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PrintFeminists sharply divided between Clinton, Obama
Sat May 10, 2008 3:38 AM EDT
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NEW YORK — No constituency is more eager to see a woman win the presidency than America's feminists, yet — despite Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic candidacy — the women's movement finds itself wrenchingly divided over the Democratic race as it heads toward the finish.
At breakfast forums, in op-ed columns, across the blogosphere, the debate has been heartfelt and sometimes bitter. Are the activist women supporting front-runner Barack Obama betraying their gender? Are Clinton's feminist backers mired in an outdated, women's-liberation mind-set?
Ellen Bravo is a Milwaukee author and activist who advocates on behalf of working women — and is an Obama supporter. She faults Clinton for her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war and believes the Illinois senator would be more supportive of grass-roots political action.
At times, Bravo, 64, has been dismayed by the harsh criticism directed at women like herself from pro-Clinton feminists.
"I felt it was an ultimatum — vote for Hillary Clinton or you're betraying the women's movement," Bravo said. "It's very self-defeating and alienating, particularly to younger women who, regardless of who they support, don't like to be told, 'Do this. Do that.'"
Clinton supporter Gloria Feldt, former president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, accepts that the women's movement is not single-minded, yet worries that the Obama-Clinton rift is eroding whatever clout it might have.
"We're squandering an opportunity to be seen as a voting bloc that turns elections," Feldt said. "Unless we are working together, in a strategically thought-out effort to vote in our own best interests, we are in danger of never having another election where people will say women can determine the outcome."
Overall, Clinton's now-endangered campaign has survived largely because of her 60 percent to 36 percent edge over Obama among white women voters in the primaries to date. But among college-educated white women — the demographic of many feminists and of Clinton herself — her edge is much smaller, 54 percent to 43 percent, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks.
One factor in play is generational. There is a widespread perception in the women's movement that younger feminists tilt more toward Obama while most of their elders favor Clinton.
Clinton frequently mentions the elderly women she's met on the campaign trail who were born before women were able to vote and have confided to her they thought they'd never see a woman elected president.
Indeed, 74-year-old Gloria Steinem, a Clinton supporter and icon of the women's movement, riled some younger, pro-Obama feminists with a New York Times op-ed suggesting that they were in denial about America's persisting "sexual caste system."
Ariel Garfinkel, a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College, wrote one of the many counter-arguments in an online column. She and many other young feminists supported Obama because they perceived the Clinton campaign as trying to capitalize on racial divisions and to impugn Obama's patriotism.
"This pattern of old-style politics and adherence to un-feminist values is part and parcel of the campaign Hillary Clinton has run," Garfinkel wrote. "In this race, Barack Obama is the true feminist."
New York-based author Courtney Martin, also an Obama supporter, wrote on Glamour magazine's blog Glamocracy last month that she was not backing Clinton "in part because she reminds me of being scolded by my mother."
But the 28-year-old Martin has joined in appeals for activist women in the two camps to tone down their hostilities and prepare to work together on behalf of the eventual Democratic nominee.
"I deeply respect what Clinton has endured as a woman painstakingly unknotting gender and power," Martin wrote for The American Prospect.
Another young New York-based feminist writer, Hannah Seligson, backs Clinton and feels somewhat isolated among her mostly pro-Obama peers.
"I shy away from conversations with them," said Seligson, 25. "They're so passionate and there's so much vitriol toward Hillary."
For all the divisions among individual women, there was little dissension at the best-known feminist group — the National Organization for Women — before its political action committee endorsed Clinton in March 2007.
NOW's president, Kim Gandy, sees Clinton's determination and combativeness as among her strongest attributes.
"The women who've had to struggle the hardest and run into the most difficulty because they're women are clearly gravitating to a candidate they identify with," Gandy said. "They see her fighting."
Gandy knows some feminists dismiss Clinton as a woman whose political ascension depended on her husband's career, but she rejects that thinking.
"She might have been president instead of him if things had gone a little differently," Gandy said. "No one will ever know whether her marriage to Bill Clinton held her back politically as much as it moved her forward."
While still holding out hope that Clinton can win, Gandy suggests that her defeat would be a huge blow to some feminists. "It's hard to imagine that anytime soon there will be another candidate as extraordinary as Hillary Clinton," she said.
Gloria Feldt conveyed similar sentiment.
