Is Obama Uncomfortable Around Women?

There's a sign going up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It reads: "Boy's Club: Girls Not Allowed."

Despite much talk of hope and change, President Obama seems largely tone-deaf to women and women's issues. Post-racial country -- yes. Post gender inequality -- not so much.

Were we sold a brand that touted diversity, yet delivered a president with a woman problem?

Earlier this week, CNN interviewed me for a segment on President Obama called Where are the women? Good question. Where are they?

The CNN piece was about the latest example of access and the boys club: Obama's White House basketball game for Cabinet secretaries and members of Congress. Not a single woman was invited to the game. No matter that both Secretary Sebelius and U.N. Ambassador Rice were not only in town but both are hoops players. Hurt feelings? Secretary Sebelius hastened to point out on Leno: unlike Obama, she actually made her college team.

The game last week was hardly an outlier. The Washington Post reports: a log of Obama's athletic activities, meticulously maintained by Mark Knoller of CBS News, found no women listed among the participants in the president's various basketball, golf and fishing outings. Neither do women on the White House staff participate in the basketball games Obama's male staffers, including David Axelrod, have on weeknights.

Obama's women problem is not confined to sports. When Obama held his highly publicized beer with Skip Gates and Sargeant Crowley, the Editor at MORE asked: Would Obama Talk to Women Over Beers?. Here's the answer: no! Obama took the opportunity to speak out for Skip Gates, admittedly before knowing all the facts, as a teachable moment on the issue of race. Yet Obama, tone-deaf to women's issues, was strangely silent when Rihanna was almost strangled to death by Chris Brown. Where was the teachable moment for violence and against women and teen dating violence -- both epidemics in our country?

Women's representation in Obama's administration is also shockingly low. Of President Obama's 35-40 czar picks, only 3 are women. Read: over 90% of Obama's inner circle is composed of men!

The notion of President Obama surrounding himself with powerful women is simply a fallacy. Over 60 picks for cabinet and czars and we can count on our fingers the number of women. This is progress?

And the scant representation of women might explain why women's issue are seemingly non-existent with this administration. The healthcare bill is especially disturbing. Where is the dialogue on healthcare issues impacting women? How about gender based pricing, domestic violence being a "pre-existing condition," and, as pointed out by Martha Burk here at HuffPo, reproductive rights.

Reproductive rights. Wasn't choice the issue used to corral 56% of women to vote for Obama in 2008? Here's an interesting fact: according to a Pew Poll conducted earlier this month, almost half of Americans don't know that President Obama is pro-choice.

In fact, since January when, with much ballyhoo, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (which was ushered through the Senate and House by women before it reached his desk), we as women have nothing to show. Yes, Obama did create the White House Council on Women and Girls and appointed Valerie Jarrett to lead it - a notion that I applauded in an op-ed at The Daily Beast. But Jarrett quickly exited stage left to work on Chicago's 2016 Olympic run, and frankly we have heard bubkas from the council.

So what do we do?

It is time for women's advocacy groups to take the lead from what the gay rights groups have learned so well. Unite and speak out together. Challenge President Obama on his campaign promises and shockingly low representation of women. Call him out on his women problem and ask him how he plans to address it.

And it is finally time for women's organizations to end their decades long cold war with Republican women. Women's organization need to master a skill so inherent to men: negotiation. The Republican Party has promising stars ahead of 2012 including Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Sarah Palin. Leaders of women's organizations should be making our case to both sides of the aisle.

After all, we have a good product to sell. Our country's future.

Comments

[lorca]

the blow-up over the basketball is silly. one generally doesn't see many co-ed basketball games, and for good reason - men and women are built differently, and in some sports, basketball among them, such differences lead to uneven competition.

[memi]

Gee, thanks sweetie!

Periodically, the boys of the Prez court will feel down and start launching hoops attacks to boost their appeal....

[Johanna]

And when the first female president only invites women politicians to her afternoon tea parties, I'm sure you won't be offended.

