Feminists on the Left? Bah, Humbug!

Great article.

Let us get women of all persuasions in big numbers into leadership positions. Let us help them craft their message that will help advance all women. Let us seek common ground and maximize our collective strength.

Exactly! Well said. Thank you pm317!

I noticed on The New Agenda blog that there’s a list of Letterman’s sponsors; one poster saying her husband nixed the purchase of a new Nissan(and let the dealer know why) because of the Palin issue. Good idea, especially on large purchases to let the seller know that they are missing out because of a Letterman boycott. I believe that word will travel quickly. Pocketbook politics is the only way they hear.

Faux feminist are abundant — and just as sexist as any misogynists as the boyz.

I’m not at all sure what to call myself anymore — Hillary was insulted and thus I was insulted. Sarah Palin was insulted and thus I was insulted.

I wish BOTH parties would do a MUCH better job of policing/babysitting/weeding their own. Start kicking the crap to the curb MUCH earlier like BEFORE it’s front page news.

Neither party has proved capable of doing anything like that.
They BOTH are worthless as parties go and individually they are ALL suspect to me. Especially the inner bubble DC types that have been there a decade or 2 or 3!

People I know are always surprised when I say that Sarah Palin excited me when she spoke during the GOP convention–the ONLY politician willing and able to take on The MESSIAH. I enjoyed it when it became apparent that O’s people seemed to fear her the most and began acting as if they were campaigning against her. I have not found anything about her that makes me cringe.

My friends think of me as a progressive, liberal, highly educated woman and so assume I should cringe at the mention of Palin’s name. It is because I broke our family mold and went to college, earning an advanced degree and taught high school and college classes.

In fact, I come from a huge extended immigrant family, mostly farmers. I grew up on a farm near a small town. When people make fun of Palin, it angers me because she reminds me of the many, many hard-working, common sense, family-oriented women in my family: cousins, sisters, aunts. To me, it is as if these “feminists” are making fun of my family members. I have had enough of feminists who claim women like the ones in my family are not “liberated.” My brothers, uncles, male cousins know better than to question the ability of these women. I watched my father help my mother in the house all the time because he knew how much my mother did for him around the farm. It was a partnership.

I had one of my very liberal, progressive friends go on an on about how irresponsible Palin was for having five children (gasp!!!). (My friend has only one; I have two.) I let her go on for a while, and then I said something like this: “Did you know my father’s mother had eight children while my mother’s mother had six? All together I had thirty-four cousins when I was growing up, all of whom lived near me. One great aunt on my father’s side had fourteen children, and another had twelve. I could name many other distant relatives with families larger than Palin’s, but I think you get the picture. I am proud of my large extended family who have done a great job of raising many, many hard-working, tax-paying, law abiding citizens. I think they turned out well because of the respect those children had for their parents, who had earned it.”

My friend sputtered something about being concerned about the population explosion and its effect on the environment, though her previous argument had been about the inability of mothers to raise large families “the right way.”

Thanks, pm317, and all the other writers here who understand that women must support women and not just the women who have made the “plitically correct” life choices.

People I know are always surprised when I say that Sarah Palin excited me when she spoke during the GOP convention–the ONLY politician willing and able to take on The MESSIAH. I enjoyed it when it became apparent that O’s people seemed to fear her the most and began acting as if they were campaigning against her. I have not found anything about her that makes me cringe.

My friends think of me as a progressive, liberal, highly educated woman and so assume I should cringe at the mention of Palin’s name. It is because I broke our family mold and went to college, earning an advanced degree and taught high school and college classes.

In fact, I come from a huge extended immigrant family, mostly farmers. I grew up on a farm near a small town. When people make fun of Palin, it angers me because she reminds me of the many, many hard-working, common sense, family-oriented women in my family: cousins, sisters, aunts. To me, it is as if these “feminists” are making fun of my family members. I have had enough of feminists who claim women like the ones in my family are not “liberated.” My brothers, uncles, male cousins know better than to question the ability of these women. I watched my father help my mother in the house all the time because he knew how much my mother did for him around the farm. It was a partnership.

I had one of my very liberal, progressive friends go on an on about how irresponsible Palin was for having five children (gasp!!!). (My friend has only one; I have two.) I let her go on for a while, and then I said something like this: “Did you know my father’s mother had eight children while my mother’s mother had six? All together I had thirty-four cousins when I was growing up, all of whom lived near me. One great aunt on my father’s side had fourteen children, and another had twelve. I could name many other distant relatives with families larger than Palin’s, but I think you get the picture. I am proud of my large extended family who have done a great job of raising many, many hard-working, tax-paying, law abiding citizens. I think they turned out well because of the respect those children had for their parents, who had earned it.”

My friend sputtered something about being concerned about the population explosion and its effect on the environment, though her previous argument had been about the inability of mothers to raise large families “the right way.”

Thanks, pm317, and all the other writers here who understand that women must support women and not just the women who have made the “politically correct” life choices.

Cheers for the great article. Thank you.
This article beklow made me see stars.

Sarah Palin would no doubt be horrified by the idea, but there’s a chance she could become the same boon to David Letterman’s career that Hugh Grant was to Jay Leno’s.

http://tv.yahoo.com/contributor/2427831/news/urn:newsml:tv.ap.org:20090613:us_tv_letterman__ER:63199

“No one is more arrogant toward women, more aggressive or scornful, than the man who is anxious about his virility.”

Simone de Beauvoir

I don’t know who these “Feminists on the Left” think they represent but it certainly isn’t women. When you join in on a hatchet job on any women, regardless of her political stripe, you attack every woman.

I do not agree with Sarah Palin on a number of things, but the treatment she has received is on par with the vicious attacks against Hillary Clinton, just shorter lived. Clinton you’ll remember has withstood this sort of character assasination since she took the national stage. Nearly twenty years. First the Republicans tried to turn her into a Dragon Lady, and then shamefully her own turncoat party, the Democrats, did the same thing.

But like Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin has guts. She will not go gently into that good night. And that, I think, is what the Far Left is so terrified of.

I’ve always admired HRC for her unwillingness to pack her tent and go home. God knows it would have been easier. I happen to agree with Clinton politically. But I also admire Sarah Palin’s backbone and willingness to spit in the eye of her critics. She deserves credit for that. And no woman deserves this nasty and continued hounding by the press. Who the hell do they thing they are? The Inquisition?

As for the “Feminists on the Left?” They can take their condecsending and petty remarks and sit on it. They represent themselves, period. Certainly not me.

Thanks for the great post.
I was wondering how a faux feminist like Eve Ensler (”Vagina Monologues”) is feeling right now? She started bashing Hillary and praising Obama in Feb. ‘08.
And the fact that she’s a lesbian who supported Obama instead of a feminist, and now he’s made her and other gays look absolutely stupid by, for one thing, upholding DOMA…….I mean I wonder what she’s saying now about her sweetie, Obama?

I graduated in engineering in the seventies with all the challenges faced by women in a male dominated field. I have seen many advancements over the last thirty plus years. Unfortunately now I am seeing what I consider dramatic reversals in the way women are treated not only in the work place but also everywhere else. The increase in disrespect (and in many cases violence) towards all women is sad. I fear that the females growing up today are taking the gains of the last decades for granted and are in for a rude awaking when what they thought was a “right” disappears. One only has to look at the prolification of postings of women on you-tube,etc to realize these will haunt them forever - job market, family, etc.

Self esteem is so fragile, people such as Letterman who choose to make a mockery of youth and behaviors of adults only serve to destroy not to protect and support.

Ok what do they call a little boy who goes around starting fires all over the place?

The blog PM’s quoting from supported Barack in the primaries and not Hillary which makes the “Feminist” in the title of the blog a joke. It should also be noted that there’s a funny cartoon of that FLP blogger floating around online. I forget where I saw it. But the point was her site is “Feminist” and “Law” and she was off writing about some TV show or something while the trial of Steven Green’s role in the gang rape and murder of the 14 year old Iraqi girl was going on. FLP got called out for her silence and she started attacking others and then the cartoon came along (as I remember it).
I don’t know anyone who takes FLP seriously and for just the reasons that PM has outlined.
And Hillary wasn’t good enough for FLP and Sara Palin wasn’t and Cynthia McKinney wasn’t but Barack always rang her ‘feminist’ bells. Sick.

