Sorry, Sister: Howard Dean’s No Sexist

I get a little annoyed with people who don’t know what they’re talking about but don’t have a clue that’s even a possibility, so proceed with abandon to mischaracterize something, thereby spreading ignorance around.

Here’s Marcia Pappas, apparently of New York NOW, and egalia of Tennessee Guerilla Women agreeing with her:

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Hell Hath No Fury Report #3

Goodness, tracking this phenomenon could be a full-time job.

I have to admit to shocked and delighted surprise at a wonderfully sensitive piece Nicholas Kristof wrote for the New York Times, saying basically that Obama ought to give a Sex speech (uh, could we call it gender??) like the Race speech he made, and then make a big play for women by making something like worldwide maternal mortality (death in childbirth, which stands at 1 per minute) part of his campaign. (I’m not all that crazy about this idea, but will leave it at that.)

In the process, Kristof makes some wonderful points, among them this one which so many of us women (feminists) have been trying to point out and so many Obama supporters as well as all the garden-variety neanderthal sexists have been either ignoring completely or ridiculing and denouncing (both standard tactics used against women and our concerns):

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Michelle Obama Watch dot com

Remember I mentioned that Gina of What About OUr Daughters was going to start a media watchdog site aimed at defending Michelle Obama against the racism/sexism she’s sure to encounter, and boy, it’s already heated.

She’s done it and it’s dynamite. Please bookmark it — and pass it around to everyone you know who’s concerned about human rights and feels that the sexism and racism in American political life have to GO. We’ll start right here, right now. NO MORE!

Michelle Obama Watch

I think it’s particularly despicable, btw, to use his wife and female chldren, against whom bigotry in the form of anti-female sentiment is more acceptable in this society than racism, to insert racism. IOW, these bastards wouldn’t be allowed to get by with direct racism against Obama, so they go after the females in his life and use that to insert the racism against him and them. I can see it so clearly. If you notice, in both these cases, it’s not just racism, it’s racism PLUS sexism. The sexism is intended to be a relatively neutral, acceptable “carrier” for the racism. Despicable. We have to say no to both, and with all our might.

Michelle Obama Watch

It’s absolutely unbelievable to me that Fox News is referring to Michelle as “Obama’s Baby Mama” and that there’s anyone who’s not a member of the KKK calling their children “nappy headed ho’s.” Check out the new website yourself and again — pass it along to EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Today.

Ack. Typically, the fine folks at DU can’t see any sexism in Fox News’ scandalous reference to Michelle. Not many of them could see the sexism in Don Imus’s “nappy headed ho’s” remark, either. That’s what all Hillary’s supporters complaints are about: sexism is simply invisible to too many people. That has to change.

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for Michelle

Gina of What About Our Daughters worries, rightfully, about what Michelle Obama faces in the days ahead. Let’s face it. If Hillary Clinton, one of the most powerful women in the world, had to face the level of unremitting misogyny she has, Michelle Obama is going to be hit with that ole double whammy our African American sisters are all too familiar with. I support WAOD’s Gina’s efforts totally and hope you will too:

Volunteer Michelle Media Monitors
This whole infamous tape stuff is just a sliver of what Michelle Obama is going to face in the media. So because I predict getting a flurry of emails from now until November, I am going to be proactive and start a separate Michelle Obama blog to track every article, blog post, youtube clip that pops up and provide you an opportunity to respond. Because if the past is any indicator, the campaign has no problem with her being turned into a verbal punching bag, I DO! IF you want to volunteer and want to post updates on the blog, send an email to the gmail account in the right sidebar. Its going to be a LONG hot SUMMER!

Whether you support her husband or not. Let’s be clear, any and every Black woman that walks in her footsteps can expect the same treatment so we might as well pull a Gandolf, draw a line in the stand and yell “THOU SHALL NOT PASS!” This ain’t about Barack, its about every professional Black woman that has had to smile on the days she didn’t want to for fear of being labeled ANGRY.

Amen. You’ll be hearing from me, Gina.

Oh! Also, congratulations are in order. She’s credentialed to attend the DNC Convention (and, pssst! could use some donations).

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Racism and Sexism Kill

There is nothing of value I can add to The Feminist Underground on this story.

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Other Bigotries and Trouble in Paradise

You’ve already noticed: my main thing is sexism and misogyny.

That doesn’t mean I don’t care deeply about racism, homophobia, ageism, lookism (a variation on sexism), ableism, and all other forms of bigotry. I consider all of them “all of a piece,” different threads of the same piece of tapestry, and I keenly suspect that when men as a group discovered they could oppress women and get away with it, that encouraged them to spread out and oppress others. I could be wrong, but it feels right to me that misogyny is the underlying “ism” which enabled all others to take hold and grow.

Homophobia in particular is a subset of misogyny, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that homophobia wouldn’t or couldn’t exist if it weren’t for the underlying misogyny as the foundational bigotry. But don’t take my word for that. Suzanne Pharr’s wonderful book, Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism, belongs in every progressive’s library, well-read and underlined from start to finish.

So, to be fair (tho brief about it at this point), I thoroughly denounce and decry the racism the Clinton campaign has engaged in. Some of it subtle enough to be maybe just bad judgment or poor choice of words, and some of it bald-faced, purposeful and utterly despicable. This alone disqualifies her for higher office, IMO, and sullies Bill’s reputation forevermore, AFAIC.

Now, back to my intended main point. A dear friend alerted me to a pretty good dust-up at DemocraticUnderground.

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Is it sexist not to vote for Hillary?

It certainly could be. It depends on the reasons behind the no vote, and sometimes those reasons are hidden deep within the subconscious.

For example, once upon a time (during the heyday of 2nd Wave Feminism) it was well-known and nearly universally understood that one way systemic sexism worked was that whenever a woman did something, it was typically judged inferior, substandard, not important, not noteworthy, not worth considering further.

George Eliot, whose real name was Mary Anne Evans, was neither the first nor the only woman who had to pretend to be male to get her work taken seriously, or give up on hoping for recognition, which many did or allowed their lovers, brothers, husbands to take the credit. I think it was Gloria Steinem who joked that “Anonymous” was probably a woman.

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Into the void…

Hmmm. Well, I don’t have time for this, this blogging business. But I can’t take any more. I’ve been threatening/promising myself for months now to start a blog on this subject and just never quite felt up to making the commitment. And, truth to tell, I may not have the full commitment for this now, either. I need to be doing other things with my time ( like making a living), but like I said I can’t take it any more.

What is it I can’t take any more? The sexism, and the racism, and the homophobia. But mostly the sexism, only because the homophobia stems directly from that, and probably the racism as well. And because I’m female and take it quite personally.

Let’s start with Hillary. For the record, I can’t stand her and in fact have never liked her.

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