Kylie Cheung: Bernie Sanders Discussing A Female President Hit The Nail On The Head

[portlander23]

Kylie Cheung: Bernie Sanders Discussing A Female President Hit The Nail On The Head (And Made Clear He, Too, Is A Feminist)

To Sanders, feminism means "a commitment to fighting for women’s rights," which he claims he's maintained throughout his political career ... Sanders proved he's able to look beyond the loaded, misleading controversy that the term has always been shrouded in and understand the movement as inherently simple and just.

Our nation has never been governed by a female president, thanks to both historical and modern misogyny. It's a concept that isn't easy for male presidential candidates to talk about without unwittingly advancing their female rivals, and yet Sanders managed to offered a strong response that was both political and compassionate.

"I do understand there is a desire on the part of many women, perfectly understandable, to see a woman being elected president. And we all want to see that," Sanders has prevously stated, when asked if he believed women understood his stance on women's rights. "We want to see women hold more political offices. But I also would hope that, in these enormously difficult times, where it is absolutely imperative that we stand up to the billionaire class, bring our people together, to fight for a progressive agenda, that all people — women — look at that candidate who has the record to do that."

Sanders proceeded to discuss both women's rights and economic equity, as well as the strong intersection of the two issues and how his platform advances both:

You're looking at somebody who ... has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record. ... Somebody who’s made a cornerstone, a key part of my campaign, the need for at least three months of family and medical leave; somebody who is fighting to raise the minimum wage over a two year period to $15 an hour, which will benefit ... women actually more than men; somebody who regards it as enormously important that we fight for pay equity for women; somebody who believes that our child care system is a disaster today and that we need to have the best childcare/pre-K system in the world, making it universal and affordable.

Essentially, Sanders' take on feminism and the 2016 election is that we should support a presidential candidate based on their track record and platform first and foremost. And he has a point — gender equality is achieved through not allowing an individual's gender to affect how we treat them. There's plenty to appreciate about Sanders' words on feminism and the appeal of a female POTUS, although both he and Clinton identifying as feminists certainly doesn't make it easier to choose between the two.

[hifiguy]

1. Bernie's record speaks for itself.

And what it says is all good.

[restorefreedom]

2. to me, the best candidate should be the nominee

gender is not part of the equation. and in this election, at this time, the best person is bernie imo

[Hortensis]

3. He seems to have always been for women's rights.

That essay he wrote when he was young about women fantasizing about being raped by three men may have a rather dark and silly start, but it quickly disappoints the reader by moving on to a young man's notions of what men and women need from each other, or something, rendered in a very heavy-handed and joyless manner. He was a humorless kid and certainly no writer, but with excuses to his age, I saw nothing to contradict his current stances.

Note: The copy I pulled up lacked the ending.

[central scrutinizer]

4. If you are choosing just on gender, I have two words for you

Margaret Thatcher

[MADem]

5. Well, this doesn't sound too "pro-feminist" to me....

https://twitter.com/Alasscan_/status/648272420449595392

:large

It surprised me, too. If someone has information to refute that vote, I'd love to hear it.