I just found this on a blog somewhere, and I love it:
Labels: gen y, social media, technology
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
What made the 2008 election exceptional: Gen Y
0 Comments Published by Nisha Chittal on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 11:25 AM.
So for the many political junkies like myself, we've been following the 2008 election since November 5, 2004. And more often than not, we care more about the horserace than the outcome. The race has been littered with firsts and shattered all kinds of previously unsurmounted barriers. But no matter who wins, one thing is for sure: this election was exceptional in no small part because of our generation.
The amount of interest I've seen from my fellow college students in this election has been phenomenal. People --particularly young people --are paying attention more than they ever have before. Maybe it's the disappointments of the last few years and the abysmally low approval ratings of both the Republican White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress; maybe it's the flagging economy and the realization that we can't pretend it doesn't affect us, with our student loans and credit card debt and jobhunting and an economy in the toilet. Finally, everyone is paying attention. Finally, people are contributing, volunteering, and hopefully voting more than ever! Though the last eight years haven't given us much, perhaps they have given us one thing: a sense of responsibility to contribute and participate in the system.
Ever since I wrote that first term paper on voter turnout in high school, studying voter turnout levels has always made me kind of cynical about young people's involvement in politics. And I've certainly been guilty of getting frustrated with my friends for not caring about elections and politics when it affects their everyday lives so much. It's always been that vicious cycle -- young people don't vote because politicians don't listen, and politicians don't listen because young people don't vote.
But this year, I think the cycle has broken. Or at least, it's been cracked. Young people are starting to take ownership over the system and politicians are starting to care, and it's a really cool phenomenon to see. 316,534 Facebook users are currently signed up for the Facebook Election Rally and are changing their Facebook statuses to remind their friends to vote. There's been a surge in under-30 voter registrations. Remember the CNN/YouTube debates, where everyone and their best friend was submitting video questions and actually got to ask their questions to the candidates? And Students For Barack Obama got started as a Facebook group and grew so tremendously that the Obama campaign did the unthinkable and LISTENED, and offered to let SFBO become the official student branch of the Obama campaign.
Youth voter turnout alreay tripled in the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Rock the Vote estimates 87% of young people plan to vote -- an unprecedented number. Some are calling it a "youthquake."
In 2004, I worked on a voter turnout campaign that focused on youth voter turnout, and my friends and I would always talk about how if only young people could actually all get out and vote, they could easily swing the election (voters under 30 are 25% of the registered electorate). It didn't quite happen that year, but we were on to something, maybe just four years too early. This year, the youth vote is definitely going to swing the election; it is already visible how much more college and even high school kids are suddenly paying attention to politics.
To me, that's the most exciting thing; more than having my candidate win on Tuesday, I'll be satisfied if the Wednesday headlines are screaming about the record youth turnout, and the old political establishments are astonished at how the youth came out to vote in unprecedented numbers and changed the face of the electorate.
The amount of interest I've seen from my fellow college students in this election has been phenomenal. People --particularly young people --are paying attention more than they ever have before. Maybe it's the disappointments of the last few years and the abysmally low approval ratings of both the Republican White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress; maybe it's the flagging economy and the realization that we can't pretend it doesn't affect us, with our student loans and credit card debt and jobhunting and an economy in the toilet. Finally, everyone is paying attention. Finally, people are contributing, volunteering, and hopefully voting more than ever! Though the last eight years haven't given us much, perhaps they have given us one thing: a sense of responsibility to contribute and participate in the system.
Ever since I wrote that first term paper on voter turnout in high school, studying voter turnout levels has always made me kind of cynical about young people's involvement in politics. And I've certainly been guilty of getting frustrated with my friends for not caring about elections and politics when it affects their everyday lives so much. It's always been that vicious cycle -- young people don't vote because politicians don't listen, and politicians don't listen because young people don't vote.
But this year, I think the cycle has broken. Or at least, it's been cracked. Young people are starting to take ownership over the system and politicians are starting to care, and it's a really cool phenomenon to see. 316,534 Facebook users are currently signed up for the Facebook Election Rally and are changing their Facebook statuses to remind their friends to vote. There's been a surge in under-30 voter registrations. Remember the CNN/YouTube debates, where everyone and their best friend was submitting video questions and actually got to ask their questions to the candidates? And Students For Barack Obama got started as a Facebook group and grew so tremendously that the Obama campaign did the unthinkable and LISTENED, and offered to let SFBO become the official student branch of the Obama campaign.
Youth voter turnout alreay tripled in the Iowa Democratic caucuses. Rock the Vote estimates 87% of young people plan to vote -- an unprecedented number. Some are calling it a "youthquake."
