Obama A Feminist, Sister Tells Tampa

[NYCGirl]

Some nice stories from Maya.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/18/na-obama-a-feminist-sister-tells-tampa/?news-politics

Barack Obama is a dedicated feminist who "lives surrounded by women," his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, told a mostly female crowd at a Women For Obama event in downtown Tampa on Thursday.

Soetoro-Ng told the crowd that Obama helped rear her and now is rearing two daughters. "Those girls are what make him a feminist," she said.

-snipped-

Her older brother "really was the man in our lives" after their parents divorced, when the two were growing up in Hawaii and Indonesia, she said.

She said he taught her to ride a bicycle, made her practice harder math problems and start an exercise program, took her on college visits and even gave her her first women's health book - "Our Bodies, Ourselves," a 1973 guide that came out of the women's movement and focused on female sexuality, health and hygiene.

Soetoro-Ng - pronounced "sootoro ing" - is 39, seven years younger than Obama, and said they are very close.

She said in an interview that she was a typical little sister as a child. "I climbed on him, I messed up his afro, I stood in front of the TV during critical points in the basketball game."

MORE AT LINK

[Hope And Change]

1. K & R!

[Bill McBlueState]

2. oh no, not a feminist!

These days it seems like you must consistently declare "but I am not a feminist" every time you show support for women's issues if you want so-called centrists to listen to you.

[Fleshdancer]

3. Men who don't want equality don't marry strong intelligent women

and I have a hard time believing Michelle would spend her time with a man who wasn't a feminist. Life is just too damn short to be around someone who expects you to be inferior.

Cute article, thanks for posting.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. When Obama joined the law firm where he met Michelle, it was *she*

who trained him, not the other way around. When Obama told Michelle that he wanted to run for the presidency, it was *she* who told him that he'd only get "one shot" at it. And Obama has received a near perfect score from women interest groups on reproductive rights.

I'm not sure where this narrative that Obama hates women comes from. Could it be from the likes of Ms. Christian and PUMA et al. who can't cope with the fact that Mrs. Clinton lost. Or Ms. Ferraro who told women that when Obama brushed his shoulders, that was sexist? Please! What's wrong with people?

Obama is a feminist!!

[Triana]

6. Yep. He is. I don't buy the muckety-muck from a few bitter Clinton supporters...

whom I believe are really few and whose voices are amplified by a media that wants to make this an issue when it isn't.

The man was raised by and grew up with and lives around women. He is NOT sexist and is most definitely a feminist.

[Imagevision]

15. Men who don't want equality should join the McCain club...

[polichick]

5. A nice read - thanks!

[Skidmore]

7. In my opinion, Obama has been raised by feminists and is married to one,

and they are raising two up and coming young women. Obama's mother was no shrinking violet clinging to a man and having vapors when things got tough. She raised a good and strong son and daughter.

Of all the slurs that have been slung his way, the one that he does not understand women or women's issues is among the worst. His life reflects the teachings of his mother and grandmother.

[Hoof Hearted]

8. But yet she says he "made her" study and exercise and had to approve her marriage choice.

I'm not sure she understands what a feminism is.

Understand I am not saying that Obama did in fact MAKE her start an exercise program or that he himself felt he had a right to approve or deny her choice in marriage - I'm saying that his sister, by her own words, viewed things this way. That ain't feminism.

[NYCGirl]

9. Yeah, it's called being OLDER. Even OLDER sisters do that to their

younger sisters. Duh.

[Hoof Hearted]

11. So her references to him, as a child, being the "man of the house"' - how feminist is that?

It's apparent from her comments in the article that she considered him to have authority over her even into adulthood, not as an older sibling, but as the "man" of the house. Like I said. I'm not sure she understands feminism. I'm certain he does. Her? Not so much.

[ErinBerin84]

13. Oh for chist sake

coughcough reaching coughcough

some things never change around here.

[JerseygirlCT]

14. Yuppers.

Comes with the territory, I'm afraid!

[mrs_p]

10. he gave her the book

our bodies, ourselves? wow, i'm impressed!! wonder if mccan't has even heard of it?

[ismnotwasm]

12. Nice story

But I don't see Obama announcing himself that he's a feminist anytime soon.

Michell Obama has declined to identify herself as a feminist although she says "she would agree with a large portion" of a feminist agenda. I'm not complaining, exactly It's the politic thing to do.

"So is she a feminist? "You know, I'm not that into labels," Michelle Obama said in the interview. "So probably, if you laid out a feminist agenda, I would probably agree with a large portion of it," she said. "I wouldn't identify as a feminist just like I probably wouldn't identify as a liberal or a progressive"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002573_pf.html

However, I'll take what I can get, I guess I have to. Good for little sister for laying it out. As someone pointed out up thread, "Feminist" has had too many bullshit connotations from the left and the right.