"I'd feel very sad to miss this enormous opportunity to bring the United States of America into the circle of nations that have had women as their leaders," she said. "I feel strongly when you have the opportunity to support a women so clearly qualified and capable, do it. Do it for your daughter."
The campaign has brought the women's movement to a crossroads, according to Obama supporter Kate Michelman, the former head of the abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America.
"We're at a time and place where we don't have to base everything we think about in terms of gender, and that's a sign of progress," she said. "This rigid view that when any woman runs, we have to all fall into line — that's contradictory to what I consider feminism to be about."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Published to:
- David Crary's Column, All of Newsvine
- Groups: Political Analysis
- Regions: United States , Iraq , New York
 | Should Obama Offer Clinton The V.P. Spot? | CNN | Fri May 9 | 6 |
| Clinton's Endgame Strategy? - New York Times Blog | The New York Times | Fri May 9 | 1 |
 | Obama defends his patriotism, quarrels with McCain | Associated Press | Fri May 9 | 2 |
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{"commentId":1785609,"authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
While still holding out hope that Clinton can win, Gandy suggests that her defeat would be a huge blow to some feminists. "It's hard to imagine that anytime soon there will be another candidate as extraordinary as Hillary Clinton," she said.
This is the reason my Newsvine column has supported/endorsed Clinton throughout this year...
{"commentId":1785609,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
- 4 votes
#1 - Sat May 10, 2008 3:55 AM EDT{"commentId":1785649,"authorDomain":"jfrank"}
The idea of voting for someone based on their gender is rather sexist.
{"commentId":1785649,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"jfrank"}
- 8 votes
#2 - Sat May 10, 2008 5:08 AM EDT{"commentId":1785677,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
The idea of voting for someone based on their gender is rather sexist.
Yes-- as is voting for someone based on their rac is racist (even if it is appealing to have "the first black president").
There are people for Hillary becasue she's a woam-- I imagine some sexist "male chauvanist pig types" are vorting against her becasue she's a wopman. I'm sure there are racists who are vorting against Obama because he's black-- as well as some who are voting for him becasue he's black.
And then there are even some people-- who vote based upon what they believe are a candidates qualitifcations.
And again-- there are people who have other criteria. (I suppose most people are pretty convinced that the factors they use to pick a candidate are the right ones-- and other peoples' deciding factors are wrong...but, as they saying goes "that's what makes horse-races...and, also..democracy)
{"commentId":1785677,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":1785971,"authorDomain":"gpnavonod"}
The idea of voting for someone based on their gender is rather sexist.
Yes-- as is voting for someone based on their race is racist (even if it is appealing to have "the first black president").
There are people for Hillary because she's a woman-- I imagine some sexist "male chauvanist pig types" are voting against her because she's a woman. I'm sure there are racists who are voting against Obama because he's black-- as well as some who are voting for him becasue he's black.
And then there are even some people-- who vote based upon what they believe are a candidates qualitifcations.
A good answer to a double standard ......"What's good for the goose"
..is "forbidden" to the gander as of late? Now that's the definition of Sexism !
{"commentId":1785971,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"gpnavonod"}
- 5 votes
{"commentId":1786521,"authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
I am not advocating voting just because of her gender. Rather that Hillary Clinton is an extraordinary women of our times. One that will finally break the glass ceiling if she was voted for into the White House for the first time. Along with that women will finally be able to sit at the boardroom table as equals along with White Anglo-Saxon middle class males...
{"commentId":1786521,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":1787022,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
The idea of voting for someone based on their gender is rather sexist.
Yes-- as is voting for someone based on their rac is racist (even if it is appealing to have "the first black president").
There are people for Hillary becasue she's a woam-- I imagine some sexist "male chauvanist pig types" are vorting against her becasue she's a wopman. I'm sure there are racists who are vorting against Obama because he's black-- as well as some who are voting for him becasue he's black.
And then there are even some people-- who vote based upon what they believe are a candidates qualitifcations.
And again-- there are people who have other criteria. (I suppose most people are pretty convinced that the factors they use to pick a candidate are the right ones-- and other peoples' deciding factors are wrong...but, as they saying goes "that's what makes horse-races...and, also..democracy)
Whoops-- sorry about all the typos-- typed it when I was too tired, I should've used a spellcheck. Hoopefully people won't accuse me of being a racist for making typos!
{"commentId":1787022,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1785664,"authorDomain":"tommyw"}
This is one of those 'both are right' situations.
Hilary is old fashioned. Obama speaks to the younger feminists as a peer. Hilary comes across like their mom.
