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Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:00 AM

Gloria Steinem on Barack Obama

In an Op-Ed in the New York Times, she says he'd never make it as a woman.

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Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:44 PM

Hillary would never make it as a black man

I'm just sayin....

BTW, this article is ridiculous. What's the point?

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:48 PM

Gloria is right

The media depicts Hillary's gender as "divisive," and Obama's race as "unifying." When a man has knowledge and experience, he's seen as "wise," but Hillary's knoweldge and experience, make her "old" and a "know it all."

Sexism is deeply rooted in our culture, and we aren't even able to discuss it because the media always changes the subject to race.

Oh well. Get ready for President McCain or President Romney.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:49 PM

Steunem: Is a has been old school with zero street cred...White Woman have it tougher than Black males will never sale

Gloria must be smoking some old ganja with this convoluted commentary. She claims she does not want to create a wedge between white woman and Blacks but this type of myopic logic does just that.

White woman have always rode on the tails of white men and have always piggyback on them as well. White woman have been more governors, senators, cabinet positions, board members,they even created a patty hearst/stockhom syndrome excuse to get an out of jail free card that Black males could never create..

Gloria needs to get on the Obama ship... there is plenty of opportunity there even for privledged old white woman like her..

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:50 PM

And let's make Hillary Clinton a fictional man...

  • Our smart idealistic man marries an ambitious, philandering woman who becomes a successful politician
  • Our fellow has a major public failure at attempt to reform health care during wife's administration
  • Our fellow is cuckolded by wife's very public dalliance with a much younger man
  • Our fellow goes on to run for Senate, and provides undistinguished but honorable Senate service
  • Our fellow, however, when faced with the most critical vote of his career, overlooks the facts and votes not with his conscience, but for purely political aims, and votes to support an absurd and pointless war that ends up costing America trillions of dollars, thousands of lives, and the world's respect
  • For two decades, our fellow maintains a somewhat strident, dispassionate personality, and is not known for warmth, or charisma, or being an inspirational public speaker

I don't think any man running on that record would do any better.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:51 PM

Oprah

while Oprah may not ever have a chance to be president I don't think she's really interested in being president. In some ways she may be more powerful and clearly she's much more wealthy. She seems to have a power over women, especially, that is unmatched by anyone. I think it is no coincidence that she is on Obama's bandwagon.

In some ways I do feel sorry for Hillary. But her negatives (rightly or wrongly) have always been too high for her to end up being president. Thank goodness her inevitability has been replaced by his.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:51 PM

Anon

Racism is ingrained in our culture too, which is evident from your lack of support for Obama.

Hey, I'm just playing by your rules here.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:55 PM

That ain't no woman, baby; it's a man, man!

Great reply, AncientAssyrian. That was an awesome reply to a nonsense article.

Now we just need Debra Dickerson to come up with one of her subtle, nuanced cultural critiques of Obama, and we'll have Salon Yahtzee!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 12:56 PM

Obama isn't a woman

Obama isn't a woman, Hilary isn't a man. Should they somehow trade bodies? The point then is that Obama isn't a woman and Hilary isn't a man? Yes, I think we'll all agree to that.

So we should treat Obama differently because he isn't a woman and Hilary differently because she isn't a man? How confusing this is all becoming. Would Nancy Pelosi cut it as a man? Would Al Gore cut it as a woman? What in the hell is this about?

Are men and women treated differently by men and women? Should men and women not be treated differently by men and women? But then there'd be no men or women.

Would anyone be listening to Steinem if she was a man?

Would you Catherine be writing for Broadsheet if you were a man?

Okay, let's all just be Beings, that'll settle things.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 01:00 PM

I Saw This Coming

I knew that if Hillary started to lose, America's reaction to her gender would be blamed for it. "America isn't ready for/can't handle a woman president." Bias exist, against women, African Americans, gays and lesbians but America is growing up and has come a long way. This is supported by the fact that Obama is doing so well, and that Hillary Clinton was the Democratic front-runner for so long. The voters, so far, aren't turning away from Hillary Clinton because she's a woman. I've spoken to so many people in the past couple of weeks: white men, white women, black women, young, old, middle aged, west coast, south, mid west, conservative, liberal. Everyone I've spoken to is excited about Obama (though a good many of them support Edwards even more, they just don't think he can win). Everyone I've spoken to is equally suspicious of Clinton. It's her record. It's her war vote, and all the other votes she's tossed in with GW Bush. It's her lack of full honesty. People feel she's not being up front with them, that she's hiding something, and they don't trust her. That's why Hillary is slipping. This is across the board — Democrats and Republicans that I've spoken to. If Hillary had run in 2004 she might have represented the change the country was looking for, with so many already fed up with GW Bush. She waited because she didn't want to run against an incumbent. Now, the country is so fed up that Clinton doesn't represent enough change. She symbolizes the status quo, and that's why she's being rejected. The public wants change — big change, and they don't believe she can deliver it, nor do they think she's being really honest with them about where she stands and why.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 01:01 PM

Steinem: Cannot contain her resentment of Obama makes it worse that he is a black man

taking it to HRC. The old liberal elite are just in arms of Obama's rise without them at the helm.

I am loving it..truly loving it...

Gloria Steinem..who dat!!....lol,lol,lol

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 01:02 PM

It's the Candidate, Not His/Her Race or Gender

"Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe [he] could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?"

Given that description of a man, most people would have said that he couldn't be president either. And that is what many people have said about Obama, that he's too inexperienced, that he can try again in eight years, etc. He may prove them all wrong, just an "Achola Obama" might have done if he'd been born female.

I'll be delighted to vote for a woman when she's the right woman. I won't vote for Hillary and I wouldn't vote for Rice or Coulter either. Actually, I believe our first woman president will be a Republican

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