Letters to the Editor
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Look beyond gender and the immediate
Can we time out here for a moment? I'm going to take a different tack. My first presidential election was 1980 when I was (like many quoted here) a young college student. It pitted the 50-something Jimmy Carter against the late 60-something Ronald Reagan. This is the first election where someone my age (almost exactly - Obama) is running. It takes at least that long.
In the ensuing years I've slugged through Mondate, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry... Obama has the potential to fundamentally alter the game. I don't have enough space to explain why but if you've been watching this game long enough you recognize it. These people come along infrequently (FDR, and yes Reagan). Hillary, whatever her virtues will not ( just as her husband did not). That's the bottom line and why I've supported him since he announced. I'm male and would love to see a woman president. But I'm looking long term and that's the appeal of Obama. I could be wrong but it's the possibilities that make his candidacy exciting. I don't ever recall similar discussions about Kerry, Bush, Gore, etc.
The democrats ability to defeat themselves can never be underestimated.
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@firefly82
i'm impressed with your honesty ("i wrote this all in a previous post but i see you don't read. why? nothing to gain?" That's an accusation I don't get very often. Admittedly, though, I'm skimming tonight") i just threw that in there figuring, why not? i think senses of humor vary widely and i think it causes a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings. my kids have a modern sense of humor which seems very harsh to me (the aim is making fun of someone) but, hell, *they* find it funny. similarly i think men and women have radically different senses of humor, with men's involving a lot more poking at tender spots than women's. or maybe not, i may just be full of shit. happens.
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luminesce
If Hillary were a man she would not be treated the way she is
If Hillary were a man she would have been forced out of the race after 13 straight losses. That is a fact.
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You can smell the stench of desperation on Obama now
He knows he's destroyed himself with his elitist and out-of-touch comments. He's going to lose PA by 14 points despite pouring millions upon millions into the state. The superdels will quickly sour on him. He's headed down the crapper, swiftly swirling the bowl. Isn't it great?!
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Maybe it is intentional or maybe not, but I do notice that...
Just the way that Obama raises his voice over Hillary at all of the debates whenever she says something he disagrees with or is compelled to distract the viewers from is part of being sexist. It is typical of men to raise their voice to women when they do not like what they have to say. I doubt this tactic will be used against McCain and if it is, it will not work the way it has with Hillary.
My female friends who are supporting Hillary are also getting flack from their boyfriends which is a true depiction of the way men disrespect women. Even if they do not like what their girlfriends or wives like does not entitle them to belittle it.
Women are disrespected all day long and all around the world, period. Unless you are a female, you could never presume to know what it is like. I am a very smart, articulate and independent female and I never tolerate disrespect from males or females. Whenever I am forced to stand up for myself to a man, it never fails, their posture gets strait and they broaden their shoulders while raising their voice to me as if I am going to be intimidated into shutting up. I am sure they would love to shut me up with their fists if it did not result in me killing them or them being put behind bars. Men just cannot handle a women “stepping out of place” and talking back to them or defending themselves when necessary, period.
At my old job, there was a new company president that came to have a meeting with me and the manager. I was the assistant manager and had attended all meetings for the prior 5 years. Well, this new guy did not want me to attend the meeting (he was a macho bully) so instead of acknowledging me any further, he completely turned his back to me and proceeded to talk to my manager while dismissing me entirely. Would he have done that to a male? No, because there would have been a physical fight!
I would also like to point out how a lot of liberals call McCain too old. That is disrespectful also. We should embrace age, but of course in an age where women are diving to look younger than their daughters, how could we ever expect society to respect and embrace being older? I do not agree with McCain on all of the issues and that would be the reason to not vote for him, not because of his age. Remember, we are all going to be old someday if not already!
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Misogyny on the left - part i
The terrible, horrendous point that has become illuminated recently is the woman hating on the Left. There are progressive men and women who denigrate, decry, and hate women.
More importantly, they deny that sexism exists. They say it's no big deal, that it's only about white women, who don't count anyway...
I suggest that white women, like every other human being, do indeed count.
But misogyny and sexism impact greatly on women of color, too.
The highest incidence of sexual assault is against Indian women (perpetrated by Indian men and White men...national studies show that Indian women are the ONLY women who are not MOSTLY raped by men of their own race/ethnicity, but are disproportionately raped by white men). Women of color are less likely to be believed or validated when they report rape and battery because of racism. Many people believe that violence is normal in communities of color, and so that nothing should be done when a woman of color is raped, or assaulted (by a stranger or someone she knows). White women who are raped or physically assaulted by a man of color who they know are discounted and despised because they have lowered their status by being involved with a man of color.
We constantly see "left wing" and "progressive" men who secretly snicker at the idea that women could hold public office, and take every single miniscule excuse to put women down. They use the excuse of Sen. Clinton's "likeability" which is a code word for uppity, brash, nasty, and non-subservient to men. The recent trash stating that no real man would work for Sen. Clinton is indicative of the crap on the left. No REAL man would polish his nails. Can no one on the left hear not just the horrible sexism, but the blatant and disgusting homophobia in these words? The disregard for trans people? Our youth on the left are demolishing ideas of gender stereotyping -- it might behoove some progressive men to spend some time with them.
More importantly, too many on the left will NOT acknowledge that sexism is oppression or that women are oppressed.
If one is truly a progressive, one will dedicate one's life to the eradication of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ALL other forms of oppression (too numerous to list here). If you are a man, you will actively be working to stop sexism and to acknowledge male privilege. If you are european-american, you will be actinve working to stop racism and colonization, and to eradicate white privilege. Etc. Etc. Etc.
A progressive who does not acknowledge the oppression of women is not really a progressive. A progressive who does not acknowledge the oppression of people of color is not a progressive. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Women and girls are raped and sexually assaulted constantly by men. There is an international trafficking of women and girls.
Women make less money than men. Etc. Etc. Etc. (No, this doesn't mean that there are not boys who are the victims of male predators, too..and it doesn't mean that there aren't some women who are predators.)
Let's look at this quote
"Approximately 15,000 sexual harassment cases are brought to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) each year. Media and government surveys estimate the percentage of women being sexually harassed in the U.S. workplace at 40% to 60%. The European Women's Lobby reports that between 40 and 50 % of female employees have experienced some form of sexual harassment or unwanted sexual behavior in the workplace. Sexual harassment claims filed by men with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has grown from 9% of all charges in fiscal 1992 to 15% in 2003. Many of those claims involve male-on-male harassment; harassment of men by women is rarer, according to legal experts."