
And, in the back of my mind rests the sneaking suspicion that there was a right-wing plot afoot to take out the stronger candidate, and they played so-called liberal men's sexism just right to get the liberal men to do it for them.
'Cause you KNOW the key theme of McCain's campaign is going to be: "This guy only spent 2 years in national political office before he pretty much quit his day job in the Senate to campaign."
Persephone said...
The patriarchy stole the last two elections. Now, it steals the most important primary ever. I'm crying.
My boss is a Republican. I'm a Democrat. She and I were both going to vote for Hillary for President. It seems like every woman I know over the age of 35 is angry and heartbroken today.
I fear for this country. I was so looking forward to this election, this election that was going to start the healing from the hell of the last eight years, but, now, I'm more scared than ever. We have a mad, warmongering, loose cannon facing off against the Jimmy Carter of the Third Millennium. Yes, that's what I've been calling him for months. I well remember Carter's disastrous presidency. The presidency that opened the door to the neocons.
I said to my boss, "My idea of moving to Canada is looking better, isn't it?" She looked sad and nodded. She's also scared to death to have either of those idiots in the Presidency.
2:59 AM
Even Ann f***ing Coulter loved Hillary. Ann F***ing Coulter.
Who was the real uniter in this race?
And I don't bet that a Right Wing Conspiracy theory to nominate the weaker candidate is wrong.
I am heartbroken like the rest of you, and Canada is looking like an amazing idea.
I don't want to vote for either of these morons.
And this was supposed to be our election.
And this heartbreak that people feel right now, has more consequences than the ignorant are willing to admit.
Being a 45+, half-black, half-white female all I can say is that Hillary awakened the feminist in me after too many years of my life being devoted to the race issue (or rather my refusal to CONFORM to a race issue). I voted for her because I'm a woman first, black second. Yes, I was told by others of color I was a traitor for not voting or supporting Obama but I've always been considered a traitor to most of my fellow blacks because I don't give a shit about race or screaming racism (shit get over it already, white folks DO NOT spend their evenings planning ways to make your life hell). Yes, I was/am proud that a Black American is the nominee, I can get with his stand on race but in the end, he's just another MAN who's going to be in charge. So while I'm happy to see race become less of an issue, I'm broken-hearted to see just how misogynistic we are as a nation. It's as f-ed up as racism was before, during and after civil rights.
As a 50-year-old white woman, I was appalled by the way Hillary and company completely mishandled her Presidential campaign. I was embarrassed for her when she grasped at the nomination, saying that caucuses weren't a good idea when they didn't go her way, cringing at Bill Clinton's comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson in North Carolina, her saying that only she and McCain had the Commander In Chief cred (which the McCain campaign is ALREADY using against Obama), and most lately the ridiculous way she was trying for Veep - publicly, rather than privately to the Obama campaign, in a way calculated to create a no-win for Obama, and make her partisans even more prejudiced against an Obama candidacy. She kept Penn as her campaign head even after he made mistake after compounding mistake. I don't think that any of this bodes well for her judgment as Pres.
When Obama first announced his candidacy I winced - I thought it wasn't his time. Evidently Democrats all over the US disagreed with me. And I came to see that the clusterfsck that was the Clinton campaign wouldn't survive the general election, either - and switched.
BTW - the "I won the popular vote" meme doesn't hold, as it completely ignores the caucus states, and counts votes for her from FL and MI - and Obama wasn't even on the ballot in the latter! Not to mention that her insistence on those delegations being seated - after agreeing with the DNC which had ruled that they were out of order - smacks of hypocrisy. Blame sexism all you'd like, but as a feminist myself, I knew that Hillary was an extremely polarizing figure, whether or not she is brilliant. The issue wasn't that she was a woman, but that she was Hillary. Remember that she had the highest negatives of any candidate, Dem or Rep?
But I suppose you'll say that was because she was a woman.
Hecate, it's your blog, do you want to answer sravana?
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