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August 26, 2008
Frailty, Thy Name is Woman
Today the DNC will throw a proverbial bone to the Hillary supporters by giving their candidate a prime-time speaking spot in the convention. Will they concede second place and rally around Barack Obama and the Democrats to defeat John McCain in November? Or will they continue to wallow in self-pity, self-sabotage, and misguided indignation and either sit out the election or vote for a candidate who represents virtually everything they purport to despise?
Hey, nobody likes a sore loser. Everyone who has ever been discriminated against (because you were a girl, a minority, too fat, too old, from the wrong college, stuttered, limped or had HIV, you name it) appreciates the fact that life isn’t fair.
Back when I was in college in the mid-80s I wrote a senior thesis on “women in politics” and researched the history of what Susan Faludi in today’s New York Times described as “a foe that remains insidious, amorphous, relentless and pervasive”, and it seems not much has changed in 20 years.
Are the Clinton supporters seriously outraged that a (fairly unlikeable and divisive) woman was not nominated for the highest office in the land? After all, we have a woman Speaker of the House (albeit a really lame one), and Hillary waged an expensive and interminable battle and put “18 million cracks in the glass ceiling” according to her own colorful metaphor. And what exactly has each of her supporters (men and women alike) done, individually, to change the climate of misogyny in our culture? Does Hillary truly characterize the feminist ideal, or is she merely a carpetbagger, a poseur, another ruthless pol willing to throw real feminist principles aside to achieve her ambition?
While Hillary may have espoused a lot of support for so-called feminist issues such as equal pay, affordable health care, education, and pro-choice, she certainly exhibited enough testosterone in matters of war and in her no-holds-barred campaign to fool me into believing there is a reason she prefers pantsuits over skirts.
As a child of the 70s who grew up in the most active era of feminism in American history, coming of age during Ms. Magazine and Gloria Steinem, I have defined true feminism as independence, not equality. Women may never (in this lifetime) be “equal” to men in terms of earning power, opportunities or physical strength, but we can be financially, emotionally and mentally independent of men on our own terms, on their turf.
Last night, Michelle Obama gave a speech at the convention describing her modest upbringing on the South side of Chicago that was a striking relief to Hillary’s comparatively cushy childhood in the same state of Illinois. Michelle had to compete not only as a woman, but as a minority woman from a lower-middle-class background. By the time Michelle had earned her place at Ivy League schools and entered a male-dominated profession, borrowing money and swallowing a ration of crow along the way, Hillary was First Lady, having leap-frogged from privileged suburbia to private practice to marrying a man who would become a governor and then President of the United States.
The truth is, Hillary made good money as a lawyer, nobody will dispute her professional competence; but without Bill’s coattails to ride, she would never have been elected to the Senate in a state where she had trouble naming the five biggest cities and where she never resided as a constituent. She would never have secured the financial support or the audacious “entitlement” mentality without Bill's enduring popularity and countless connections. Her success as a politician was only a few rungs above the way most women took office in years past: by inheriting their late husbands’ seats.
So, Hillary was financially independent and competed in a man’s world. We’ll give her that. Yay! Bravo! However, when it comes to the core soul of feminism: that a woman can achieve emancipation on her own terms without a man’s help, she fails utterly. Any good feminist would have kicked Bill Clinton to the curb in January 2000 not only because of his indiscrete infidelity, but because of his chronic stupidity. Instead, she demanded her pound of flesh: a Senate seat and ultimately the White House. You owe me, Bubba, and you’re gonna pay!
Her supporters should reevaluate their heroine. Will they ever admit that Hillary didn’t lose the nomination because she was a woman, but because she was the *wrong* woman? Don’t hold your breath.
Comments
She brought it home tonight!
When she asked "Were you only in this for me?" you could have heard a pin drop. Any PUMAs left weren't dems anyway.
Posted by: CountryGal | August 27, 2008 12:06 AM
Let's hope she has done enough. Please, the world cannot take another warmonger.
Posted by: Mgt | August 27, 2008 04:26 AM
Yes, she did. I liked some of the little slogan things. She had a good speech, so she gets some kudos for that. BUT, let's see her deliver.
Talk is cheap.
Posted by: loretta | August 27, 2008 07:23 AM
George Soros will regret the day he engineered the nomination of Obomber bin Biden. It will cause the loss of hundreds of DemonRats in downstream races and the big loss to McCain. His quest for Court supremacy and One World Order is kaput.
Posted by: Vet4Bush | August 27, 2008 11:13 AM
Vet4, I hope you don't think some nutcase President should be allowed to give himself immunity from war crimes...?
Give a normal person a chance, please.
Posted by: Mgt | August 27, 2008 12:22 PM
Well, maybe McCain should give back all the $$ Soros has given him since 2001. Google is your friend.
Posted by: CountryGal | August 27, 2008 02:22 PM
Oh, man. I can't believe you still have this Vet4 hanging around.
I thought Hillary gave a great speech last night. I think this PUMA nonsense is founded by Republicans and fueled by the media.
And I was fired up after Biden's speech last night. Can't wait to see Obama's speech tomorrow.
Posted by: Lex | August 28, 2008 12:24 AM
Another bit of good news last night is that Joseph Duncan got the DP for Dylan's murder.
Posted by: CountryGal | August 28, 2008 04:32 PM
Good!
Any updates on Cameron Brown, CG?
Posted by: Mgt | August 29, 2008 03:59 AM
Spot on!
Happy birthday Captain...
Posted by: vero | August 29, 2008 09:01 AM
Happy Birthday Captain!
Thanks for the heads up, Vero.
Posted by: Mgt | August 29, 2008 10:25 AM
Today would have been Lauren Key-Marer's 12th birthday.
Cam Brown's next court date (pretrial) is 9/5/08.
Posted by: CountryGal | August 29, 2008 04:28 PM
Let's hope they don't screw up his next trial, and let
justice be served for Lauren Key-Marer!
Posted by: Nadine | August 29, 2008 04:51 PM