Gender and Politics

You know, I'm a sucker for reading articles that do little but confirm my previously held beliefs. I dislike reading things that challenge my views. However, I especially like it when articles that are brilliant say things that I have been saying. Of course, it makes me wonder, "Why didn't I write that?" That aside, however, it is incredibly life-affirming. It makes me feel like I have not had my head in the sand.

This is how I feel about "Post-Hillary Feminism," from the April 21, 2008 edition of New York Magazine, by Amanda Fortini. In discussing how gender played into this election and how women felt about Hillary's candidacy, it nails it. It is a phenomenal read, and though depressing at best, it ends happily, like all good magazine articles. She even articulated that wish that Senator Clinton would make an Obama-style speech on gender and sexism, and she gave voice to all the women out there who wanted it, too. I no longer feel alone in wanting to lash out at the political pundits or people who just don't get that sexism exists in a real way in this country. But is it true, what she says in the article? Is it the case that Hillary's campaign has been an awakening of a kind not seen in 30 years?

I have to be a little less optimistic than she is on this point. She leaves it open for the reader to speculate about what will come out of Mrs. Clinton's now seemingly doomed candidacy, but I suspect that nothing will. The few times sexism was pointed out in this campaign, despite its constant presence, was entirely obliterated by talk of national race issues and the likes of Jeremiah Wright. Women were once again ignored as a demographic in this country, and the dilemma that I'm sure many black women faced when choosing between Clinton and Obama was not discussed in enough detail if at all. People were much more likely to talk about race than sex, and the media buttressed those race discussions. Not so for gender. Like she says in her article, women who talk about gender all the time are denounced as hollering, whiny feminazis. Those who speak of race in a frank way are enlightened.

I think the thing I took away from her article was a sense of having a right to see gender bias wherever I go. I have a right to point out sexism to my friends and constantly try to raise consciousness. I have a right to glare or call out every man who stares at my breasts before he looks at my face. More importantly, I have a right not to be stared at at all. I have a right not to be called sweetie by every older man with whom I have contact. I have a right to be upset.

I do not want to work at something where I have to hide my feminist side. Make me a professional feminist. Better yet, make me a happy professional - and keep me a feminist. Those making a real difference are those who talk about these things constantly - and not just in academia. I have to stick it out and become a professional and talk about gender as much as I talk about politics. After all, they are completely inseparable.