Young Feminists Split On Clinton

Takvah said:

I more often wonder why George H. W. Bush stayed with a bug-eyed woman that looks like his grandmother. . . .

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Lordy.

Takvah said:

Allow me to explain before you get out the pitchforks and torches... women are brutally tough on one another. Ask a defense attorney on a rape case who he wants on a jury. I bet he'll say women. Women will look for something that the victim did to make her responsible for the attack. Was she a slut? Did she dress provocatively? Did she make overt overtures? Once they satisfy these questions in their mind, THEN, they'll determine the guilt/innocence of the guy sitting on trial.

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I'm not defense attorney, but I don't agree with this at all. I don't think most women feel that ANY woman deserves to be raped, even a prostitute. And I think that if this "blame the victim" attitude exists, it's split evenly between men and women.

Although I do think women are hard on each other, especially when it comes to elections. It's my opinion that the majority of women DO want to see a female president, but that it has to be the PERFECT one. And that candidate has to reflect the voter in some way--the voter has to be able to relate to her--and that's impossible to do with everyone. I'll admit that I got a little pissy about Hillary when she made that comment years ago about "I'm not the stay-home-and-bake-cookies type." That annoyed me because I WAS staying home with my young kids, and baking a fair number of cookies! But maybe that statement resonated with women who worked. I don't think men get judgmental about these types of statements.

BTW, I'm not silly enough to make a decision about a candidate based on something like that. But I DO remember thinking, "Ouch!"

Although I do think women are hard on each other, especially when it comes to elections. It's my opinion that the majority of women DO want to see a female president, but that it has to be the PERFECT one.

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And I can't envision all women agreeing on what would constitute "perfect."

I'll admit that I got a little pissy about Hillary when she made that comment years ago about "I'm not the stay-home-and-bake-cookies type." That annoyed me because I WAS staying home with my young kids, and baking a fair number of cookies!

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I was a career woman at the time. I understood where she was coming from (much criticism of being too political of a first lady), but even I found that comment offensive to SAHMs. I often wonder if it was the controversy surrounding statements like that that has led Clinton to become so very self controlled. So much so that she now comes across as emotionless.

I didn't hear that comment delivered, so I can't be offended or supportive of it. I do get weary of that sort of sentiment being expressed with derision or smugness. Someone's got to raise the children and bake the goddamned cookies.

Takvah said:

Ignoring all of the back and forth on the Clintons... this divide is pretty much the undoing of women.

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Hardly. The real "divide", if there's any to be had among women, it's usually the women who are feminists and those who are not.

Allow me to explain before you get out the pitchforks and torches... women are brutally tough on one another. Ask a defense attorney on a rape case who he wants on a jury. I bet he'll say women. Women will look for something that the victim did to make her responsible for the attack. Was she a slut? Did she dress provocatively? Did she make overt overtures? Once they satisfy these questions in their mind, THEN, they'll determine the guilt/innocence of the guy sitting on trial.

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If that's what they base their decision between guilt or innocence in a rape case, then there's really no justice. The victim did not "ask" to be raped. She is not the responsible party; the man who raped her is. By raping a woman, the man is every bit the perpetrator because the key part of guilt or innocence is the little fact that the man did not have the consent to have sex with the victim. Period. End of story.

The fact is that Hillary is not going to have an easy go of it with women. Her "breakdown" did wonders for her status with women (many thought she was a blindly ambitious machine), but a lot of women will continue to judge her harshly for the personal as opposed to the professional. Many women I know vehemently oppose her because of the way she handled Bill and scandal. I used to feel the same way... then I wondered what it was that people were expecting from a political family in the public eye. A lot of women STAY when they are being abused and cheated on... in a way I think the reflection they see through Hillary is too tough to take.

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Hillary's reason for sticking with Bill has little to do with being "willing to take the pain of being cheated on" and more to do with ambition and his asset to her. If my partner had been cheating on me, I'd kick her ass to the curb.

And psst, the number one reason why women stay in abusive relationships is usually because they've been threatened by their abusive partners into staying or else. The second reason is because they don't think they deserve better.