Is Obama Man Enough To Be a Feminist Too?

In the vitriol over primacy claims to victimhood between females and blacks, we see our two candidates draining the pustulous boil of the once-silent liberal majority. That in the end, is going to be a good thing. It might not get either of them elected against the rich white guy with the snappin' salute.

Then again, it just might.

The kids recently pulled my junior high school yearbooks off the book shelf. Ellis Junior High, 1974, was the kind of mixed-race, mixed-class public school I don't think exists anymore. Hard by the crumble-down projects in Elgin, Illinois, it served black and Latino kids on welfare, and lower middle class white kids like me, but was close enough to country club suburbia to draw students who fox-hunted and would soon head off to East Coast prep schools. The black guys came to school with picks in their huge Afros, and joints in their pockets, and we danced with them to Bootsy's Rubber Band, in parentless, pot-scented, subsidized living rooms.

We never imagined that in our lifetime, we would someday be competing for the spoils of dying-Empire America.

Looking at those yearbooks, I realized I have no idea what happened to any of those young black men. Did they get lucky, draw the affirmative action straw and get into private colleges and law school, get promoted up the EEOC ranks of a multi-national? Or, are they delivering mail, pounding nails, in jail?
Whenever I start to think about the competing victimhood claims between blacks and women, I think about those guys. The fact is, for all the "glass ceiling" and sexual harassment crap I endured, those guys started off a long ways behind where I was.

Like others (including Erica Jong, under attack on this page right now for referring to Obama as a boy) I think Obama looks boyish. And by that I mean young - not "bwah!" With his infectious grin and stick-out ears, he looks like a kid, and that's a good thing and a bad thing. I like that he's my age, he's new and fresh and he's going to negotiate with our enemies (yes! Long overdue!), say things the old fogeys would never say, and try new ways of doing. But he doesn't exactly look grizzled or "seasoned," and it's not because of the color of his skin. As we all know, in our generation, fifty is going to be the new forty.
Like many women, I feel the visceral draw to vote for a female. The nasty sexist crap Clinton has had to endure only makes me want to support her, even though I don't even like her, and I don't think she's a good leader. She doesn't have that warm, follow-me, sun-god quality that leaders in a democracy must have. In politics personality does matter, and it doesn't matter how many disastrous frat boys we elect, that'll never change.

I have a white female friend so passionately supportive of HRC that she screams the Tina Fey line "bitch is the new black" after a few glasses of wine at dinner. And accuses me of being a bad mother and sister for not feeling the pain of our not getting a female president elected this time around.
The fact is, as the UN reported some years back, women world-wide are five hundred years from parity with men. So why should we expect to get a female president right now? Furthermore, and not to make the perfect the enemy of the good, this particular female is not the best candidate anyway - she de facto offends many working women because, even though she did work herself, she really did get to where she is thanks to her husband. And, as has been repeated countless times, she's playing the game the old way.

She's phony Beatlemania in the age of the Clash.

That said, it would be nice to see some glimmer of feminism coming out of our presumptive black male candidate. I'd like to know what he thinks of OJ Simpson, for example. Would he, law professor, stand up in front of a black crowd and admit that he thinks OJ got away with murdering a white woman - unlike the countless black males who actually didn't murder the white woman, but were hanged anyway? In all cases, remember, the woman was actually dead.

More importantly, will Obama repudiate the misogynistic undertone in rap music, the tidal wave of bitch and ho vulgarity that does nothing to move young black (and white) women an inch closer to parity with men?

Calling female reporters "sweetie" is not - ahem - a step in the right direction.

Every day in America a woman gets the crap beat out of her by a boyfriend, every other day, in New York anyway, a man kills his wife or girlfriend. That's feminism 101, friends, it's where we really are on a planet where whole nations can still deny women the right to drive, use birth control or go to school, and force them to wear black blankets over their heads.

All we can do is hope this new kind of man leader cares enough to speak about it.

Comments

[egal]

That request is so entrenched in the old days and old ways that it shouldn't even need to be asked.

Obama's way of dealing with the negative -isms has been, primarily, to give us the benefit of the doubt that we are intelligent and honorable enough to vote based on the candidate's strength and not the irelevant and petty issues such as race, gender, acquaintances, and the embittered awareness of inequalities and injustices that might overwhelm our better sense and become the whole reason for our adherence to a candidate if we let them.

We aren't voting for a black man over a white woman, but for a candidate who jives with today's conceptions and hope rather than with yesterday's assumptions of bias and bribery and dirty tricks that struggles to advance the underpriveleged by playing up their mistreatment and screaming that the solution to the problem is to highlight the differences and claim that prejudice as demanding a reversal of fortunes.

To be truly feminist in today's world, one must remove the legal (but illegal) and economic barriers that hamper women's education and society's expectations of them, and base our pride and exhortation of women on their individual strengths and achievements rather than on the need to overcome the inequalities for all women by advancing any woman in the name of such impractical, old-fashioned, and self-defeating false equity.

