Letters to the Editor
-
Paglia summed up in Salon yesterday about the women's movement not quite so nicely...
"Steinem's fawning, gaseous New York Times op-ed about her pal Hillary this week speaks volumes about the snobby clubbiness and reactionary sentimentality of the fossilized feminist establishment, which has blessedly fallen off the cultural map in the 21st century. History will judge Steinem and company very severely for their ethically obtuse indifference to the stream of working-class women and female subordinates whom Bill Clinton sexually harassed and abused, enabled by look-the-other-way and trash-the-victims Hillary."
-
Sexism, racism, classism--the air we breathe
I hate to see the battle shaping up over who has it harder, African Americans or women. (How about African American women?!)
It seems clear to me that evidence shows that both have a liability when trying to achieve a position in public office at the highest levels. Both are grossly underrepresented when compared to their respective proportions of the total population. Both suffer from stereotypes that can be acted upon unconsciously by prospective voters. Barack Obama is therefore complimented for being "clean and articulate" and Hillary Clinton can't seem to find a satisfactory--to the media--balance between human warmth and strength without everyone raising the questions "Is she strong enough?" or "Is she a cold, frigid bitch?" We should celebrate the fact that both candidates have overcome these liabilities enough to be front-runners in the current primary race.
The biases our society is filled with are like the air we breathe. We are not always aware even if we consciously oppose such a bias. There has been a lot of study in the social sciences about the origin of this tendency of ours to pigeonhole everyone and everything, and why such biases continue to exist despite our efforts to eradicate them. There are even online tests that can measure how much we are still affected. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/
The good news is that the more one works to get these cultural assumptions out in the open and logically counteract them, the less one is ruled by them. Tests have shown that if someone takes the bias test right after reading and seeing positive words and images connected with women or African Americans, one scores better on the test (as being less biased or more positive towards the target group).
How did we get this way in the first place? Because our ancestors had to quickly react to their environment and for their safety had to develop a mental shorthand. Tiger=DANGER! Their ability to make this instant connection, not depending on the slower processes of the conscious mind, enabled them to survive. If they had to reason it out and decide whether this tiger was dangerous like the last five tigers they saw, they'd have died.
The problem is that this mental ability doesn't apply to people because people are so much more complex than tigers and don't all behave one way based on their race, gender, religion, nation of origin, size, height, and so on. Yet we all absorb these societal stereotypes and can unconsciously react to them even when we're committed to social equality. I don't agree with the theory that we are all racist or sexist--we don't all intend to be--but we have to be on the lookout for those unconscious assumptions when they arise and override them with the logic of our conscious mind.
It's a good thing that we are having a national dialog about race and gender. It would be great if we could add class/economic status to that discussion as well. It's just as rare for poor people to rise to higher offices as it is for women and African Americans or members of other minority groups. Even physical appearance plays a role in success.
If it's a competition, I always wonder, what's the prize? Do we get a plaque that says we're the most oppressed group? With so many hidden effects of racism and sexism, how could we possibly measure them to determine who suffers more? I think we can all agree that we have to work to eradicate them both. Change the culture and we change the assumptions that our children will have as their own default.
-
In Salon yesterday, Paglia opined on the women's movement as well but not so nicely
"Steinem's fawning, gaseous New York Times op-ed about her pal Hillary this week speaks volumes about the snobby clubbiness and reactionary sentimentality of the fossilized feminist establishment, which has blessedly fallen off the cultural map in the 21st century. History will judge Steinem and company very severely for their ethically obtuse indifference to the stream of working-class women and female subordinates whom Bill Clinton sexually harassed and abused, enabled by look-the-other-way and trash-the-victims Hillary."
-
It was just a manner of time before types like AKA Smith provided that quote..
of course it was taken out of context and many times Shirley resented that it was.. I doubt if AKA Smith will published those quotes of Shirley Chishom..
Amazing how white woman like AKA Smith, Steinem and others like them live to divide Black men and Black woman..
Sorry AKA Smith that dog done hunt anymore BTW Black woman really resent it when white woman play this card... they really do..
-
I Love Earning All These Stars For Y'All
Well said, I think.
I am sorry if you cannot relate to real stories from the lives of the plebians. Do please understand that I am not your 'male oppressor'. These are tough times for many of us, male and female alike. I just cannot help but wonder why it is that so many of the ladies who comment here cannot stand the slightest suggestion that there are advantages to being a woman. Yes, of course there are advantages to being a man! Yes, there are of course advantages to being a woman! I am tempted to change my screen name to something feminine and comment as I do now minus the 'I am a man' bits just to see if the reactions from the female posters and the editorial staff at Salon would differ.
Again, sorry for also having disadvantages.
-
Arggh!!!
Yes, black men were lynched and castrated and a few still are. Women were and STILL ARE raped and murdered and in numbers that so far exceed the crimes against blacks that your head would spin, Thrasher, if you looked up from your pity party for a moment and saw what other people experience.
and yes, like other people on this list, I vividly recall being counseled against college because it would take scholarship money and space from a man and certainly, I would be wasting that education because I get married and raise kids. I was the class valedictorian and this was the advice I received. I shudder at the advice inflicted on less academically successful women classmates.