[Alessandro Machi]

Well, Barack Obama FINALLY invites a woman to his 23rd day golfing on Sunday. http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2009/10/obama-surrenders-plays-golf-with-woman.html

[mypov123]

Amy, I agree that we haven't yet achieved gender equality, but we are certainly NOT a post-racial country just because Obama is President.

[Rudyabdul]

According to you Siskind, Obama, is tone deaf to women. The same man who was raised by a single mother and his grandmother, who has a wife he respects and two daughters he loves, his mother-in-law that he adores and who has a close relationship with his sisters. ALL these female influences in his life and you say that he is uncomfortable and tone deaf to women? It just doesn't make sense.

You are using that he doesn't invite women to play basketball or drink beer is ridiculous. Most women I know would rather watch men play basketball and most are not beer drinkers either.

You say that the Republican Party is promising stars ahead of 2012 including Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Sarah Palin. That is not true, as a matter of fact, they believe that Sarah Palin winning the nomination would be a disaster for the Republican Party. Their comments about Nancy Pelosi has completely convinced me that the party have a certain place for women and that's not being in power.

[memi]

Rudyabdul

Did you watch The View segment (Jay Leno/youtube) where Mr. Obama was clearly very very uncomfortable around the women! It was absolutely hilarious to see him fidgety-fidgety touching himself, constantly creasing his pants, looking like he'd give a million bucks not to be seated anywhere near these women! It was soooooo obvious.....

[HarKenToh]

>> Earlier this week, CNN interviewed me

[dotcomonmyface]

Basketball:So what would the public reaction look like if Arne Duncan swung around in the paint and Sebelius took an accidental elbow to the nose .
There is some news coverage for you .

Seperatists:(quoata mongers)
Oh If everything was symetrical , always in evenly distributed neat groupings(­boy,girl,w­hite,black­,gay straight),would that be nice or would that be OCD.
Get compulsive about something more important then the gender representation on the presidents staff.
Or I suppose you would rather have people hired based on gender rather than qualifications and fit with the job and team.
There is a new agenda for you .Rights and jobs for people that pee like me !!!

[clevelandchick]

Amy,

Sarah Palin is an anti-choice, anti-contraception, anti-healthcare reform, anti-comprehensive sex education, global warming denying anti-intellectual. And you forever tout this fundy Neocon fame-hound as some symbol of feminism. It's is beyond a joke, not even funny anymore.

Fiorina? Failed CEO, non voter, golden parachute sucking wealthy elitist who...like her other GOP colleauges want the people to scramble for crumbs while she & her 'class' eat cake. More corporate influence on government is just what women in this country need right?

The GOP platform is anti-feminist and anti-women....has been for decades. There are no "good" Republican women worth supporting. Nada. Zip. Goose-egg.

Obama has Napolitano, Sebelius, Clinton, Jarrett.....just to name a few in his cabinet. A woman who is his communications director is directly taking on Fox. He appointed a woman to SCOTUS. He helped promote and signed the Ledbetter Act. To say Obama is anti-women or that he does not focus on women's issues is extremely disingenuous.

Do you think Clinton would have hired more women if she won? Or do you think she would have looked for the most qualified people regardless of gender? I hope the latter. And I imagine that is what Obama has done when looking for talent to fill positions in his administration.

Again your post belies your true agenda....attack Obama no matter what just because he is POTUS instead of Hillary. Not a very feminist thing to do.

[smartsmartwoman]

clevelandc­hick-----y­our argument is intellectually dishonest and way too simplistic. According to you, if it's got Republican associated with it, it's bad and anything Democrat is good. What Amy is suggesting is that we women wake up to reality, stop accepting the crumbs offered to us, and unite to accomplish what has eluded us.

When we are divided, we women lose our real power-----numbers. We women whether R or D agree on much more than what we disagree on. Your old soiled argument has only gotten us so far. You seem smart-----try on a little different kind of thinking. You might surprise yourself. It doesn't make any sense anymore for the parties to divide and conquer us. That's what's been happening, we women have blindly gone along with it, and what has it gotten us? NOT MUCH----unless you're content to get the crumbs rather than the whole meal.

We deserve better. Anyways----what's the definition of insanity? Doing the same things over and over again and expecting to get a different result. It's insane to just follow R or D----it's gotten us very little.

[Tom65]

In this case, the definition of insanity is supporting people and ideologies which are diametrically opposed to your stated goals, simply because those people share a common genitalia.

[snarkopolitan]

smartsmart, it is sometimes necessary for members of a group to be divided, when they have different IDEAS. There is a giant difference between a woman having a say over what happens within the confines of her own body and having what happens there determined from outside. There is a yawning gulf between promoting those who protect rape victims, such as Al Franken, and promoting those who don't, such as Sarah Palin's choice for Alaska attorney general, a homophobic, anti-choice, misogynist.

This WOMEN are GOOD, no matter WHAT they BELIEVE, bean-counting faux-feminism t says all that matters are the numbers of biological females in government. It actually reduces us to our body parts, which is the antithesis of feminism.

And any organization that promotes hate-mongers Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann must be opposed, the way organizations that promoted McCarthy should have been opposed. It's something anyone of conscience will do with all her heart.

[DragonMama]

Voting for people based upon what's between their legs instead of what's between their ears is focusing on crumbs. The short-sighted gonad-counting brand of feminism you promote here is dangerous to my children's future.

[JoeSausage]

I believe that it's Amy Siskind and you who are being intellectually dishonest here. According to Amy, Republican women are the future of women's rights. Sarah Palin and Carly Fiorina! OMG!!! And everything Democrat is bad. This is nothing but a Republican puff piece, and you seem to be onboard. Which is peculiar for someone that calls themselves smart, twice. clevelandchick has it right, and there's nothing simplistic about her rationale. The Republican agenda is anti-choice, and anti-women. Voting AGAINST protection for victims of gang rape. Domestic violence as a pre-existing condition. As it turns out, women's rights is a partisan issue, and denying that, or taking the side of Republicans is a disservice to all women.

[clevelandchick]

No smart woman would accept a so-called feminist attempting her own divide and conquer maneuver by pitting black men vs. white women. Talk about intellectual dishonesty.

Wake up...this is not about men against women, this is about the filthy rich and religious fundamentalists against the middle-class. Can you really be that stupid? Sorry but I do NOT believe Ms. Fiorina has any intentions of doing anything in office but continue increasing the income divide.

[Banker2]

What exactly has Jarrett done for women?

[snarkopolitan]

She is an advisor, not a legislator. But here are some of the actions in which the CWG has been involved, from the Whitehouse.gov website:

ACTION
Title IX Panel Discussion

Women Airforce Service Pilots

White House Advisor on Violence Against Women

National Women's Health Week

2009 World Day Against Child Labor

Office of Youth in Natural Resources

Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Now name something Carly Fiorina has done for women, aside from trying to get a McCarthyite, anti-choice fear-mongering embarrassment elected as vice-president.

[dct1999]

Anyone who claims that America is a "post-racial" country has zero credibility. Anyone who claims that "black men" have more rights than women has zero credibility. What rights do black men have that women don't have?

[Pie7]

I concur, and I would like to know how do black and hispanic women fit in her inner circle?

[clevelandchick]

No true feminist would use a demographic that has and still does experience discrimination as a device to divide people on opinion.

I want people to have equal rights - race, creed, gender or sexual orientation should not be a hurdle for anyone in our society. It's no accomplishment for me as a woman to have full equal rights if gay people can't or black men are still treated poorly by society. Just because one became president doesn't erase the fact that black men in our society still face plenty of discrimination.

I would not complain that some black men get treated well on occasion to highlight the struggles of women. Especially when the racist rhetoric and xenophobia has been stoked by the right wing hatemongers on cable & radio to the point people have been getting killed and harassed. It's actually a bit sick.

[Loralee Bullen]

"I've always met more discrimination being a woman than being black...Men are men." Shirley Chisholm, America's first black woman to serve in Congress. Ran for congress in 1968, ran for President in 1972.

dct, there is theory and there is practice. Black women are paid LESS than black men. Black men got the right to vote 70 years before women. Imagine the outrage and the cries of racism if Obama were the older, more experienced candidate and Hillary, the younger, less experienced candidate got the Democratic nomination.

[gimmeabreak]

Loralee - for how many of those 70 years were black men able to vote without harassment and (in many cases) beatings and death? After suffrage, how many black men and women were allowed to vote without violence and intimidation.

Your argument is specious.

[snarkopolitan]

PUMAs are just determined to win the suffering sweepstakes. Why are you so concerned who suffered more? Incidentally, you do realize that being given the right to vote and being able to use it without being strung up from the trees are two different things, don't you?

But as always, you reveal that it's all about Hillary, or rather your fantasy Hillary. The real one has told you in no uncertain terms that she is happy in her job, accepted the results of the primaries, and moved on, leaving you to be a sad evocation of the Japanese soldier who came out of the woods still thinking he was fighting WW II. And even he is less sad a case, because he was finally able to put down his gun.

[dct1999]

Tell that to my great-uncle who was beaten into a coma for attempting to vote in the Jim Crow South. When people refuse to acknowledge the horrors that were visited on african-american men, in an attempt to discuss the discrimination that women face, they don't have any credibility.

[DeniseD]

Sorry, you lost all credibility when mentioning Sarah Palin, Meg Whitman, and Carly Fiorina as rising stars that could help with women's issues.

Why didn't you mention Obama's appointment of Justice Sotomayor?

[Amy Siskind - Huffpost Blogger]

And why can't they help women's issues?

Take for example the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This passed in the Senate because all 4 Republican women Senators crossed party lines to vote for it!

[snarkopolitan]

The New Agenda-vaunted pro-choice judge Palin appointed was in fact one of only two candidates she was allowed to pick, both pro-choice.

Her real attitude can be seen in her appointment for Alaskan attorney general: Wayne Anthony Ross, a proud homophobe , anti-choice advocate, and proven misogynist, who said, "If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?” and “There wouldn’t be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut.”

So, women can damage women severely, and with that pick, the former governor has in fact done just that. She COULD help women, I suppose. It's just from her record, and that of Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in their role trying to elect proven misogynist John McCain, they're not LIKELY to.

[Shawna Vercher - Huffpost Blogger]

Is this the same Carly Fiorina that hasn't voted in years and the same Sarah Palin that doesn't even believe in a woman's right to choose?? Seriously, I can appreciate your point about wanting more women to be involved in government, but touting all women as being good for our democracy just because they are women derails your point and discredits your story.

Also, the Republican party has shown a number of times that they do not care about women. In the last month alone Christie has said that it's okay for health care to not cover mammograms and Kyl said that prenatal care should not be covered since men don't need it. They have abandoned the pretense of women's rights and to placate to their token dolts that they parade for the 24-hour news networks just feeds into their stereotype about how dumb we all are.

[JoeSausage]

Crossed party lines! The women had to cross party lines because the Republican Party doesn't support rights for women. Listen to yourself!

[realfeministshatehuffpo]

The New Agenda IS supportive of Sotomayor. And spoke in her defense on a syndicated radio and on TV...

[shouldvevotedforhillary]

The three of them have and can help with women's issues.

Woman's issues are not partisan and require help from both aisles of the parties.

[nomobull]

they haven't so far and its not because of lack of opportunity .

[Faith1101]

Love your handle, shouldvevo­tedforhill­ary :-)!

[Tom65]

Really?

Carly Fiorina - ask the thousands of former HP employees - men and women - how they feel about her

Meg Whitman - couldn't be bothered to even vote for most of her adult life

Sarah Palin - I couldn't think of a worse example for MY daughter to follow

I'm sensing a pattern here, Amy. Why is it that you seem to find no redeeming value in Democratic women? For someone who claims to be an independent, you seem to do an awful lot of water-carrying for GOP candidates and talking points.

Oh, and NOW you want to talk about reproductive rights? I thought that was off-limits for the "New Agenda".

[realfeministshatehuffpo]

Amy Siskind has been a life long democrat and speaks out for ALL women. We do not break barriers when we decide to talk about only a certain group of women who fit perfectly into the DNC's perspectives.

When Colin Powell endorsed Obama and people said it was because he was black you people here went batsh*t crazy saying he did it to advance African Americans and to "transcend race" well guess what? By endorsing non democratic women we are advancing ALL women and transcending gender.

[snarkopolitan]

I am not a "you people." Furthermore, Amy Siskind does NOT speak out for all women, particularly me, if she is going to insist that Sarah Palin is a boon to womankind and worthy of consideration for anything more than a horse laugh and a vow to work against her with every corpuscle.

Self-promoting "Death Panel" fearmonger Sarah Palin is a perky, ovary-carrying Joe McCarthy. Any "woman's group" that would promote or embrace her makes itself meaningless.

[Rotwang]

On the other hand, I notice that Colin Powell didn't endorse Alan Keyes. Nor do I imagine he would have crossed party lines to endorse a Black candidate who believed that minorities have TOO.many rights.

Promoting non-D women who don't represent or actively oppose your positions on political and social issues "advances" nothing, and does not so much "transcend" gender as reduce it to an actuarial metric.

[shouldvevotedforhillary]

I believe you either did not read the above article or are completely missing the point.

Amy Siskind does find value in the Democratic women... However to advance ALL women we be supportive of Republican women as well.

[snarkopolitan]

Supportive of women who work to deny healthcare, reproductive rights, and civil rights to women, AND men? No.

This is a fatal flaw of the New Agenda. Their "Support All Women, It's Good To Work Together!" is a happy-face pin on a straightjacket. They would have Phyllis Schlafley's back.

[Banker2]

Well, once again, the United Kingdom is WAY ahead of the US on issues concerning women.
The Treasury Select Committee has started hearings on the gender bias and pay inequities in the City.
I'm trying to find a better link for information:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/22/mps-women-financial-sector
What is Jarrett doing about this issue---especially in light of the financial crisis? Oh, yeah, she got distracted by the Olympics bid....
First step in solving a problem is that one has to recognize that there is a problem. Does our White House think there is a problem?
When was the White House Council on Women and Girls created? Yes, it was early March. What do we think of the progress so far?

[seanosul]

Of course, attempting to bring jobs to Chicago is unimportant to Republicans and their ilk. And The New Palin Agenda would not care as the jobs would have gone to largely ethnic minority women.

[realfeministshatehuffpo]

LMAO. You people are a riot! "attempting to bring jobs" "attempting to bring change"

I can attempt to build my own rocketship to outerspace is doesn't mean I'm doing a damn thing nor am I helping people.

Amy Siskind and TNA have nothing to do with party lines

[chklaver]

Amy, I completely agree with you! Obama does have a problem with women. Not only is Jarret one of the few cabinet members who is female, she has virtually no authority over her own cabinet and cannot make policy without approval from her other male cabinet members. When it comes to issues governing women, even women are seen as inferior in making salient choices among Obama's cabinet!

Frankly, I'm not surprised at all by Obama's behavior towards women, when he has shown an uncomfortability even during his short time as a US senator. A study comparing the salaries and positions of authority for women among his senatorial staff showed a surprising fact: not only did he employ less women than McCain did in his senate office, the majority of women he did employ had proportionately more lower level paying positions. Overall, McCain's female staff made well over $1 per hour to ever male staff, and Obama's made well below the national average.

[seanosul]

So that is why he signed Ledbetter? Something else The New Palin Agenda was silent on.

[Amy Siskind - Huffpost Blogger]

http://thenewagenda.net/2009/06/28/ledbetter-our-work-is-not-done/

Umm...we did speak out extensively on the Fair Pay Act and "what's next".

