So I’m trying to wrap my mind around the fact that when blacks talk about racism, the nation is awed but when women talk about sexism, we are mocked. Shoulder pad feminists, my ass….as always, it comes down to what women wear.
I’d like to point out that racism is divided by race but in our world, all the races are united in sexism. Women are fair game to all. You can make jokes about women in general. Jokes about fat women are mainstream. Old women are frequently portrayed as ridiculous. Blond jokes are a national institution.
Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, Feb. 13, 2008
Relaying a joke told by Penn Jillette: "Obama is just creaming Hillary. You know, all these primaries, you know. And Hillary says it's not fair, because they're being held in February, and February is Black History Month. And unfortunately for Hillary, there's no White Bitch Month."
And this is different from Don Imus…how? Actually Don Imus managed to insult all women, black and white, but it was the black part that caused the real uproar. (The column from which the above was excerpted, by NOW president Kim Gandy, is great reading.)
Women are still murdered for being not toeing the line men set.
From NOW: Every day four women die in this country as a result of domestic violence, the euphemism for murders and assaults by husbands and boyfriends. That's approximately 1,400 women a year, according to the FBI. The number of women who have been murdered by their intimate partners is greater than the number of soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.
From UNESCO, as published on PBS.org:... the UNESCO project illustrates the wildly varying data on human trafficking produced by government organizations and NGOs (non-governmental organizations). For example, in 2001, the FBI estimated 700,000 women and children were trafficked worldwide, UNICEF estimated 1.75 million, and the International Organization on Migration (IOM) merely 400,000. In 2001, the UN drastically changed its own estimate of trafficked people in 2000 -- from 4,000,000 to 1,000,000.
There’s that pesky wage gap…
From NOW: Fifty-five percent of all women work in female-dominated jobs (jobs in which women comprise 70 percent or more of the workforce) whereas only 8.5 percent of all men work in these occupations. However, the men working in female-dominated jobs still receive about 20 percent more than women who work in female-dominated jobs.
And poverty gap…
From the U.S. Census: Women are more likely than men to live in poverty.
In 2001, 12.9 percent of the female population and 10.4 percent of the male population lived below the poverty level. Poverty rates were highest for children: the proportions of boys and girls (those under 18) who were poor were not statistically different (16.4 percent and 16.2, respectively). From ages 18 to 64, the poverty rate was 11.6 percent for women and 8.5 percent for men. For those 65 years and over, the poverty rate was 12.4 percent for women compared with 7.0 percent for men (see Figure 6). Like income, poverty varies by family type. Of families living in poverty in 2001, 50.9 percent were maintained by women with no spouse present, 40.5 percent were married-couple families, and 8.5 percent were maintained by men with no wife present.
In my business, some of us were mighty happy to learn of women doing loudly what some of us were doing quietly for years— counting bylines in the major (i.e. prestigious and high-paying) magazines. What a surprise! More men than women!
Am I pissed? Yup, I’m an angry white female.
Speaking of what not to wear, I then pick up my paper and see a photo of this full-grown man, Jason Helgeson, dressed like a five-year-old and am yet more disgusted.
Guys can get away with just about anything but when women gripe, even other women turn against them.
7 comments:
I used to try and figure out what exactly it is about Hilary that so many people (men AND women) seem to hate. I've given up, and your post reminds me of why. It's not that she's got some character flaw or personality disorder or bad hairdo. She's just a woman. A successful, intelligent, edumacated woman who has the balls to suggest that she might be able to run a country. Oh, stop.
A friend today pointed out that not only does sexism cross races, it crosses genders, too. Women can be very hard on women. In some ways, harder than men could or should ever dare to be.
Not that you have to like Hillary to be a feminist. No, no, no. No. But you have to acknowledge that the inequities still exist.
Greaaatttt Post! This men/woman/race issue is prevalent in corporate America, too. I saw women treated much the way you describe when they popped up with ideas and suggestions.
Just an observation-- but to me it seems that many times women are often their own worst enemies. That is to say women can be far more vicious critics of other women than their male counterparts can be.
Just a couple of examples: The whole Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. Bill was essentially just given a pat on the back and was dismissed as just one of the boys being a boy. Monica Lewinsky was vilified for it. It was almost an attitude of "You tramp, how dare you bring down our president!" Even a lot of the women's groups out there looked the other way on that one.
Fast forward a few years to 2000 when Katherine Harris, the then attorney general for the state of Florida ruled in such a way that favored George W. Bush. She was attacked not just for the decision she made but also her appearance. I can understand she made a very unpopular decision but what does wearing too much make-up have to do with it?
And I'm not saying this to be crass or anything, but as long as women continue fighting amongst themselves they'll have the cards stacked against them. A lot of racial minorities have been able to rise above much of the discrimination because they've been able to establish some sense of unity.
When it comes to gender issues, I don't see the same level of unity. I see multiple different groups with similar goals that often seem to be working separately towards those goals than together to achieve them.
I agree with you, Perplexio. I think women do each other/themselves a huge amount of damage.
Sophie -- I started to argue with you on this comments page, then decided I had too much to say. So check my blog: http://geezersisters.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/whiplash-part-2-why-doesnt-hillary-clinton-give-a-speech-like-obamas/
Your blog is smart and provocative, as usual. Glad you raised this particular point, because it made me examine my own views more. I think we're both equally angry about sexism, but the question becomes: What to do with that anger? -- Ruth
Your blog also is compelling, Ruth, and I have been there, commented and bought the t-shirt.
What I have done is hid my anger out of shame--feminists have been subject to ridicule since the bloomer girls. (There are the CLOTHES again!) We are a clandestine network--my friends and I whisper our beliefs rather than ranting.
But I think what I'm thinking is fuck it. Angry woman on board.
Post a Comment