Feminism. Don't Roll your Eyes at Me!

I have not blogged much about Politics here on Blogger. I do occasionally repost things I find, but have tried to stay away from this for various reasons. But I am political and opinionated. And I am going to rant. And this is my opinion.....



I was raised by my Mother, who is a wonderful force to be reckoned with. She taught us we could do anything we wanted, and she supported us everystep of the way. My Mom has never wanted us to be limited by our gender. My sister and I were coming up in the world in the era of the "Riot Grrrl". Between that and MOM, there was little chance we'd take no for an answer very often.

Now I am going to do some ranting here. So dont roll your eyes at me. I am a feminist. These days, because a woman had the AUDACITY to run for president, Feminism is a bad word. In the Primaries, talking heads like Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews repeatedly made dispespectful, sexist remarks in regards to Senator Clinton, near daily. And this behavior seems to be ok, at least in the minds of most men. I dont think its okay to imply someone should take Senator Clinton into a room and beat her up till she concedes, okay Keith? If you even bring the subject up, the eye rolloing begins, as if sexism isnt a legitimate problem. Racism, yes. Sexism, no. I think they're both deplorable.

Now speaking as a woman, I take this dismissal of sexism very personally. Especially when its done by men, but it's infuriating when it's done by women. I don't want to totally make this about Hillary Clinton, because I am now 100 % behind Barack Obama. I had some issues with how Hillary's campaign was handled, and specifically with a douchebag named Mark Penn. But I have never in my life seen the tides change so quickly. During the primary season, if you were supporting Hillary, you had to do so quietly. Otherwise, you ran the risk of being ridiculed. Often, I was accused of voting for Hillary just because she was a woman. Well, speaking as a woman, that's offensive.

For the first time in my adult life ( I was in 1st grade when Ferraro was a Veep candidate) I had the opportunity to vote for a woman. I have ALWAYS casted my vote for the Democratic MALE candidate. Your damned right I was voting for the woman. Not to mention she was my senator, who had done a great job in my state for us working families and children, someone who had the skyrocketing cost of healthcare on her mind.....not to mention a past failure she wanted to right! It was unpopular to like Hillary. Everywhere you turned, bad things about Hillary. I proudly voted for Hillary in the primaries, with my daughter at my side.

Now Im not going to say that the women out there who arent going to vote, or that are going to vote McCain because of Hillary's primary defeat are helping matters. I dont hold Obama responsible for the mess. I think MSNBC, and the Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and Matt Taibbi had plenty to do with the anti Hillary bias. And I like all of those outlets. I just disagreed with them on throwing Senator Clinton under the bus, so to speak.

So to close out my rant Im going to end with this....I want to thank Hillary Clinton. The ceilings a bit closer now. There have been many times in my life where I have been doubted because of my gender. ( stupid fools!) There have been times I have been on the fast track and then passed over because I chose to add to my family. I have been ignored in business dealing because I was only "the wife". We live in a country where insurance companies covered VIAGRA before Birth Control! What does that say? And employers still don't nessecarily (sorry, bad spelling) have to cover maternity. Men still make more money than women on average for doing the same work. So Roll your eyes. But it's a whole new ballgame now guys. Were not going anywhere but to the top. Leave Hillary and Michelle alone. And to those women thinking of sitting this one out or voting McCain, I beg you to reconsider. Its not so long weve had this right to vote. I find it a crying shame to our sisters who fought so hard to secure that right for us. John McCain has said he want to appoint more conservative judges to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe V. Wade. Then we can be stripped of our reproductive rights. Senator Obama has two young daughters, he cares about our issues. This is no longer a mans world. Its Our World. All of ours. Men, Women, Black, White, Gay or Straight.......

So be good to each other. And vote Democratic for the love of America!!!

Peace!

Paul Begala's Jackie and Hillary from HuffPo

Here's a piece by Paul Begala I lifted from HuffPo. Im posting it today because, this dream dies today. But if everyone Rallies behind Obama, we can take back the White House in November yet....Please remember what the past eight have been like for you and yours. Can you afford four more? What good did it do to earn the right to vote if you don't use it, or if you use it to vote for more of this evil? Im reposting this for Hillary. And her supporters like my Mother. I love you.


Ask my ten-year-old Little Leaguer, Charlie, who his all-time favorite baseball player is and you won't hear Jeter or Berkman or Big Papi. Nor even Mickey Mantle, whose autographed picture hangs in Charlie's room -- a gift from The Mick to Charlie's dad.
Without hesitation Charlie will say, "Jackie." As in Jackie Robinson. Not only was Jackie one of the greatest to ever play the game, his very presence in the game changed it forever and for the good.
So it is with Hillary. Her presence in the presidential campaign has not only been impressive on the merits, it's been historic for what she has had to overcome just to do her job. The sexist signs: "HEY, HILLARY: IRON MY SHIRT!" "QUIT RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND MAKE ME A SANDWICH!" The Hillary Clinton nutcracker (get it?), and all the rest.
I expected that. What I did not expect was for the so-called mainstream media to behave little better than the bigots on the streets outside her events.
The radio clown Glenn Beck called Hillary a "stereotypical bitch" and yet is treated as if he had something serious to contribute to CNN Headline News and ABC.
MSNBC gave a platform to the magician-cum-comic-cum-crank Penn Gillette, who said Hillary did well in March because it was "White Bitch Month."
Alex Castellanos, on a night when Hillary was winning a primary by 35 percent, told CNN's audience that Hillary is called "a bitch" because, well, some people deserve to be called by that epithet.
MSNBC's Chris Matthews said Hillary owed her entire career to her husband's marital mistakes (and then, manfully, apologized).
The Washington Post broke the news flash that Hillary, in fact, has cleavage.
Her figure, her clothes, her hair, her voice - all of it mocked and savaged in a way unimaginable if she were a man. She has not only endured the jeers and the sneers and the smears, she has triumphed over them. She never answered their hate with rage. She just went on winning.
Just like Jackie.
Women have been running for President since 1872, when Victoria Woodhull ran on the Equal Rights Party platform. And yet no woman -- from the estimable Shirley Chisoholm to the remarkable Pat Schroeder to the impressive Elizabeth Dole -- has ever won even a single primary. Until Hillary. She not only won 20 primaries, she earned 17 million votes in the primaries -- more than any woman before her. And more than any man before her as well.
To be sure, she's made her share of mistakes. As a strategist I have long seen her effort as an example of a candidate outperforming her campaign strategy at every critical juncture. Still, Jackie Robinson struck out hundreds of times.
The Democratic Party has decided, wonderfully, bravely, remarkably, to double-down on history this election. And so Hillary's struggle against sexism has played out parallel to Barack Obama's graceful and courageous rise above racism. He, too, has endured taunts and threats and bigotry. He, too, has answered hatred with dignity. He, too, knows how Jackie must have felt.
So when Barack praises Hillary's tenacity, her trailblazing spirit, it is not patronizing, as some Hillary supporters have suggested. It is, I think, an empathetic expression of a powerful truth. Nobody -- not even her husband -- can fully appreciate what Hillary has overcome. Except Barack.
For me this primary season ends where it began: with the firm conviction that there is no need to vote against anyone, but rather to vote for someone. I am so proud of the person I voted for. I do not know if a gal who grew up following the Cubs in the National League and the Yankees in the American League has ever stopped to think of the trailblazing Dodger. But I know this: if you ask Charlie who his favorite politician is, he unhesitatingly replies, "Hillary."