Every true revolution starts by the common citizens reaction to the arrogant act of a sullen child of authority. This arrogant act against a 14 year old girl by the infantile David Letterman and the reaction of the Palin’s and the true Feminist Community could be the 21st century moment which will echo for All Women down the ages.
The Colonials, on the green at Lexington in 1775, understood the meaning of the words: “Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Well, you have been fired upon! Feminists have been taking “incoming” since the moment HRC announced her run for POTUS. Make no mistake about this “Lexington, Rosa Parks Moment”! Every woman is in a war for their rights and those of their Daughters and Grand daughters. Will you be free Women or Concubines?
To be sure, there will be casualties in this war and many of you will not make it. So What?? Moses didn’t make it! Jesus didn’t make it! Abraham didn’t make it! Martin didn’t make it! What makes your skin so special??
It’s time to put some skin in the game Sisters!
David Letterman is no Major Pitcarin but he is on your green and he has fired on a 14 year old girl.
You are eye ball to eye ball and there is no turning back. It’s time to shoot the SOB and the horse he rode in on. You must take his scalp, nothing less will do. Al Sharpton and the Black Community understood this when they took on Don Imus. It is far better to be feared than respected. Back down now and you will be neither.
Like most wars this will be a long one.
Good Luck.

I am so glad you picked this up. I found that post a few days ago and commented. Today I got to comment again. I am reposting here on feminsitlawprofessors:

I am a feminist and a liberal and I like Palin. I know it is fashionable to slam Palin if you are a self-proclaimed intellectual because of her voice and some things she said that indicated she might now be ready for prime time (although if she answered Couric that she read the NY Times she would have been called a liar and if she said Vogue she would have been called an idiot), but let me ask the feminists here this:

Didn’t women go through decades of being told they couldn’t be news anchors because of the high pitch of their voices? It was understood that no one would take a woman seriously if she were reporting the news.

How come feminists ignored her pro-contraceptive stance?
How come we ignored her articulate words of being the parent of a Downs Syndrome child (if it weren’t for us feminists and liberals her son would still be denied medical care and an education. We fought that fight for Downs Syndrome people, and we won)

How come we slam her relentlessly and make fun of her (as conservatives did to Hillary Clinton) and for some reason it’s ok to do so? I mean, I saw her fight (and she won) against powerful oil companies in Alaska to be exceptional. I saw her fight with the corrupt republican administration in Alaska to be tremendous.

Why can’t women, who have fought for decades for the right to women to be who they are and run for office, so disdainful of this woman?

Why can’t feminists congratulate ourselves over the fact that Palin came form modest means, was a recipient of Title IX and went on to become governor a source of pride.

She hunts (many in Alaska do, including indigenous people there) and feeds her family form the meat. Would we slam a native American for doing this? No.

I saw a slamming of her by feminists that resembled high school girl cliques from pre-women’s liberation days.

Clearly, we slammed Madonna for dressing like a prostitute in the 1990s. We got over that. Now we have moved on to slamming women politicians.

Our numbers in government are alarming. 17% female representation in congress and 7 female governors and zero women in the Oval Office is something to be ashamed of. Maybe we should start looking closely at women’s strengths and skills before slamming her for her voice and mannerisms and her daughters.

And I know the law professsors here understand how tough the fight was.

Well, we have four republican women senators and they are all pro-choice.
This is something to capitalize on. This is where we increase our numbers. Yes, Palin maybe be anti abortion, but she is pro-contraception.

Have we as feminsts thought about what it looks like to little girls when they see books and news that depict majority male leadership? How will we ever achieve parity? And how do those young girls and young women feel when we slam this Governor (who is young, vibrant and speaks her mind)?

I think of that. And I am ashamed.

Good for Palin for going to Seneca Falls. Those women fought for all of us.

This nightmare occurred to me. My prophecies are almost always wrong, so to improve the chances that it will not come to pass, I will call it a prophecy:

If Sarah Palin, by whatever happenstance, becomes the Republican nominee in the next election, Obama will dump Biden and choose Hillary Clinton as his VP candidate.

Like I say, I’m always wrong.

