This column might offend or at least suprise many people, including myself. It is the column in which I urge those who live in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont to vote for Hillary Clinton in the upcoming primaries.
Thinking as an individual and on an issue by issue basis, as opposed to thinking as an ideologue or party member, ususally offends everyone. Changing one’s mind as a function of the historical moment also confuses people and leads to charges of “flip-flopping” or opportunism.
No, I am talking about myself, not about Hillary Clinton. But the observation applies to her as well.
We are at war and voting to defend ourselves is a prudent and responsible move; it is not a treacherous or “dumb macho” move. Hillary Clinton voted “for the war” and she was wise to do so at the time. Yes, perhaps we should have invaded Iran, the Pakistani tribal areas, and Saudi Arabia, not just Afghanistan and Iraq; perhaps the war against totalitarian barbarism is unwinnable by both military and educational means –although win we must or we are doomed; perhaps we should have sent more troops early on and equipped them more efficiently–but the “surge” now seems to be working. Let’s give Clinton credit for that.
Not all feminists oppose self-defense. On the contrary. Many of us pioneered a battered woman’s right to self-defense and a woman’s right to enter previously male-only fields, including that of the armed forces. It is true: Organized feminism has a lousy track record when it comes to supporting the military, including women in the military; many feminists supported only those military women who alleged rape or sexual harassment but not those military women who wanted to become career officers. Read Erin Solaro’s excellent book on this subject: “Women In The Line of Fire: What You Should Know About Women in the Military.”
Not all feminists view John McCain negatively because he is a genuine bona fide war hero –I certainly do not. His suffering on behalf of our country was heroic and what he did with his life afterwards in terms of public service has also been heroic. I have not yet studied his voting record and proposed policies in the domestic and foreign policy areas and will obviously do so but in the near future, not tommorrow. This is the historical moment in which registered Democratic Americans must choose between Clinton and Obama.
My son has done volunteer work for Clinton ‘s campaign but he really “believes that the two Democratic contenders are “99% similar.” He has implored me not to sound too hysterical/polemical/”racist ” when I write about Obama. I think that my son is representative of many Americans who are between 18-30 and who “groove” to black rap, athletic, and entertainment stars and who may unconsciously view Obama similarly, as a “political” star. My son’s generation views such African-American stars as “sexy,” (never mind that such eroticized adoration might be another more disguised form of racism); my point is that young Americans take our hard-won feminist gains for granted. Women in power are not “sexy,” we’re kinda like Schoolmarms who may be right but who are…no fun.
This generation think they are politically correct about racism and feel that voting for someone because they are African-American (or because they are both white and African-American) is a “cool” or even redemptive thing to do. Here’s where I sigh. The young are always too young to recognize a cult in formation, too breathless, too optimistic to recognize the possible beginnings of fascism.
No, I am not saying that Obama is a fascist but that his cult-like following is ripe for the taking. Here’s where I agree with Herr Doktor Freud: Life itself is tragic. And this moment in history is essentially a tragic one too. Failing to understand this is a fatal flaw –our Achilles heel if you will.
Clinton, unlike Obama, is a known quantity. She has not waffled–at least not anymore than any independent thinker and politician is obliged to do. Clinton has worked very hard in the Senate and is very good on all the core domestic issues: women, children, education, health care, etc. She is unfairly hated–not because she is married to “that man;” and not because she has collaborated with him or at least profited from her husband’s corruption and abuse of power but because she is a woman who actually cares about women’s rights.
There, I’ve said it. ‘Tis true, the media (which if oft perceived as far too politically correct–and by me!) still remains sexist to the core. Yes, one can both walk and chew gum at the same time. Thus, the media has barely challenged Obama but has done nothing else but challenge Clinton. Often viciously. And non-stop.
But, most importantly: Not enough women are bonding to elect the first woman Presidential candidate who really has a chance to win. I have discussed all the possible reasons for why women sabotage each other or do not behave in team-like ways in both my 1998 book “Letters to a Young Feminist” and in my 2002 book “Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman.”