On the other hand, the greater divide, the greater obstacle is still gender and it's a naive perspective that would see it otherwise. Obama may speak to them as a peer, but the fact is, he's not. The older feminists know this.
{"commentId":1785664,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"tommyw"}
- 4 votes
#3 - Sat May 10, 2008 5:26 AM EDT{"commentId":1785750,"authorDomain":"njb"}
I find the concept of voting for someone just because of race or gender to be insulting to not only my intelligence, but my right to vote, and responsibility to my country to make the most informed leadership choice I can.
Any candidate who seeks to break through historical socio-cultural barriers knows you have to be above any normal standard. I know its not fair--but when you want to be come iconic--you have to behave that way. Frankly--the behavior of Hillary on the campaign has only served to validate my initial concerns.
I never supported Hillary's run, and hoped she would not announce it before she did. I was ready to move on from the '90's.
I am not betraying my gender--I am validating the entire reason we finally won the right to vote. I think.
I am all for a woman president, but not her. I want one that personifies the real best of us. But to do that means you have to be comfortable in your own skin first, with no chip on your shoulder.
Just because you are female does not mean that you are a better choice for the nation.
{"commentId":1785750,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"njb"}
- 6 votes
#4 - Sat May 10, 2008 7:04 AM EDT{"commentId":1785755,"authorDomain":"angela593"}
We're squandering an opportunity to be seen as a voting bloc that turns elections," Perhaps the mindset of "voting bloc" has fallen out of fashion, especially with the under 39 crowd. Our book club of 55ish, DW women still hold HRC accountable for staying with Bill after the Monica affair. Apparently their personal beliefs out weigh their feminist voting bloc initiative. Just last week, the content of our discussion circled around the table with statements like "I doubt her judgement because she stayed with Bill", "a true feminist would have divorced him and showed her strength and Hillary thought she could ride on Bill's coat tails right into the presidency.
{"commentId":1785755,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"angela593"}
- 4 votes
#5 - Sat May 10, 2008 7:11 AM EDT{"commentId":1786331,"authorDomain":"njb"}
I might have actually listened harder to what she had to say if she had divorced him and stood on her own two feet.
It would have surely set the stage for being judged on her own merits, just like the other candidates--which was the whole point of the entire equal rights movement right? Judge me for me--the my gender, my skin etc. At least I thought it was, maybe I missed something.
{"commentId":1786331,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"njb"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787214,"authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
She chose to stay with her husband because she knew that the dalliance with Monica Lewinsky & others was just that a physical dalliance(like going to see a hooker) Not that I engage in that behaviour but testosterone seems to be one of hallmarks of politicians. Given that she valued her emotional relationship &companionship with Bill as being more than that how can you fault her on that score.
Since emerging from what seemed irreconcilable differences she has gone on and etched out a role in the US Senate. No mean Feat. There are a lot of issues in which I strongly have disagreed with her vote. But it seems as politics is these days most were votes on party lines.
{"commentId":1787214,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1785899,"authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
The irony is that African American people have always supported candidates regardless of their ethnicity therefore, comments about voting for a specific person because of gender or race seem somewhat ludicrous. It is unprecedented and historic that an African American and female candidate are serious contenders for the most powerful position in the world yet we are confronted with the conundrum of issues of race and gender. Will we ever move beyond the superficial issues that keep us apart?
{"commentId":1785899,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
- 1 vote
#6 - Sat May 10, 2008 9:05 AM EDT{"commentId":1785955,"authorDomain":"onlynow99"}
African American people have always supported candidates regardless of their ethnicity
??? African Americans have had little choice of ethnicity in presidential votes! None of us have--it's ALWAYS been white males!
{"commentId":1785955,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"onlynow99"}
- 4 votes
{"commentId":1786164,"authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
I am certainly not condoning the fact that in the past the political leadership of this country have selected white males as our presidential candidates but that race or gender has never been an issue until now....And I find some of the comments being made as somewhat disingenuous.
{"commentId":1786164,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787030,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
The irony is that African American people have always supported candidates regardless of their ethnicity therefore, comments about voting for a specific person because of gender or race seem somewhat ludicrous.
Do you really feel that Aftican-Americans arer less ingfluenced by race-- and other similar factors-- in voting? They they are less influenced by race than other groups?