If you follow their reasoning, then any woman who doesn’t claim to be a liberal doesn’t deserve equal rights and decency. So I guess the women in hejab deserve the be stoned and subjugated.

When people make fun of Palin, it angers me because she reminds me of the many, many hard-working, common sense, family-oriented women in my family: cousins, sisters, aunts. To me, it is as if these “feminists” are making fun of my family members. I have had enough of feminists who claim women like the ones in my family are not “liberated.”

Thank you, Diana. I feel the same way about the long line of pragmatic Great Plains matriarchs in my own family. Though I am fairly certain none of them ever heard of Judith Butler or Sandra Gilbert or any of the other voices of feminism, they were and are women of accomplishment in their own realms. They took pride in Hillary and Sarah as though they were their own daughters or sisters. It’s very disappointing that Gloria Steinem and friends are not nearly as supportive of women as they once professed to be. Nonetheless, I applaud the women they mock.

The ERA said absolutely nothing about liberal or conservative.

It was specifically about all women, even those like the Eagle Forum members who vociferously opposed it. Hell, it was even inclusive of Phyliss Schafly, who is one the most vile women I have ever encountered.

Though it did not pass, and only piece-meal measures have been put into place to this day, none granting full equality, I still believe equality applies to all women, period!

Side-note: I was executive director of a large Southern civil-rights organization throughout the 70s and into the 80s. The fight, and loss, re the ERA were totally devasting to me and my very dedicated and activist wife.

We had won every battle we fought, both in the public arena and courts, re civil rights, yet suffered an unbelievable, totally nonsensical defeat regarding a straight forward, uncomplicated, amendment grantng simple equality to over half of the population of this country.

Just as with the 2008 election, I will never forget it, nor get over it!

It is a mistake to believe women have always yearned for equality and have ever been united in the struggle for their rights. Suffrage is by definition, the right to vote and nothing more. Even some women in the Suffrage movement in the early part of the twentieth century did not support complete and equal rights. The ERA was not universally supported by women in the 1970s.

I’ve never read anything definitive on the effects of emancipation on freed slaves after the Civil War, but I have an idea it was frightening to suddenly find themselves responsible for the food on their families table, knowing the decisions they made were theirs alone as well as the consequences.

For women, there has been no moment of truth. When the message is defined by a group of people who have no idea what our experience in life has been, but it is to their advantage to maintain their dominate role, it takes more courage to effect a change. Feminists have been re-defined as those women who are ball breakers, bitches, feminazis and man haters. In one generation, the perception has evolved in such a way to make it undesirable to fight for Women’s Rights and, as a result, sexism is acceptable. We can’t miss what we have never had and, out of fear of disapproval or confronting those who have assigned to us our place in society, we don’t fight.

How many people in our country recognize the nature of sexism? Women know, but they will laugh at Letterman’s joke or ignore the attacks hoping to deflect the same attitude by boyfriends, husbands, bosses and friends directed at them.

I know some of my comments have angered people, but I stand by what I have said in the past. The most important lesson women of all races and economic classes should take away from the 2008 election is the need to educate others and ourselves on respect and self respect. That won’t be accomplished by placating or timidity. I have the greatest respect for Steve in KC, but reducing the difference between the sexes, as he does on another thread, to a penis or standing vs sitting is equivalent to comparing an apple and orange based only on the color of the fruit.

I’m not trying to diminish the role of men, of any race, or the history of heavy responsibility they have born as bread winners. All I ask/demand in return is to be respected for my abilities and who I am, which is first a woman. Both my son and my husband open doors for me and I’m not insulted because they know and I know, I’m perfectly capable of opening the doors for myself. But there is a wall which can’t be breached ( or a glass ceiling which can’t be broken ) until more people realize reproductive roles or lack of physical strength relegate half of the population to an inferior or subservient position.

If we focus only on the crude and vulgar, we miss the more subtle, but still damaging characterizations which demean: insipid, simpering, whining, cackling and VAPID. No one is angrier with or more disappointed than I by the lack pro-active involvement by womens organizations in fighting the misogyny in the last year. They haven’t tried to unite women in opposition, but to be fair, they have listened to three decades of being called “ball-breakers” and didn’t have the courage to fight the inevitable accusations of racism.