In 2004, I worked on a voter turnout campaign that focused on youth voter turnout, and my friends and I would always talk about how if only young people could actually all get out and vote, they could easily swing the election (voters under 30 are 25% of the registered electorate). It didn't quite happen that year, but we were on to something, maybe just four years too early. This year, the youth vote is definitely going to swing the election; it is already visible how much more college and even high school kids are suddenly paying attention to politics.
To me, that's the most exciting thing; more than having my candidate win on Tuesday, I'll be satisfied if the Wednesday headlines are screaming about the record youth turnout, and the old political establishments are astonished at how the youth came out to vote in unprecedented numbers and changed the face of the electorate.
Labels: gen y, politics, technology
You just don't get it.
2 Comments Published by Nisha Chittal on Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 9:27 PM.
During the 20 or so hours I spent on the road/in the air/on trains between Thursday and Sunday, I read nearly all of Joe Trippi's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, The Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything.
The whole book was the tale of Howard Dean's legendary bottom-up internet-based campaign that took Dean from dark horse to frontrunner relying almost solely on the internet and social media, and how Dean's campaign transformed political campaigning in general, giving voters a way to get more engaged in the political process. Anyone who knows me can probably guess... that I'm obsessed with this book. I'm all about getting people more engaged in politics and the political process. I also love the internet and seeing how it affects...pretty much everything. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, and you love campaigns, I definitely recommend the book.
My favorite part was a chapter that started with Trippi telling us that his favorite line during the Dean campaign was: "You just don't get it." Trippi explains: "You just don't get it...was the chorus of the song I went around belting at the top of my lungs for a year--that the leaders of American politics, media, entertainment, and business were in the dark...that they were clinging to old methods and ideas that were about to become archaeological relics right before their fossilized, corporate, country-club, never-gonna-get-it nearsighted eyes. The media? The party leaders? The other campaigns? Don't frickin get it." There has always been a difference, Trippi points out, between "those people who look at a computer screen and see what is, and those people who look at the same screen and see what's going to be; between those people who know the whole is changing profoundly before our eyes and those people who-- for one reason of another -- just don't get it."
And I love it. It was probably the most exciting book I've read in years. The Dean campaign and their innovative use of the internet to build a people-powered campaign changed a lot -- but even now, in 2008, it still seems like too many people still "just don't get it." The majority of college students don't write or even read blogs because they don't seem to get it. People still scoff at Twitter and some even scoff at Facebook, because...they just don't get it. Some think the internet is overthrowing everything...but others still don't seem to fully get it.
It's interesting to me because I've met a lot of resistance from people. I think the internet is completely changing everything about how we communicate, and I think it's exciting. But when I talk about the websites I've written for, my friends nod and smile, but don't really get it. They definitely don't get why the first thing I have to do after I get my coffee in the morning is check Google Reader to see what my favorite bloggers are talking about today. Half still think blogs are those silly "what I ate for lunch today"-style online diaries. We all use the internet on a daily basis, but a lot of people are still missing out on the interactivity and conversation that the internet has the potential to provide.
Why? Who knows... lack of time, lack of interest, lack of understanding? My guess is some of it is just fear of being out of your comfort zone, fear of being laughed at. I know so many people who still hear the word "blog" and might be embarrassed to admit that they read any, or have one. I think in college we also tend to live in this insular bubble where we forget that we still exist in the real world. It's a shame though...
The whole book was the tale of Howard Dean's legendary bottom-up internet-based campaign that took Dean from dark horse to frontrunner relying almost solely on the internet and social media, and how Dean's campaign transformed political campaigning in general, giving voters a way to get more engaged in the political process. Anyone who knows me can probably guess... that I'm obsessed with this book. I'm all about getting people more engaged in politics and the political process. I also love the internet and seeing how it affects...pretty much everything. If you're interested in that kind of stuff, and you love campaigns, I definitely recommend the book.
My favorite part was a chapter that started with Trippi telling us that his favorite line during the Dean campaign was: "You just don't get it." Trippi explains: "You just don't get it...was the chorus of the song I went around belting at the top of my lungs for a year--that the leaders of American politics, media, entertainment, and business were in the dark...that they were clinging to old methods and ideas that were about to become archaeological relics right before their fossilized, corporate, country-club, never-gonna-get-it nearsighted eyes. The media? The party leaders? The other campaigns? Don't frickin get it." There has always been a difference, Trippi points out, between "those people who look at a computer screen and see what is, and those people who look at the same screen and see what's going to be; between those people who know the whole is changing profoundly before our eyes and those people who-- for one reason of another -- just don't get it."
And I love it. It was probably the most exciting book I've read in years. The Dean campaign and their innovative use of the internet to build a people-powered campaign changed a lot -- but even now, in 2008, it still seems like too many people still "just don't get it." The majority of college students don't write or even read blogs because they don't seem to get it. People still scoff at Twitter and some even scoff at Facebook, because...they just don't get it. Some think the internet is overthrowing everything...but others still don't seem to fully get it.
