Linda Obst on Huffington Post: Women of my generation have clearly lost their minds

[bklyncowgirl]

"Hillary, as strong as she is, wins as a victim. That is the trajectory of her career: I am a victim. Punch. So why are women whining and identifying with being the victim again?"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynda-obst/women-of-my-generation-ha_b_91468.html

This article pretty much crystalized for me, some of the reasons why, despite being a member of the "Hillary Demographic" i.e. white and over age 50, I do not support Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primaries.

[Berry Cool]

1. Same here.

I'm a titch young to be a true Boomer, but otherwise, this article speaks to everything I feel. Thanks for pointing it out. K&R.

[susankh4]

2. She simply doesn't see

that BOTH candidates play the victim all the time. Hill's just better at it than is Barack. Barack's pride & arrogance gets in the way.

McCains whole candidacy was built on being a victim. Which he truly was... in a POW camp. And later of a smear by GWB.

So fucking what?

[bklyncowgirl]

5. Maybe some of us don't want a professional victim as President

Look everybody's been screwed over at some point in their lives--you either get over it or it becomes the organizing principle of your life.

I want a woman President but I want it to be someone who got there on her own by outorganizing and outsmarting the guys--not by standing on her (notoriously unfaithful) husband's shoulders.

Yes, Hillary Clinton is a member of an historically oppressed group whose members are still struggling for full equality. So is Barack Obama. What I find more attractive about Obama is that he does not personally play the victim. Yes, as you pointed out, his surrogates are quick to point out racism where they see it and yes, this has helped him win over black voters. Hillary Clinton is personally using both her own history and tying it in with the anger of women, whipping up that anger, in order to gain the loyalty of her identity group.

Maybe it's a slim distinction. I see it as suicidal politics for Hillary Clinton to drive a wedge between white women and African Americans. No Democrat can win the White House without the enthusiastic support of woman and no Democrat can win the White House without the enthusiastic support of African-Americans. To do anything that would anger either of these groups to the point where large numbers of them would either vote Republican or sit out the election is the height of idiocy.

[susankh4]

13. Don't want a "professional victim?" Well then, better steer away from Mr. Obama

And his professional victim pastor.....

i mean geesh... I have never seen anyone take victimhood as seriously as Rev. Wright.

[roguevalley]

16. last time I looked, Wright wasn't running for anything.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. McCain was a criminal

The innocent civilians he bombed in the cities of the DRV were victims.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. I'm not a supporter

I'll hold my nose and vote for her if she's the nominee, but that's all. And frankly, I get a bit incensed at people who say because of my age, race, and gender, I "must" be for Clinton. It is not being sexist to support another candidate whose ideas better match your own. So I'll continue to support Dennis Kucinich, even though the race is a different one. And I'll hope that, if the race goes to the convention, another candidate is drafted, leaving both Obama and Clinton out. Gore would be a great draft candidate, imho.

[usrbs]

4. Gore being drafted would be so great.

Do you think we could get that to happen? At this stage, both candidates are so bloodied I think that would be a great solution.

Sorry to hijack the thread. To the point, yes I'm a Clinton supporter, and yes, I'm in the right category, but identity politics have never attracted me, so her gender plays no role. I've lived in a country with a female leader and the country's sexism didn't budge.

[bklyncowgirl]

7. Like you, I'll vote for her in the general election if I have to but that's it.

She would appoint better justices to the Supreme Court and that will make the difference between me sitting it out or voting independent.

[bklyncowgirl]

8. Whoops, sorry, stutterfinger.

[Jennifer C]

9. Thanks for sharing

The article is wonderful.

[flpoljunkie]

10. Thank you for this post, and thank you Lynda Obst for your courageous truth telling.

[LaurenG]

11. That has been my viewpoint from the beginning of the "sexist meme"

Yes women are still not equal in every regard but for pete's sake "sh** happens" to all of us. Unfairness abounds in this world. It's time for the real woman to get to work and inform those less confidant that we have their back but they can never act out the victim role again. We all end up with what we think we deserve and I deserve the best, I've worked hard for it, hopefully others can come to the same conclusion about themselves.

[ananda]

12. Well, if that's the case, then..

.. everybody in America has lost their minds
when it comes to Bush and the Reeps.

They play the victim card ALL THE TIME.

[Scurrilous]

14. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Blue_Roses]

15. well said

great post :applause: