This Is What A Feminist Looks Like
It's not every day Ms. puts a man on its cover.
In choosing the cover for this special Inaugural issue, Ms. wanted to capture both the national and feminist mood of high expectations and hope as the 44th President of the United States takes the oath of office.
Expectations have only grown since the election, with President-Elect Obama now enjoying over 80% of the public's support. Most people wish him well, and indeed hope he does "save" us from economic disasters, unending war and occupation, 
global warming, the decline in our international reputation, and relentless attacks on women's rights, civil rights, human rights, science, privacy...the list goes on.
When the chair of the Feminist Majority Foundation board, Peg Yorkin, and I met Barack Obama, he immediately offered "I am a feminist." And better yet, he ran on the strongest platform for women's rights of any major party in American history. Feminist Karen Kornbluh, the platform's principle author, ensured women's rights, opportunities, advancement, and issues were addressed throughout the historic document.
Never has it been easy fighting for equality and social justice. The politics of Washington, our nation, and our world are tough. We have spent far too many years fighting to hold the ground we had already gained. Now is the time to move forward. We are in one of those rare transformational times in history.
But we are not giving President-Elect Obama a blank check. For our hopes to be achieved, we must speak out and organize, organize, organize to enable our new president's team to achieve our common goals. Ultimately, we must hold our leaders' feet to the fire or, to put it more positively, uplift them when they are caught in the crosscurrents of competing interests.
Now is our time to think big. We cannot settle for less...too many women's lives, too many people's lives, depend on it.
In this spirit, the Editors of Ms. magazine asked our readers, feminist leaders, experts, and activists to share their visions of what must be done to move forward at this extraordinary time. In the current issue of Ms., read their visions for change and add yours.
Eleanor Smeal is president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and publisher of Ms. magazine.
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I love this cover!
I'm a 65 year old feminist and I also love the cover.
As a 45 year old feminist, I do too.
What must be done to move forward? The list is soooooo long, I don't know where to begin! But here goes:
Stop the war on abortion.
Stop the war on contraception.
Stop the war on single motherhood.
Stop the war on the minimum wage.
Stop the war on sex education.
Change the rules on taxation (see FairTax.com).
Provide single payer universal health care.
Vastly improve education.
Vastly improve women's chances for economic parity.
Vastly improve women's chances for inclusion in power circles.
Provide self-defense instruction for all little girls (starting when they're very young!).
Vastly improve the rules dealing with violence against women and girls.
The list goes on and on... Add to it, Sisters!
No kidding, the list is so long! Here is a few more:
Equal pay for equal work!
Stop brainwashing women that they need to look like cover models!
Sure, and stop brainwashing them that men are the cause for every wrong in their life.
Abortion is a war on children 55 million victims so far
No, not funding social programs for all the children you fight to keep from being aborted by poor, uneducated women is a war on children.
LITNUP is right. When God allows a 3-day-old blastocyst to be naturally flushed from a woman's body without implantation, he's essentially murdering that baby. God has declared a "War on Babies". My mother's womb alone was the site of several war atrocities, as God caused her to miscarriage. I remember Mom wore a yellow ribbon magnet on her belt buckle, to symbolize the casualties of God's war on her belly. We wanted to bury the miscarriages in Arlington Cemetary, but they wouldn't let us.
But you go ahead and call a fertilized egg a "child". Real good. I suppose you're also anti-birth-control because it "encourages promiscuity". (That's kind of like being against rape, but only if the woman doesn't wear a short skirt, because then she deserved it!)
Curious about your source for the number of "victims." Citation, please?
Just a minute, sweetie. He'll answer your questions in a minute.
So, is calling someone sweetie only sexist if it comes out of a man's mouth? Isn't that thought in and of itself....sexist?
That comment is referring to Obama's reply to a woman reporter who repeatedly tried to ask him questions at a campaign stop in a Michigan auto factory. I agree that Obama has more progressive minded policies and more attention to women's concerns than just about anyone else out there, but he still needs to be called on it when he acts like a jerk. He does appear to have some latent sexist attitudes. Let's just not lose our vigilence, 'kay?
I can't tell you how many times I've been called baby ... honey ... lover man. Am I running around squawking about it ... damn right ... as long and as loud as I can.
Ah, yes - the great "sweetie" offense. Well, truly offensive or not, Hillary obviously doesn't have a problem working for him. So, so much for all of the fake outrage, and the accusations of sexism and incompetence, during the primary. All political bluster, no actual horrible offense, apparently.
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