{"commentId":1787030,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1785905,"authorDomain":"Cassandra"}
Women who want change do not want Hillary. Just having a woman in the White House, if she happens to be a corporate shill and a liar who plays old-time politics with the guys, will not effect the changes we really need in this nation. I used to be a flaming feminist in my youth, but at this point in time I want to see the country change so that the ordinary people have jobs, health insurance, and some say in what their leaders are doing in foreign policy and economic policy. We will not get that from Hill. She has been bought and paid for repeatedly since well before her husband became President.
{"commentId":1785905,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"Cassandra"}
- 6 votes
#7 - Sat May 10, 2008 9:08 AM EDT{"commentId":1786674,"authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
Cassandra I agree with your sentiments but can you see another women on the horizon anytime soon ?
{"commentId":1786674,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787377,"authorDomain":"njb"}
I like the Governor of Kansas for a possibility.
Mccaskill is another realistic choice.
{"commentId":1787377,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"njb"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1789218,"authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
mmm ok. We havent heard of them here...
{"commentId":1789218,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"barry-rutherford"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":1786565,"authorDomain":"arcanebliss"}
Are Clinton's feminist backers mired in an outdated, women's-liberation mind-set?
You know, as a woman - I hate women who are voting for Hillary mostly just because of her gender - not paying mind to who she is distinctly as a person; of mind.
And, on that same token - I hate that "black people" are playing that same game and WORSE.
While there are differences between skin color and gender - influencing the person culturally and by societal standards - not all women or black people think the same. I understand the sentiment of how much it would mean to both factions if they reached that level of power - a lot of influence and a call for equality.
Hillary Clinton is a woman - but there are all different types of women hailing from a variety of cultures. Same with race. Coulter is not the same person as Clinton and Rev. Wright is not the same person as Obama. I'm really tired of this mindset here in America. PAY ATTENTION TO THE ISSUES! TO THE PERSON! -sigh-
{"commentId":1786565,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"arcanebliss"}
- 6 votes
#8 - Sat May 10, 2008 3:10 PM EDT{"commentId":1786660,"authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
Can Americans base their selection [for president] on what is best for the country? It seems to be a daunting task................What do you think?
{"commentId":1786660,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"k-stanz"}
- 3 votes
{"commentId":1787039,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
Can Americans base their selection [for president] on what is best for the country? It seems to be a daunting task................What do you think?
A friend of mine is voting for Obama becasue she feels that its important to finally have "the first black president". She believe this will advance the cause of civil rights. How do people here feel about this-- is she right? Or-- do people feel that while it certainly would be great rto finally have a black president--- race alone should not be the criteria in deciding? (And, of course, similar arguments-- on both sides of the issue-- apply to the issue fof the possibility of the "first woman president".
{"commentId":1787039,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787158,"authorDomain":"krishna109"}
rto
Sorry-- that's a typo. I mean to say "while it certainly would be great to finally have" (and yes, I do feel that it is a good thing to intentionally split infinitives-- IMO it gives writing a certain . . . "panache" . . . as it were :).
{"commentId":1787158,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"krishna109"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787420,"authorDomain":"njb"}
I don't support voting for anyone based on an outwardly salient character so meaningless as skin shade, or if they have an xx or xy chromosome combination.
Now--if both candidates were equal in every respect, ability to inspire, voting records, philosophy, etc this would be a much different conversation.
I actually think, that if all things were literally equal, given the time we live in, I myself might be chose to vote for the African American candidate.
Why? I have a good reason actually (at least to me). As far as women go, we are going to be just fine. We have been running the ranches and looking good doing it for a very long time. I don't see the need for the level of healing needed, and the chronic disenfranchisement.
I also consider what this would mean to all the blessed little knuckleheads I tried to teach something too. Finally a role model. Feeling like finally at last, they are part of the process. The ripples from that...wow.
I also consider how this would transform our image on the world stage. Another Wow.
All things are not equal in this election though. Good thing for me. Made it much easier for me.
{"commentId":1787420,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"njb"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":1787092,"authorDomain":"cpaul44"}
While I am a feminist. My support for a female candidate must be based on virtues and moral values such as, Integrity,Abhorance of War and non indulgence in Racial Stereotyping and Baiting,Ethical Behaviour in Public Life and Selfless Attributes - All of these come before Gender Solidarity. The same applies to the male gender.
{"commentId":1787092,"threadId":"262358","contentId":"1479724","authorDomain":"cpaul44"}
- 3 votes
#9 - Sat May 10, 2008 8:10 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"262358","isPrivate":false}
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