Feminists are also not bonding to elect Clinton. What began as a pro-peace and pro-Obama petition launched by Katha Pollitt of Nation magazine in New York City has gone national and attracted at least 1000 or more signatures. The signatures are very instructive. They belong to many women whom I know personally but whose politics have always been more Marxist or socialist than feminist. I and others have fought with them for at least 40 years because of this distinction. Many of the signatories are tenured and Distinguished Professors, celebrated artists, activists, authors, and politicians such as Kathleen Chalfant, Barbara Ehrenreich, Ronnie Eldridge, Mary Gordon, Marilyn Hacker, Alice Kessler Harris, Frances Kissling, Margaret Randall, Susan Sarandon–and many of the high profile feminist faculty at my old university, the City University of New York.
Of course, they have the absolute right to prefer and to campaign for Obama and I have the absolute right to do so for Clinton. It’s what makes our country great.
For those in the know: Please appreciate that I am actually in agreement with Gloria Steinem and Robin Morgan on this one. (This does not mean that I agree with them on other issues, believe me).
As for tommorrow: May the best woman win! And then onward to the floor of the Democratic Convention and to the election itself.
This is Part One of a two-part series.
“He has implored me not to sound too hysterical/polemical/”racist ”
Barack “Barry” Obama would not have a chance of winning the White House if it were not for guilt tripped white liberals. He gets a free pass because of his status as a “man of color.” Obama is one the weakest presidential candidates in the last fifty years. And it is too late for the Democratic Party to jump off this train and instead opt for Hillary Clinton. I can easily predict violence if Obama does not get the nomination. The black community is convinced that “it’s our turn” and will be enraged if he is pushed to the side.
For many—perhaps most—feminists, anti-Zionism takes precedence over women’s rights.
Thank You Sister;
There are many feminists and clear thinking individuals, women, men, straight, gay, young and old, who do feel the same way we do, even if it does feel as though the mists of fascism are rising and we are being swallowed by a force too large for us to resist.
We must swim to each other through the mists. Many of us, such as myself, have been broken and silenced by this same force in a different guise and now it rises to engulf us all. My task is to put aside bitterness and find compassion. Your task, Phyllis, is to do what you have always done so beautifully, be the Way Shower, to hold up the light.
I have given my friends your book “Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman”, and because of this campaign, the obvious woman hatred and betrayal of women, they are reading it at last. It should be required reading for anyone wanting to work in a feminist group. It is easy to see the external patriarch. It is hard to see the internalized patriarch.
The great good of this presidential campaign is that the wheat has finally been separated from the left. Hopefully those women who have, for so long, diluted and used feminism will finally call them self something else. Obama male identified women would be good. Let them take their peace signs, with which they tried to bury women living under sharia, and stand with their young, sexy, majority who openly hate women. Leave us to do what we can to fight the patriarchs.
I have a feeling many many women who will find them self serving coffee to the male left will come to find us.
This time, we must clearly distinguish feminism from the left thug politics which does not see women and children as the basic unit of oppression and the first liberation priority. Liberation, not to serve the state or the family, but liberation to serve woman’s own interests however they define and imagine that to be.
When the left (or right) male identified say class, we must say caste, – when they say race – we must say sisterhood. When they say submission – we must say fight.
Turn it around
Turn it around
Hillary Clinton
is WhiteHouse bound.
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 03/04/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
when chesler says women should bond, she means white women. she obviously does not mean anyone else, whether black, hispanic, arabic, asian. she seems to regard white women as traitors to their own kind.
as a former liberal, why does she support clinton anyway. clinton and obama are the same except for the vote on iraq, which clinton regrets. chesler should be voting for mccain, except that she can’t help going for “someone who looks like her.” it is the same thing that is making blacks vote for obama, I think.
if chesler fears that obama will be too much on the left, that he will be worse than clinton in that regard, that he will be against israel, or expose us more to our enemies, she should come out honestly and say so. to put it all on the basis of I am white so I should support a white woman is disgusting.
