After Obama's landslide presidential win and epic victory speech, the message to America seems to be clear: anyone can be president. We're the land of equal opportunity. Any kid, no matter the color of their skin, can dream of actually being president of the United States one day. Anything really is possible.
Except if you're a woman.
I am thrilled about Obama's victory, no doubt, and I completely recognize how momentous and wonderful an occasion this is for America. I get it. And I appreciate it. But I am somewhat troubled by this new misguided belief that now, truly, anyone in America can grow up to be anything they want, when everyone seems to be ignoring the one white elephant still in the room after the 2008 campaign: sexism.
I am, by no means, attempting to lay all the blame for Hillary Clinton's eventual fall on sexism. It was by no means the only factor, but certainly a contributing one. She made plenty of campaign gaffes. Obama's campaign was unusually skilled at engaging people online and turning that into votes and volunteers. They ran a great campaign and that is why Barack Obama won. But you would be blind to say that there was no sexism at play in this race. The "Stop running for president and make me a sandwich" facebook groups? The constant commentary about Hillary's makeup artist, her voice, her tears? The comments about her being too "cold"? (Because, we all know, women are supposed to be more caring and nurturing...)
I am not saying Hillary was the only candidate affected by sexism; Sarah Palin faced it too. The world loves to scream about her $150,000 wardrobe, but the reality is that for a woman candidate, it's necessary. Women running for office are judged on their appearance, their dress, and their hair far more than men running for public office-- and that's unfair. But pointing out this injustice doesn't do anything to fix it; it only gets the Rush Limbaughs and Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermanns of the world complaining that we tried to play the sexism card. So instead, they have to roll with the punches, accept that women candidates will get judged on their appearance more, and spend exorbitant amounts of money on wardrobes.
The worst part of the problem is that young women seem okay with it. I know very few women in my generation who seem troubled by the sexism that is still prevalent in our supposedly postfeminist society. It may not always be conscious, intentional sexism -- but it is still sexism, nonetheless, and still inflicts damage. Even women do it; I've heard plenty of my girlfriends say they won't vote for Hillary because she's too cold, and I can't do much but be disappointed. Not enough women are speaking up about this; it's considered too radical, the stuff that belongs only to women's studies types. But how will we ever get past the underlying misogyny here if women won't speak up in their own defense?
Call me a raging feminist, I'm sure you will. Hillary supporters tend to get that a lot. You'll tell me sexism doesn't really exist anymore or that this is not such a big deal. Racism is a big deal, you say, but sexism is just overblown whining; it's just women hating on men all the time. You're not really a sexist. You have no problem with a woman being president, you say. Just not Hillary, she's too ......cold? calculating? Ambitious? Impersonal? or my favorite: Bitchy?
But if you say it, you're part of the problem, which is that sexism has now become an acceptable part of mainstream society. Objection to the norm gets us branded as raging feminists or man-haters. Sexist putdowns are still more acceptable than racist ones. Women still earn seventy-three cents to the man's dollar. They still face more sexual harassment at work. They still get judged on their appearance and dress more than men. And they still can't be president of the United States.
Except if you're a woman.
I am thrilled about Obama's victory, no doubt, and I completely recognize how momentous and wonderful an occasion this is for America. I get it. And I appreciate it. But I am somewhat troubled by this new misguided belief that now, truly, anyone in America can grow up to be anything they want, when everyone seems to be ignoring the one white elephant still in the room after the 2008 campaign: sexism.
I am, by no means, attempting to lay all the blame for Hillary Clinton's eventual fall on sexism. It was by no means the only factor, but certainly a contributing one. She made plenty of campaign gaffes. Obama's campaign was unusually skilled at engaging people online and turning that into votes and volunteers. They ran a great campaign and that is why Barack Obama won. But you would be blind to say that there was no sexism at play in this race. The "Stop running for president and make me a sandwich" facebook groups? The constant commentary about Hillary's makeup artist, her voice, her tears? The comments about her being too "cold"? (Because, we all know, women are supposed to be more caring and nurturing...)