[JudgeCCrater]

As a left-handed Italian person, I agree strongly with the author. I think President Obama has also been uncomfortable around left-handed Italian people. We suffer daily from the slings and arrows of right-handed scissors, manually powered pasta machines, Berettas and Galantis [Italian guitar]. How long must this tragedy continue? We voted for you, Mr. President, in hopes that you end our second-class status as misfits in a right-handed world. It's just great that you have tackled the issue of the 44,000 unnecessary deaths caused by a lack of access to quality medical insurance. However, isn't the plight of our suffering, a suffering that has been ongoing for centuries, equally worthy of your valuable time? For the love of God, as a fellow southpaw, please help us out! Otherwise, I might have to vote Republican in 2012.

[LittlePurpleUSA]

lol

[generationyes]

You nailed it, brother. Or sister. Does EVERYBODY have a whine about Obama now. Seriously, the basis for this article is the thinnest of the thin. The basis for saying O is "uncomfortable" around women is that he doesn't invite them to sports events? That only 10% of "czars" are women? WTF? You'd get a better argument in middle schooler's paper than in this post. Yeesh.

[shouldvevotedforhillary]

Last I checked this was a democracy and if someone wants to whine about a public figure they have every right to.

There is a basis being raised by the author of this article. Barack Obama's ongoing boyz club behavior is rather indicative at his low comfort level around women. They are valid arguments/questions and deserve valid answers.

[JimR]

LOL

Bullseye!

[gimmeabreak]

Hmmm. A PUMA complaining that Obama is not doing enough for women. Imagine that.

[Alessandro Machi]

An Obama supporting ridiculing a woman, I don't have to imagine that, I see it enough.

[gimmeabreak]

I'm sure you do. Often. Also.

[realfeministshatehuffpo]

Hmmm an obot running around making baseless arguments. Imagine that.

[snarkopolitan]

The neo-slur "obot" is always a pretty good indicator that the speaker's brain has shut down. And it's a strong indicator of a PUMA, howevermuch the speaker may follow a considerable number of ex-PUMAs and try to deny the name.

[meanstreet]

I love reading the comments here more than anywhere. All the labels that you folks put on people is just amazing to me. Women's rights, gay rights, minority rights and at the same time you want world peace. Every group that gets a prize is just another coalition of complainers. We can't have everything in this world so somebody is going to have to do without. We had a woman running for president and her own party dissed her because there was more of a need for a black person to be the POTUS first when actually black men had more rights than women. Please...you make me crazy with all the labels. Have you ever heard of maybe the most "qualified leader that has earned the votes"?

[Alessandro Machi]

Barack obama received tens of millions of dollars in FRAUDULENT credit card donations. The fake names used on the credit card donations were similar to the names ACORN used in Nevada when creating fake voter registration sign ups.

There is also convincing mathematical evidence that the margin of victory in the democratic caucus contests did not "fairly reflect" the voters of those states.

And finally, Hillary Clinton actually won more delegates than Barack Obama did from all the primary contests, even when Florida and Michigan are not counted. Hillary Clinton also won 54% of the vote over the final 10 weeks of the campaign.

The most qualified leader that earned the most votes was actually Hillary Clinton.

[theRubberNecker]

Alessandro wrote "Hillary Clinton also won 54% of the vote over the final 10 weeks of the campaign."

Exactly! And for those 10 weeks, she was president. Is that how this works?

[SusanMilovich]

"black men had more rights than women"

Please expound on that. You and I both know that's hogwash. When you say "women" you're really saying "white women", isn't it? It just kills me to see folks like you claiming that black men have it so good, and women, excuse, white women, deserve better.

If you look at affirmative action, who has benefitted? In terms of gender WOMEN have faired better than men. And if you zero in on a racial group that has benefitted than all other groups combined...that would be white women. Yes. White women (like me) get business set-asides, and are the majority of the recipients of TITLE IX, the affirmative action program that is exclusively implemented in Division I colleges and universities.

In fact, we would not even have the WNBA if it wasn't for Title IX. Many women like former Givenor Sarah Palin benefitted from TITLE IX, and are, in effect, "affirmative action babies", but yet, we are to believe that black men have so-o-o good. Really? Prove it.