All anyone can ever do is look at life from their own experiences and since our sex and race is determined at birth, it is impossible to fully understand what it means to be the opposite. I have made these arguments all of my adult life with male friends and lovers and I accept they will never comprehend all, but I have a right to respect and that is non-negotiable.

The reason I, a life-long feminist, supported Sarah Palin was that she was honest, hardworking and accomplished. I did not support her, because she was a “woman.” I, too, have great concerns about over-populating the planet and about a woman’s right to choose; but I believe that those decisions have to be made privately and shouldn’t be legislated. It is my understanding that Palin also agrees with that view.

I don’t think SP is the issue. When any woman–especially one who is accomplished–is reduced to the sum of her body parts, that is sexism and that I oppose. I fault my sisters on the Left for their lack of awareness and their lack of compassion. Their views are self-serving and narrow-minded. They hurt all women, but especially themselves, because they have exposed themselves for being selfish and pandering.

Elise

I agree with just about everything you say. But we Women have to claim our equal rights for ourselves. We have the power. We are educated, employed, and hold & control money and wealth like no time in history. We are over 50 % of the population - with voting rights. The question is - have we reached the point were we want full and complete equal rights more then we fear full and complete equal responsibilities? Because if we do, we already hold the power to make it happen.

But first we have to stop blaming men and face our selves first.

Here’s were I disagree with you -

I have the greatest respect for Steve in KC, but reducing the difference between the sexes, as he does on another thread, to a penis or standing vs sitting is equivalent to comparing an apple and orange based only on the color of the fruit.

My take and my take alone on Steve’s humor piece (and it’s not a defense, because he doesn’t need one from me )- is that he was being a guy. Poking a stick in a hornets nest to proclaim he’s a guy. Thereby reminding us that there are guys on this blog. And oh by the way aren’t they cool because they have a handy appliance that they can use to stand up and pee.

Which pretty much makes the case for our side, wouldn’t you say?

Good post and I agree with each and every word! Why is it that these young women who benefitted greatly from Hillary’s generation now think they can bash another woman with political ambitions who happens to hold ideologically different positions on issues?
We can disagree with Gov. Palin’s ideology, as I do, but I still marvel that she’s handling the Canadian government-Alaska energy deal like a real pro. And I don’t take away her executive experience. Hell, she’s got more executive experience in her little finger than Obummer has had in his whole “present” life. Staying away from controversial issues to prepare to be “president” is not executive experience.
I am glad of one thing out of this. I’ll never forget Sarah Palin saying on the interview that she thought

“Respectfully, I think that perhaps Hillary Clinton should just take the so-called sexism and not say anything. I have managed my career without paying attention to the NEANDERTHALS who just couldn’t see a woman…”

Of course, events have taught Palin that you can’t avoid sexism and sexist neanderthals when you’re running for V-P. And that you cannot ignore sexism as it does not go away. She’s younger than Hillary and Sarah’s new understanding will be very important in tackling important issues for women when she gets the political prize–which can’t be too long in the horizon given Obummer’s ineptness, etc.

What amazed me throughout the primaries is the great respectfulness between Gov. Palin and (then)Senator Hillary Clinton. In fact, Palin praised Hillary when she was nominated (in full stage) for “cracking the top ceiling and letting 18 million lights shine in…”
By the same token HIllary praised the Republican Party for having the guts to give the V-P spot to a Woman….

Live and learn…The Hillary-Sarah epiphanies are multiplying and our daughters will be the direct beneficiaries. And one fine day Anti-Hatred Crime is what “sexism” will be called and it will be legislated agains, just like we punish racist commentary with social disgust….Obama was the beneficiary of a more enlightened attitude. Hillary and Sarah’s time will come once Obamyopia is cured–which won’t take too long. Hell, even that misogynist Maher is starting to see the light…yet no word about “Hillary was right about Obummer…”

A left wing poster regarding Palin on another blog that shall not be named:

oldnslo (206 posts)
Sun Jun-14-09 11:19 AM
Response to Original message

3. I would like to see Letterman nip, gouge and gore Palin every

damned night for the rest of the year…..what a lousy, rotten, hypocritical bitch she is.

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