I am not saying Hillary was the only candidate affected by sexism; Sarah Palin faced it too. The world loves to scream about her $150,000 wardrobe, but the reality is that for a woman candidate, it's necessary. Women running for office are judged on their appearance, their dress, and their hair far more than men running for public office-- and that's unfair. But pointing out this injustice doesn't do anything to fix it; it only gets the Rush Limbaughs and Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermanns of the world complaining that we tried to play the sexism card. So instead, they have to roll with the punches, accept that women candidates will get judged on their appearance more, and spend exorbitant amounts of money on wardrobes.
The worst part of the problem is that young women seem okay with it. I know very few women in my generation who seem troubled by the sexism that is still prevalent in our supposedly postfeminist society. It may not always be conscious, intentional sexism -- but it is still sexism, nonetheless, and still inflicts damage. Even women do it; I've heard plenty of my girlfriends say they won't vote for Hillary because she's too cold, and I can't do much but be disappointed. Not enough women are speaking up about this; it's considered too radical, the stuff that belongs only to women's studies types. But how will we ever get past the underlying misogyny here if women won't speak up in their own defense?
Call me a raging feminist, I'm sure you will. Hillary supporters tend to get that a lot. You'll tell me sexism doesn't really exist anymore or that this is not such a big deal. Racism is a big deal, you say, but sexism is just overblown whining; it's just women hating on men all the time. You're not really a sexist. You have no problem with a woman being president, you say. Just not Hillary, she's too ......cold? calculating? Ambitious? Impersonal? or my favorite: Bitchy?
But if you say it, you're part of the problem, which is that sexism has now become an acceptable part of mainstream society. Objection to the norm gets us branded as raging feminists or man-haters. Sexist putdowns are still more acceptable than racist ones. Women still earn seventy-three cents to the man's dollar. They still face more sexual harassment at work. They still get judged on their appearance and dress more than men. And they still can't be president of the United States.
Labels: activism, election 2008, gen y, gender politics, hillary clinton, politics, president, sexism, women
The end of youth voter apathy.
1 Comments Published by Nisha Chittal on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 11:48 PM.
Tonight, I was lucky enough to witness something big. Something historic.
I'm not talking about the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, although that was certainly big and historic. What I'm talking about is something else. Something I didn't think I would ever see: riots in the streets all over my giant college campus, celebrating the election of Barack Obama and the fact that they helped to elect him. People (albeit, very drunk people) were running through campus, cheering in the streets, yelling every Obama campaign slogan you could think of. Everything from "Yes we can" to "No More Bush" to "Yes we did." They sang the Star-Spangled Banner at least four times. They carried a sea of American flags of all sizes. Hundreds, hundreds of college kids -- the kids society typically brushes off as self-involved slackers who don't give a damn about the world -- were cheering in the streets for over two hours, full of pride that THEY made a change for their country. Never once have I seen so many people my age care about politics; I'm usually the lone nerd watching election returns and reminding everyone to vote year after year.
At one point, I heard one African-American guy (with arms full of bottles of champagne) tell his friends: "Our boy Obama won, and I voted! My vote mattered!"
At another point, a bunch of students lifted up an African-American kid with a handicap, who has been in a wheelchair for sixteen years. The entire crowd went silent as the kid slowly started to speak. For 16 years, he told us, he had been in physical therapy, pushing himself to learn about the world around him, waiting for this moment (crowd erupted in cheers at this point). This moment, he said, was "proof that anyone can come from nothing...and become somebody." Imagine a handicapped, wheelchair-bound college student being held up in the air (wheelchair and all) by 10 of his fellow college students, and 300 other students silently listen while he tells onlookers that their votes mattered today, that the election of a longshot black candidate for President of the United States meant there was hope for every single one of them, that this was really America and they could really be anything they wanted to be. That anything is now possible. It was pretty powerful.