[popmanifesto]

"That said, it would be nice to see some glimmer of feminism coming out of our presumptive black male candidate. I'd like to know what he thinks of OJ Simpson, for example."

Are you for real or is this parody? How does one take something like this seriously? I hope to god you don't represent the state of feminism today. Just when I thought we'd reached a low with the flag pin foolishness, you come along wanting to test Obama on his views of O.J. Simpson! Wow.

[cog1000]

Strange post. Not worth getting exercised about really.

Obama is so much the feminist that to claim "sweetie" as an indicator is ludicrous. But I suppose there are people who have PERSONAL HISTORY that makes them particularly sensitive to words used as weapons. I personally don't believe that was the case in this example. And he apologized as soon as he realized that interpretation could be made.

The first thing I liked about Obama was the way he talked about his daughters, his mother and his wife. As the daughter of a father who thought he spoke about us with pride but was so sexist that it was always disheartening rather than confidence enhancing, I think I have that particular sensitivity! It is overwhelmingly clear that he admires and respects women.

And certainly Michelle Obama is the living embodiment of the feminist extraordinaire.

I will pass over all that OJ crap which seemed so silly as to be not worth responding to. Why black (or any other non-white) public figures are constantly required to speak for or provide the example of their entire race I do not know. Obama's principles and integrity speak for themselves.

Again, all this tit for tat and rancorous posting is causing more harm than good in working to unify Dems behind Obama.

[justice58]

Barack is man enough! oh yeah! oh yeah!

[daniellenow]

he has spoken out against misogyny in hiphop..

Though he supports using Hip Hop as a catalyst for good, Obama is also aware of Hip Hop's negative side too, acknowledging that messages of crime and misogyny overshadow the many positive aspects of rap music:

"I've met with Jay-Z; I've met with Kanye. And I've talked to other artists about how potentially to bridge that gap. I think the potential for them to deliver a message of extraordinary power that gets people thinking is massive. There are times, even on the artists I've named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that's sometimes degrading to women, uses the N-word a little too frequently. But also something that I'm really concerned about is (they're) always talking about material things about how I can get something; more money, more cars."

that's just the first quote i found when i typed in google "obama hip hop" i've heard him say this many other times.. but thats just a taste.

as for OJ --
"And, by the way, I'm somebody who was pretty clear that O.J. was guilty. And I was ashamed for my own community to respond in that way, but I also understood what was taking place, which was that reaction had more to do with a sense that somehow the criminal justice system historically had been biased so profoundly that a defeat of that justice system was somehow a victory." - Obama

[Marlyn]

NINA BURLEIGH, I assure you that Barack Obama loves and appreciates women. In his book "Dreams from my Father" he describes how came to respect his grandmother, and how brave his mother was. And now, with his wife and two daughters, I'd guess that he has the best interests of women at heart.

[allonfla]

Nina;

You say that you want Obama to speak more about issues that concern women. They are all listed on his website, not specifically under women's issues, but all the issues listed should be a real concern to women.

If you want to hear him talk more about it go to a townhall meeting and ask him a specific question that you believe concerns women.

Lastly, he is not the only one in the race and not the only male candidate in the race. Where is your article about what McCain feels about women's issues? Especially with Hillary supporters crying that they will vote for McCain if Hillary does not get the nomination. Not everyone on Huff post is automatically voting Democrat even though this site is very pro-Democrat.

P.S. How does it feel when people take what you write out of context? How does it feel when people just don't get what you are all about and twist your words? Not so good? That is how all three candidates feel every day 24/7 for the past 15 months. If you and Erican can't take the heat......­.......

[egal]

And Obama addresses the issues of inequality far more fairly, justly, and effectively than those who would term themselves feminists yet who ignore the value of individual women because they would rather focus on making every woman's journey a battle in their cause's advancement.

We need to admit the disparities born of gender, race, and other issues in our response to the systemic problems, but we exacerbate the problems when we, like feminists of the past, become too aggressive in addressing the issues as if gender should be the defining characteristic, making sexism retain its importance by holding it above personal characteristics. By trusting us to not let the issues weight our support toward those who have been minimized, but to make our decisions based on individual merit alone, Obama has done far more to advance the causes of true gender and other forms of conceptual and actual equality than the so-called feminists staunchly adhering to Hillary just because she is a woman have done to set it back.

[Marlyn]

"will Obama repudiate the misogynistic undertone in rap music"

He already has.

[egal]

And, of course, while asking him to repudiate these things is acceptable, it is unconstitutional and anti-freedom to ask him to censor the media when it isn't doing active harm to nation and people, but rather is expressive of certain beliefs and viewpoints.