It's interesting to me because I've met a lot of resistance from people. I think the internet is completely changing everything about how we communicate, and I think it's exciting. But when I talk about the websites I've written for, my friends nod and smile, but don't really get it. They definitely don't get why the first thing I have to do after I get my coffee in the morning is check Google Reader to see what my favorite bloggers are talking about today. Half still think blogs are those silly "what I ate for lunch today"-style online diaries. We all use the internet on a daily basis, but a lot of people are still missing out on the interactivity and conversation that the internet has the potential to provide.
Why? Who knows... lack of time, lack of interest, lack of understanding? My guess is some of it is just fear of being out of your comfort zone, fear of being laughed at. I know so many people who still hear the word "blog" and might be embarrassed to admit that they read any, or have one. I think in college we also tend to live in this insular bubble where we forget that we still exist in the real world. It's a shame though...
Will the millenials actually turn out to vote?
2 Comments Published by Nisha Chittal on Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 11:46 PM.
Lots of organizations and experts are saying, this is the year. The year young voters are finally going to care, to give a damn, to vote in large numbers, to cast off the labels of "apathetic" and "oblivious" that they've been branded with practically since they were given the vote in 1971.
The campaign of Barack Obama (which, even if he doesn't win, will surely achieve a legendary status like that of Howard Dean's campaign of 2003/04) has played no small part in the increased interest young people have been paying to the election this year. The combination of Barack's ability to inspire and motivate crowds, and his campaign's brilliant user-driven, bottom-up, 21st-century grassroots strategy, has given millions of young people a window into politics that they never saw -- or just never took -- before.
"They've married the incredibly powerful online community they built with real on-the-ground field operations. We've never seen anything like this before in American political history," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the Democratic think tank NDN.
"They have taken the bottom up campaign and absolutely perfected it," said Joe Trippi, the man who orchestrated the rise of Howard Dean largely through use of the internet.
All this would make you think young voters (18-24) are going to turn out in record numbers this year. After all, polls show young voters adore Obama: they prefer him to McCain in a 61-30 margin. But, it looks like the Obama campaign still can't count on the youth vote just yet:
If large numbers of 18-24 year olds were to vote, they have the potential to swing the election -- yet they've never realized their full potential. America is recognizing this, and has spent thousands of hours and billions of dollars trying to get 18-24 year olds to vote. So what, then, is still holding them back from actually voting?
The campaign of Barack Obama (which, even if he doesn't win, will surely achieve a legendary status like that of Howard Dean's campaign of 2003/04) has played no small part in the increased interest young people have been paying to the election this year. The combination of Barack's ability to inspire and motivate crowds, and his campaign's brilliant user-driven, bottom-up, 21st-century grassroots strategy, has given millions of young people a window into politics that they never saw -- or just never took -- before.
"They've married the incredibly powerful online community they built with real on-the-ground field operations. We've never seen anything like this before in American political history," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the Democratic think tank NDN.
"They have taken the bottom up campaign and absolutely perfected it," said Joe Trippi, the man who orchestrated the rise of Howard Dean largely through use of the internet.
All this would make you think young voters (18-24) are going to turn out in record numbers this year. After all, polls show young voters adore Obama: they prefer him to McCain in a 61-30 margin. But, it looks like the Obama campaign still can't count on the youth vote just yet:
When asked to rank their interest in the Nov. 4 election, just 49% said they were "very interested." By comparison, 70% of voters of all age groups said they were "very interested," according to a separate Journal/NBC News national poll taken a week ago. Moreover, 54% of the new voters said they would definitely vote Nov. 4.So they love Obama, but only roughly half of these new voters plan to vote? What exactly is holding them back, I wonder? The amount of work America has been doing to reach out to Millenial voters has been almost to the point of ridiculousness. Voter registration is now easier than ever...so easy you can "do it while you're pooping" according to Sarah Silverman. Early voting is enabling millions of people to vote who are too busy to vote on election day (I still don't get how people are too busy to do their civic duty, but that's a different story) -- 27 million Americans are expected to vote early this year. Groups like Rock the Vote are spending extensive amounts of time and energy on getting the attention of young people and getting them to vote. The Obama campaign, and its Students for Barack Obama, have spent millions on registering voters and plans to get them to the polls. Hundreds of celebrities have started or supported campaigns to get people engaged and get them to vote. They've reached out to us on the turf we're most comfortable with, too -- social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Youtube all have adopted some kind of voter registration promotion, application, tool, or whatever else, to try to grab the attention of these Millennial voters.
If large numbers of 18-24 year olds were to vote, they have the potential to swing the election -- yet they've never realized their full potential. America is recognizing this, and has spent thousands of hours and billions of dollars trying to get 18-24 year olds to vote. So what, then, is still holding them back from actually voting?