Ever since the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, young people always voted in abysmally low numbers. We've always been the apathetic demographic. No one takes college kids seriously. But seeing the way my entire campus erupted this evening, I realized something is different this year, and something will be different from now on. An era is over: that era in which young people didn't care about politics. From now on, this generation is going to be more engaged and more civically active than any group of young people have been since the antiwar protests of the '60s. Something has shifted in the American electorate as a result of this election; even the cynical college kids who thought politics didn't matter suddenly have hope for the political system. This election is definitely the end of youth voter apathy as we know it.
I'm not talking about the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, although that was certainly big and historic. What I'm talking about is something else. Something I didn't think I would ever see: riots in the streets all over my giant college campus, celebrating the election of Barack Obama and the fact that they helped to elect him. People (albeit, very drunk people) were running through campus, cheering in the streets, yelling every Obama campaign slogan you could think of. Everything from "Yes we can" to "No More Bush" to "Yes we did." They sang the Star-Spangled Banner at least four times. They carried a sea of American flags of all sizes. Hundreds, hundreds of college kids -- the kids society typically brushes off as self-involved slackers who don't give a damn about the world -- were cheering in the streets for over two hours, full of pride that THEY made a change for their country. Never once have I seen so many people my age care about politics; I'm usually the lone nerd watching election returns and reminding everyone to vote year after year.
At one point, I heard one African-American guy (with arms full of bottles of champagne) tell his friends: "Our boy Obama won, and I voted! My vote mattered!"
At another point, a bunch of students lifted up an African-American kid with a handicap, who has been in a wheelchair for sixteen years. The entire crowd went silent as the kid slowly started to speak. For 16 years, he told us, he had been in physical therapy, pushing himself to learn about the world around him, waiting for this moment (crowd erupted in cheers at this point). This moment, he said, was "proof that anyone can come from nothing...and become somebody." Imagine a handicapped, wheelchair-bound college student being held up in the air (wheelchair and all) by 10 of his fellow college students, and 300 other students silently listen while he tells onlookers that their votes mattered today, that the election of a longshot black candidate for President of the United States meant there was hope for every single one of them, that this was really America and they could really be anything they wanted to be. That anything is now possible. It was pretty powerful.
Ever since the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, young people always voted in abysmally low numbers. We've always been the apathetic demographic. No one takes college kids seriously. But seeing the way my entire campus erupted this evening, I realized something is different this year, and something will be different from now on. An era is over: that era in which young people didn't care about politics. From now on, this generation is going to be more engaged and more civically active than any group of young people have been since the antiwar protests of the '60s. Something has shifted in the American electorate as a result of this election; even the cynical college kids who thought politics didn't matter suddenly have hope for the political system. This election is definitely the end of youth voter apathy as we know it.
Labels: election 2008, gen y, politics, voter apathy
Bits and pieces on election eve
0 Comments Published by Nisha Chittal on Monday, November 3, 2008 at 4:53 PM.
--All 159 polls in the US are showing Obama with a decent lead. 538 shows Obama up 6.8 points. RCP shows Obama up 7.3.
--There is no single path to 270 for McCain without Pennsylvania. He can't win the election without winning PA. Currently: Obama is up in PA, by 8 points.
--1,994,990 people voted early in Georgia so far this year. 3,301,875 total voted in Georgia's presidential race in 2004. Wow.
--The Obama-Biden rally in Chicago tomorrow night is expecting 1 million people in attendance.
--Starbucks is giving away free coffee to voters. Love it.
--Polls open in seven hours....I can barely contain my excitement!
--There is no single path to 270 for McCain without Pennsylvania. He can't win the election without winning PA. Currently: Obama is up in PA, by 8 points.
--1,994,990 people voted early in Georgia so far this year. 3,301,875 total voted in Georgia's presidential race in 2004. Wow.
--The Obama-Biden rally in Chicago tomorrow night is expecting 1 million people in attendance.
--Starbucks is giving away free coffee to voters. Love it.
--Polls open in seven hours....I can barely contain my excitement!
Labels: election 2008, politics