[abt]

Obama has been "man enough" to be a feminist and strong supporter of women's rights for a long time, regardless of what the Clintonites say about him - and, as we all know, they will say just about anything.
For example, it was the Clinton campaign that sent out a dishonest mailer to NH women just before that state's primary, claiming that Obama opposed abortion rights. The former head of Chicago N.O.W. (Lorna Brett Howard) was so outraged that she switched her support from Clinton to Obama and went on YouTube to talk about it.
Don't take my word for it - go to YouTube.com and search for "Lorna Brett Howard".

[Marlyn]

"we see our two candidates draining the pustulous boil" ???

No, WE don't see that. YOU do. I never saw vitriol except from Hillary. In fact, THAT is why she lost.

[BlackandProud]

I pray that Barack never acts like a feminist.

Let's look at why feminism has lost it's audience and lost it's credibility.

Feminists are concerned about the rights of women to vote, drive, attend college and work in leadership positions, but when given the opportunity to denounce the wife-beating, vote suppression, education suppression, and abuse of women in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have been silent.

They are quick to rally around a sexual harassment case, unless its a tall handsome president like Bill Clinton that does the sexual harassing, or a sexy movie star that gets accused of the harassment. They "pick and choose" their cases.

When a woman teacher has sex with a young boy (and screws up his head for the rest of his young life) she averages 3 years in jail (except for the teacher who was too pretty for jail, per the judge... and that judge should be removed from the bench for life). A man averages 8 years in jail for the same crime. I never hear a feminist say "give the woman 8 years also". Pathetic.

It's selective outrage. There have been a few great television stories about this selective outrage, and it has made most people run away from the feminist movement. The feminist movement is failing because of the hypocrisy they display.

[tbone99]

Male sexual abuse is so common it barely makes the front page unlike woman teacher incidents.

The majority of perpetrators of sexual violence are men. Studies of sexual assault against children and young adolescents report that more than 97% of perpetrators were male. One study notes that 98% of male perpetrators self-identify as heterosexual. . Studies report that women commit 2-4% of reported sex offenses against children and teens with just 1% who sexually assaulted adults. Female perpetrators of sexual assault tend to use persuasion rather than force or the threat of force during their crimes.

Michigan Center for the Study of Sexual Abuse

[popmanifesto]

While you address important points, you don't address the poster's point. None of your statistics explain why a woman who shoots her husband in the back while he's sleeping and then takes her kids to the beach (and admits when she is arrested that her husband wasn't abusive) gets 6 months probation for her crime. Or why a 17 year old boy who accepts a blowjob during a party is guilty of a "crime" that gets him a 10 year jail sentence. Feminists don't bat an eye at such injustices against men, but they turned up in force with their picket signs to protest Karla Faye Tucker's execution because apparently a woman's life is much more valuable.

Isn't there a better way to support women than by being anti-male - or at best turning the other cheek when a man is the victim? The failure of feminism, like the failure of conservatism, is that it is too often played out as a win/lose game. I'm not a feminist for the same reasons I'm not a Republican.

[lisakaz2]

I'd not necessarily have believed you on the "selective outrage" till the last decade or so. I kinda understand why some minority women have seen "feminism" as not open to them. The Iraq/Afghanistan thing is a point toward this view.

[ckemp]

In answer to the question in the post's title: look at his wife. Men who hate women don't marry people like that.

[funnyguy]

Let's see, Obama has a 100% NARAL voting record, which is one reason NARAL endorsed him. According to your logic he must be a sexist, right?

[allonfla]

It is perfectly reasonable and fair to criticize Obama. What we Obama supporters are tired of are unfair questions that are only asked of Senator Obama.

Go after one of his policies and stop asking questions about is he Black enough, too Black, too macho, too feminine. Why don't we ask McCain about his sensitivity to minorities? Ask him if he ever read a book by a Black author or when was the last time he saw a Black movie? Let's ask him, a man who has allegedly called his wife a c*nt about his own feminism. Let's ask Hillary about her feminism. Why did she stay with a man that has cheated on her with multiple times with multiple women? Why don't you ask about her self-esteem? Or are all those questions unfair and pointless?

[WoodyCPM]

Exactly! They're holding Obama to a different standard..­..and why? Why, do you think.....­.uh...

[dct1999]

Good points, well said!

[chappelforpres]

Can we please get past the unessential crap here. Supporting or denouncing any candidate based on sex, race, religion or age, resonates at the lower levels of consciousness. Seeing the presidency, as a litmus test for absolute sexual equity sounds noble, but is certainly not the overriding issue. I'm far more concerned that the earth's hapless children are standing on the precipice of unimaginable chaos and violence. My duty is to vote for the individual I deem most capable of invigorating this nation and revitalizing its citizenry. Tomorrow, could prove one day too late! A bridge to far.

Given that choice, given the field, I choose Obama. By all rights, given the numbers/process, he would seem the Democratic Party's leading nominee. But let's at least get one thing straight. No matter who wins this nomination, we owe them our unqualified support. Sour losers ring lowest, on the evolutionary ladder.