PrintMarch 3, 2008
With friends like Gloria Steinem...
Gloria Steinem, considered by many to be the great great grandmother of the feminist movement, is stuck in a time warp of her glory days, now many years behind her.
The world, and her feminist cause, has changed but she hasn't; she still sees the world only through a narrow feminist vision always whining John has more advantages than Joan and that discrimination against woman is the worst form of discrimination in the country.
The world, and her feminist cause, has changed but she hasn't; she still sees the world only through a narrow feminist vision always whining John has more advantages than Joan and that discrimination against woman is the worst form of discrimination in the country.
In a recent notorious op-ed supporting Hillary Clinton
Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).
If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago.
(snip)So why is the sex barrier not taken as seriously as the racial one? The reasons are as pervasive as the air we breathe: because sexism is still confused with nature as racism once was; because anything that affects males is seen as more serious than anything that affects “only” the female half of the human race; because children are still raised mostly by women (to put it mildly) so men especially tend to feel they are regressing to childhood when dealing with a powerful woman; because racism stereotyped black men as more “masculine” for so long that some white men find their presence to be masculinity-affirming (as long as there aren’t too many of them); and because there is still no “right” way to be a woman in public power without being considered a you-know-what.
Of course Steinem chooses not to mention that Hillary's presidential experience is based on her marriage to one; that she overwhelmingly cruised to Senatorial victory in a major state in her first major run for elected office because of her marriage to said president. And that she is now a presidential contender because of her marriage.
Stumping for Hillary in Texas Steinem continued whining about the unfair competition she faces running against McCain.
Uh Gloria, Hillary never served in the Armed Forces, her husband, proudly, evaded service. And incidentally, McCain won election and re election and gained experience on his merit, not on his marriage.“Suppose John McCain had been Joan McCain and Joan McCain had got captured, shot down and been a POW for eight years. [The media would ask], ‘What did you do wrong to get captured? What terrible things did you do while you were there as a captive for eight years?’” Steinem said, to laughter from the audience.
McCain was, in fact, a prisoner of war for around five-and-a-half years, during which time he was tortured repeatedly. Referring to his time in captivity, Steinem said with bewilderment, “I mean, hello? This is supposed to be a qualification to be president? I don’t think so.”
(snip)“I am so grateful that she [Clinton] hasn’t been trained to kill anybody. And she probably didn’t even play war games as a kid. It’s a great relief from Bush in his jump suit and from Kerry saluting.”To the Observer, Steinem insisted that “from George Washington to Jack Kennedy and PT-109 we have behaved as if killing people is a qualification for ruling people.”
To the Clinton campaign's credit, and realizing the damage Ms Steinem has caused they issued the following statement
"Senator Clinton has repeatedly praised Senator McCain's courage and service to our country. These comments certainly do not represent her thinking in any way. Senator Clinton intends to have a respectful debate with Senator McCain on the issues."
