Feminism & Brogressives*

[bigtree]

TJ Williams ‏@tjinlv 6h6 hours ago Paradise, NV
This is WORTH the read! http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/138860699828/progressive … …

Let’s start, this time, with a story. This is about Hillary Clinton – everything I write seems to be about her these days – but it’s about me, too. It’s about what it means, to be a feminist, or a woman on the left, and whether it matters...Sady Doyle

{snip}

“Secretary Clinton, first ladies, as you well know, have used their position to work on important causes like literacy and drug abuse,” the moderator says. “But they also supervise the menus, the flowers, the holiday ornaments and White House decor. I know you think you know where I’m going here.”

I watch Hillary Clinton’s face. She smiles. You always smile at the job interview. She smiles like a ************, that woman.

She smiles while she assures the moderator that she won’t make her husband do stupid lady things like - ick! - decorating. She smiles while assuring the world she won’t forsake her duty as a woman, that she will still “pick the flowers and the china for state dinners and stuff like that.” She smiles while answering the question of whether female Presidents are fundamentally unnatural, whether she is fundamentally unnatural, whether electing her will emasculate not only Bill Clinton but the nation itself. And she has been the second-most popular Secretary of State in history, and she has been the member of the Obama administration with the highest approval rating, and she has been one of the most liberal Senators in Congress, and she has been an early pioneer whose work laid the ground for both CHIP and eventually Obamacare, and she has been one of the single most visible advocates for feminism globally and in the United States since the mid-90s, and she has done the work, the basic work level of the work, the coming-in-when-you’re-sick-don’t-be-late-don’t-take-a-vacation work, and she still has to answer this fucking question – the one that’s not about her, but about her gender; the one that’s not about policy, but whether she could govern in a way men can accept – but smiling is just what you do, if you’re a woman, and a feminist, and you have to field questions like these. You don’t challenge the premises. You don’t tell them to fuck off. You let them test you to see if you’re an angry feminist, and you pass the test by letting them insult you to your face and not getting angry. Because after everything you’ve done, everything you’ve fought for, that’s still what most men want to know. They want to know they can insult you and get away with it. They won’t work with you if they can’t.

Hillary Clinton lets them insult her with a smile on her face, because she wants the job. Because there is no way to just flip a table, throw the coffee, walk out of this bitch in protest, and get the job she wants. There never is. Not for her, not for me, not for any of us. She smiles.

Yeah, I’m voting for her. Not “because of her gender.” Because of this really basic, stupid belief I have that the most qualified person should be the person who gets the job. Because I know for a fact that a million male idiots have walked the halls of power — for Christ’s sake, the New York Times just endorsed a guy who tried to get Fargo banned from his local Blockbuster because it was too scary — and a million qualified, brilliant women have sat on the sidelines. And I know this is true, not just in politics, but everywhere in the world. That women can never be seen as “the most qualified person,” even when they’re more qualified than men, because people keep asking us these fucking questions, the ones they don’t ask men, about whether our gender would prevent us from doing the work.

If you got this far, you probably agree with me. After all, I’m told men can’t read my writing. But if you don’t: Congratulations. You’re about to see something special.

This is what it looks like when a woman stops smiling.


read more: http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/138860699828/progressive




*ht: https://twitter.com/71djt/status/714690424720465920

[hereforthevoting]

1. Being qualified means a lot more than just knowing how to play a game. eom

[Lisa D]

2. Powerful.

As a feminist working in a mostly-male industry, I have to say that this part is SO FUCKING TRUE:

"but smiling is just what you do, if you’re a woman, and a feminist, and you have to field questions like these. You don’t challenge the premises. You don’t tell them to fuck off. You let them test you to see if you’re an angry feminist, and you pass the test by letting them insult you to your face and not getting angry. Because after everything you’ve done, everything you’ve fought for, that’s still what most men want to know. They want to know they can insult you and get away with it. They won’t work with you if they can’t. "

I can't even count the number of times some guy in upper management tossed off a sexist slur at me or one of my female colleagues, often followed by: "I was just joking."

[auntpurl]

4. Ha, sorry, I just quoted the same bit you did.

I suppose every woman has experienced this.

[Lisa D]

5. That's fine--it needs to be repeated!

The sad part is that most women have experienced it *multiple* times.

[shadowandblossom]

9. That's the part that hit me hardest too.

Because so many times and in so many ways I have sat through and pretended I wasn't flat out being insulted to my face. I smile. I act like it isn't happening. He acts like it isn't happening while he satifies himself, moves on and forgets about it.

The unpleasant and unaknowledged fart in their behavior... The dismissal of your character, ability, intelligence, and you're gaslighted or dismissed as a bitch or crazy if you aknowledge what actually happened. If you don't sit back and take it and be quiet.

I've never heard anyone describe the experience before but it resonated with me.

[auntpurl]

3. I read this a few weeks ago and loved it.

This bit really struck me:

"but smiling is just what you do, if you’re a woman, and a feminist, and you have to field questions like these. You don’t challenge the premises. You don’t tell them to fuck off. You let them test you to see if you’re an angry feminist, and you pass the test by letting them insult you to your face and not getting angry. Because after everything you’ve done, everything you’ve fought for, that’s still what most men want to know. They want to know they can insult you and get away with it. They won’t work with you if they can’t."

I can't imagine how many stupid, sexist, shitty questions Hillary has had to answer over the course of her long career. She has the patience of a saint.

[shadowandblossom]

10. She's really quite remarkable.

I cannot imagine having that level of strength. Facing what she faces. To be honest, watching her, it makes me walk a little taller.

[redgreenandblue]

6. Well, pretending that no feminist women support Bernie is sexist against women in and of its own. nt

[shadowandblossom]

11. Oh? And what do you call pretending that people said things they didn't say?

.

[bigtree]

7. kick

[bigtree]

8. »

[Tarc]

12. I'd never heard the term "brogressive" before, what wonderfully apt terminology

[Haveadream]

13. closely related to

manarchists and those who promote brosocialism.




Here is an excellent article that explains the phenomenon:

https://itisiwhowillit.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/manarchism-or-how-to-hurt-a-mans-feelings/