Mindy
What is disgusting is the woman hatred which allows you to ignore Hillary’s 35 years of service and experience without any attempt to actually research Clinton’s record. Read Chesler’s “Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman” and ask yourself why you hate another woman so much. It could be self hatred.
I say this because there is so much Hillary has done and you can at least read her book before saying something like she and Obama are the same thing. There is a vast difference between style and substance. You also insulted Chesler by presuming she is a shallow woman. This insults her life of achievement and the intelligence shown in the many books she has produced. Have you read any of those Chesler books? Two I suggest: Woman’s Inhumanity.. and Death of Feminism.
No, Hillary is not a saint but why should that be expected of any human being who has actually tried to change the world? Innocent people often get their hands dirty when they first dig dirt to build something.
Your research might start with Hillary’s voter registration efforts, move on to her Children’s Defense Work, her nutrition programs, her civil rights work, the voter registration part of the Civil Rights Legislation, her pre-school education enrichment efforts, Nixon’s Impeachment,(which is why the right wing hates her),and all the way to medical care which she has made successful for children. Then look at her senate work which has won the admiration of both sides of the aisle.
And all this has given her the knowledge to create a wonderful platform now which Obama copies in his speeches but has no chance of ever actually implementing because he does not have the experience to do so.
I like the Hill’s green energy job training and the student loan forgiveness for community service.
I actually want a single payer medical care program rather than her private insurers but I trust her experience in medical matter.
Obama’s religion is not now Muslim but that would not be relevant anyway. The media ignores the POLITICAL aspects of his Muslim connections and implies there is bigotry at the base of any inquiries into his Islamic connections. But that political position is of critical importance to women and Jews.
Obama’s friends/fundraisers are Muslims, Black Muslims and left Arabists in the Jimmy Carter tradition. Black Muslims are anti-semitic. Obama’s pastor was a black Muslim and still is friends with Farrakhan. Obama’s fundraisers like Soros and Move On hold the traditional left political view that Israel is an occupier and oppressor victimizing the Palestinians who are only acting in self defense. Perhaps this festering issue has not been dealt with honestly because those who do confront Obama are always called racist. This silences them. This is a fascist tactic and must be fought.
People of courage must confront these political positions of the left and ask: What is progressive about supporting anti semitics who hold women as slaves in a thug culture? A culture where those who dissent are killed.
I do not want to offend you Mindy but to say Chesler is saying vote for a woman who is the same as Obama because of her gender and race was YOUR insult and an ignorant insult at best.
McCain will not fight Islamic fascism any more intelligently than Bush. Bush permitted theocratic constitutions in Iraq and Afghanistan and expected our troops to die defending them. Bush did so because of his own religious views. We did not do that in Japan after the war with a similar religious based culture.
Bush inconsistently ignored the position of women although there were some promising efforts which if continued and emphasized wold be significant. I will say Bush was the only politician in our history to acknowledge the slave status of women in the middle east. He confronted the Islamic fascism that the democrats ignored to this country’s detriment.
But Bush permitted many election irregularities. He permitted the privatization of the US military and war profiteering by Halliburton and others. He prosecuted whistle blowers.
In the meantime, he destroyed the US economy to the detriment of working people. He supported illegal immigration to take US jobs and provide cheap labor for agri business, outsourcing, NAFTA and on and on.
McCain will be more of the same. The Equal Pay Act has been declared unconstitutional, the Supreme Court is a joke and women are losing control of their reproduction. Our own electoral process is suspect. And we should elect McCain? Why don’t we just shoot ourselves in the head?
Clinton said she intends to win in Afghanistan. I believe she will move to raise the status of women everywhere in the world. I believe she will be smarter about the Saudis than Bush or Mc Cain will ever be. The Hill is not perfect but considering past choices for progressives, Kerry and the Kennedy clan, the Hill is the gold ring. We should grab it while it is there.
Hillary should get rid of these squabbling males who are trying to control her and the “message”, speak honestly from her heart to us, be funny, and choose one of the black women senators supporting her to be her vice president.