What do we think of this opinion piece from The Root, found through Racialicious?
Any feminist worth the label should have “rejected and denounced” New York Governor Eliot Spitzer within an hour of his admitting his connection with an international prostitution ring. [Clinton] is a senator from New York. [Spitzer] has been one of her staunchest political allies. Now, he is engulfed in an international, illegal sex-trafficking scheme. Barack Obama had to “denounce and reject” Louis Farrakhan (with whom he has no official ties whatsoever) but Hillary can send her “best wishes and thoughts to the governor and to his family”?
Not on my watch.
Ms. Gloria Steinem has been trouncing around the country for months whipping white women feminists into line for HRC; demanding rigid allegiance to this privileged former Goldwater girl as the litmus test for feminist politics. Enough already. Hillary may be a woman, but she is no feminist.
Feminists do not stand by while their husbands prey sexually on the young women who work for them. Feminists do not accept the endorsement, support and financial backing of men who betray their constituents and their families by trafficking in women’s bodies…
And in other news, Heather Mallick comments on how a loss for Clinton will be a loss for all women…though it would seem then that her definition of women leaves out women of colour or anti-racist women or women who just like Obama over Clinton.
Digg
Facebook
del.icio.us
three comments
I do indeed think that Hillary needs to say more about her alliance with Spitzer, but not because he used a high-end prostitute. It's because he campaigned against prostitution in spite of the fact that he used high-end prostitutes. It's because he wants to have it both ways - wants to get votes by putting prostitutes in jail, but still using them himself. Sometimes it's not so good to be shameless :/
Posted by Thene
March 12, 2008, 8:34 PM
Hillary supported the war in Iraq. For my money that end the debate. Evidently she will do whatever she needs to to stay in line politically when push comes to shove and Obama's history would make him in many ways a dramatic and interesting change for America. She's looking to get political points since middle-American logic dictates that "a good wife stands by her family and the family of others in hard times". Probably the same reason ,in part, why she stood by Bill through two sex scandals.
Spitzer's wife is also being used as a prop with this logic and people in the press are starting to smell the stink in this forgiving political wife trend. Worth a thought.
Posted by Myra
March 12, 2008, 10:26 PM
This is a disease of women in particular, and maybe why the struggle is so hard...Hillary is closer to the Whitehouse than a woman ever has found herself, and rather than rally the troups, we fragmentize and scatter.
Yes she stayed with Bill, no she hasn't hurried to denounce Spitzer...is it perhaps possible that she understands the game? Is it perhaps possible that her ultimate demonstration of feminism is the wisdom to know that if a woman is ever to change the rules of the oldest "old boys club", she needs to play by their rules until she has the clout to affect the change that is needed to begin to level the playing field?
In a year, when John McCain is living it up in the Oval Office, we as women are going to need to assess our inability to never get over the urge to belittle each other to boost ourselves...maybe, just maybe, we should recognize that even if we see a problem here and there, Hillary is a smart, strong woman, who, like all of us, isn't quite perfect...
Posted by Jemma
March 15, 2008, 11:25 AM
Leave a comment
This blog post is older than 90 days old. All comments submitted regarding this post will be automatically held for review by the editors before posting. Your comment will not appear on the site until it has been approved.
Our comment policy
Shameless prides itself on the diversity of opinions expressed by our writers, and we encourage and appreciate different points of view. Our intention at Shameless is to foster community and to maintain a safe and positive blogging environment; we do not consider it our duty to give a voice to anybody with an opinion.
Discussion on this site is moderated. We will delete comments that:
(We get to decide what's discriminatory, hateful, attacking, or inflammatory).
In some cases, we will cap off comments on a discussion when we feel they are spiralling out of control and fostering an unwelcoming space for bloggers and readers. Comments will be closed by the Web Editor, unless the post is by the Web Editor, in which case the Editor in Chief will close them.
If your comments repeatedly make the same point, they may be deleted. This also applies to comments made by multiple members of the same organization.
Your comments should be about the topic of the post, not its writer—although we certainly encourage praise for our writers, if you want to say something nice.