Mary Curtis, who refers to herself as “a black woman and a feminist,” wrote an op-ed piece which appeared in Saturday’s Washington Post in which she asks about the silence of feminists now that Michelle Obama has become the subject of sexist remarks.
Unspoken but implied was that she was talking about white feminists. Had she read my earlier post, she would understand why they have remained silent. But I don’t think that is the only reason, at least not now.
Recall, if you will, the treatment of Hillary Clinton by the media. NOW President Kim Gandy had this to say:
Television commentary on her voice, her laugh, her clapping, her clothing, even her ankles – not to mention calling her a bitch and a she-devil, and comparing her to a crazed murderer, a hated ex-wife or a scolding mother – became so commonplace that we came to expect it.
And if the words weren’t enough, we had the images on the left instead of those on the right.
Where was the outrage of black women when Hillary was being treated this way? Sadly, it didn’t exist.
It was a shame that the misogynistic media treated Hillary the way they did. And it is a shame that the same media will now turn its sights on Michelle Obama. But until and unless all women stand together and denounce unacceptable behavior when it occurs no progress will be made.
I agree. I’ve long been of the opinion that sexism is more overtly pervassive in this country (not that there isn’t racism, only that it’s not socially acceptable to nearly the same degree). And I think it’s disgusting and frightening that Fox News seems intent on making Michelle Obama the new black Hillary Clinton. I mean, I understand it–getting to make gender-charged slanders AND racially charged slanders about a woman is like celebrating Christmas and Easter on the same day if you’r Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reily. But it’s incumbent on all of us to stand up together and say “this sort of behavior is intolerable.”
Posted by anonymous | Monday, June 23, 2008, 9:52 amCan we start by all agreeing that Maureen Dowd should never touch a keyboard again?
Posted by MB | Monday, June 23, 2008, 11:06 amI’ll agree to that
Posted by vjp | Monday, June 23, 2008, 11:25 amThis Democratic primary has caused people to choose between racial identity and sexual identity. (This is the problem with identityt politics.) Well, we are more likely to have a very close relationship with a member of the opposite sex (one’s spouse, a parent, or a sibling) than with someone of another race. As such, we are more likely to identify with one of the same race but different sex, than we are with someone of the same sex but a different race.
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Monday, June 23, 2008, 11:54 amI generally don’t agree with MB, but I wholeheartedly agree about MoDo. She was the best thing about TimesSelect.
Posted by Brian | Monday, June 23, 2008, 3:28 pmYou are absolutely awesome. I’ve been in the Obama camp since “Hector was a pup” and the statements by Hillary and her surrogates were beyond the pale, but the media sure did do a damn misogynistic number on her and it was just as disgusting on the number she and her gang did on Obama. I didn’t realize that Steinem now endorsed Obama. Thanks for the info. I really got a kick out of the 1, 2, 3, 4 thing. I think there’s some things that should also be considered – like the number of white female governors vs. black male governors.
In Massachusetts, we have the second one in the nation’s history. Looks like NY has the third. There have quite a few white female governors even if the first was a black man in the 60′s, I believe.
Posted by mateusjustino | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 8:12 pmAbsolutely correct. Misogyny is alive and well, and even supposed liberals don’t necessarily acknowledge their own nasty hateful attitude toward powerful women.
Posted by Teresa | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 9:45 pmActually, that first goes to Doug Wilder in 1990.
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 11:35 pmBTW, there have been 29 female governors.
Posted by Anon E. Mouse | Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 11:40 pmI think Vivians’s point is the important one here: “…until and unless all women stand together and denounce unacceptable behavior when it occurs no progress will be made.”
Living in very diverse NoVa, I’ve come to learn that women, no matter what their race, religion, or nationality, are all seeking the same things such as — respect, acknowledgement of their accomplishments, equal pay, equal opportunity, etc. There is so much here to join us together, that our coalition is probably the most powerful in the world…given the chance and given that we take it!
Posted by Sleepless in Virginia | Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 9:46 amMichelle Obamma received a bugus raise of $195,052 annually after Barack Obama was elected senator. Check out this article on Michelle Obama
Posted by matt | Thursday, June 26, 2008, 3:17 am