Practical solutions for people + planet
The First Woman President?
As I listen to the news, and hear friends debate about the relative merits of Hillary and Obama,I’ve been increasingly uncomfortable about the feminist argument that as women, we must support Hillary, as the first viable woman candidate.
My discomfort had many sources, including a sense that some were being blinded by gender loyalty, and weren’t fully seeing or acknowledging the depth of the racial history and legacy we all bear in this country. The recent articles by Linda Burnham (who hosted a panel at last year’s Bioneers on envisioning what a new feminist movement might look like) and Alice Walker (the wonderful author who joined us for Women Re-Imagining the World at last year’s conference, soon to become an hour-long radio special) reminded me of the racial schisms in the past feminist movement, and also of just how recently our friends and colleagues of color have suffered – and continue to suffer today from – racist systems and beliefs embedded in our culture in the past, and still real today.
This schism between the feminist and racial justice movements has deep roots, too, on both sides. During the sixties and seventies, for the ‘first wave of feminism,’ most women of color felt that it was an elitist movement led and defined by privileged white women, to the exclusion of women of color. And yet, at the very beginnings of the suffrage movement, in Seneca Falls, the white women who started it all were inspired by the equality and justice they witnessed in the treatment of women among the Iroquois Six Nations people, with whom they were friendly and close. So, the movement for women to have equal rights in this country is founded upon a cross-cultural collaboration.
As Alice Walker says, (I paraphrase) we are like goddesses who can see in many directions...witnessing the truth of the past, the present, and a hoped-for future, when we can all be free enough of the scar tissue and pain of our past to be able to relate to each other on our human merit, with consciousness, fairness and humility.
What do you think about the issue of gender and the electoral process? Should it be part of the discussion? Do we as women have a societal obligation to support a candidate because she is a woman?
My discomfort had many sources, including a sense that some were being blinded by gender loyalty, and weren’t fully seeing or acknowledging the depth of the racial history and legacy we all bear in this country. The recent articles by Linda Burnham (who hosted a panel at last year’s Bioneers on envisioning what a new feminist movement might look like) and Alice Walker (the wonderful author who joined us for Women Re-Imagining the World at last year’s conference, soon to become an hour-long radio special) reminded me of the racial schisms in the past feminist movement, and also of just how recently our friends and colleagues of color have suffered – and continue to suffer today from – racist systems and beliefs embedded in our culture in the past, and still real today.
This schism between the feminist and racial justice movements has deep roots, too, on both sides. During the sixties and seventies, for the ‘first wave of feminism,’ most women of color felt that it was an elitist movement led and defined by privileged white women, to the exclusion of women of color. And yet, at the very beginnings of the suffrage movement, in Seneca Falls, the white women who started it all were inspired by the equality and justice they witnessed in the treatment of women among the Iroquois Six Nations people, with whom they were friendly and close. So, the movement for women to have equal rights in this country is founded upon a cross-cultural collaboration.
As Alice Walker says, (I paraphrase) we are like goddesses who can see in many directions...witnessing the truth of the past, the present, and a hoped-for future, when we can all be free enough of the scar tissue and pain of our past to be able to relate to each other on our human merit, with consciousness, fairness and humility.
What do you think about the issue of gender and the electoral process? Should it be part of the discussion? Do we as women have a societal obligation to support a candidate because she is a woman?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Judith O'Keefe on -
I agree 100% with your point and second it. Judith
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Permalink Reply by Nina S on -
Hi, Judith, nice photo.
I write from New Orleans, where thousands of women are gathered in support of Eve Ensler's V to the 10th, to end violence against women and raise $ to help rebuild the city.
I'm mightily aware here of the divisions this presidential race is causing among women, and the repair that'll be needed to begin to heal it, once the race is over. sadly, it seems poised to increase a racial divide among women, when it seems like it could become an oppty for increased unity.
I'm sitting with the question within myself now: how can I become a force for healing while all this is going on? The more I hear from advocates on both sides, the more I hear merit in both arguments.
What do you think?
Nina
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Permalink Reply by Judith O'Keefe on
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Nina,
I believe you ARE a force for healing by doing what you are doing today, which is encouraging open dialogue between women. And hopefully women from both sides of the table will be able to listen with open hearts and minds. When we understand the tremendous value that tolerance of, and respect for another person's perspective is just as, if not more, important than expressing our own position, we will have come a long way. Keep up the good work. Judith
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Permalink Reply by aswell on -
so is that the same thing as saying im white and a woman so i have to vote for hilary?
gender and race have no place.vision, strenghth and genuine insight do.
aswell.
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Permalink Reply by Susie-Q on -
It wasn't a difficult decision for me to choose to support Obama. I would dearly love to see a woman in the White House, but it is not enough for me that the president is just any woman. I simultaneously care about my country and its leadership as well as creating a culture of gender equality.
I will support a woman presidential candidate that truly represents feminine leadership - collaboration, shared power, social justice, healing, compassion. I believe embracing that type of leadership model is a long way off for our country.
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Permalink Reply by Judith O'Keefe on
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Bravo Susie.
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Permalink Reply by Nina S on
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thanks, Judith, and I so agree, Susie-Q.
this am, at V-day to the 10th (http://v10.vday.org/ in New Orleans, I wept as hundreds or perhaps thousands of us entered the Superdome, a site of such suffering and abandonment and abuse, and filled it with the intention of women (and a few men, hoooray!) committed to ending violence.
There were amazing singers, opening invocations that were profound, loving and tender, and artwork from all over the world. A choir of about 100 young African American high-school girls from all over New Orleans, the Mahalia Jackson choir, filled the vast stage, and my heart swelled to witness their beauty.
The audience was filled with (mostly) women of all backgrounds, races and ethnicities, and there was hardly a dry eye in the house, as we bent our collective will toward peace, and creating a loving and healing vibe for the people of this magnificent city.
Eve's will to grow Vday tenfold is immense, and indomitable, and a source of immense strength and inspiration.
the artworks that grace the Superdome, formerly a symbol of such masculinized culture, are as varied as the people who made them. There's a huge, 10' ball of multicolored bras that's fantastic (pictures to follow, after I get home), and a huge pen and pencil drawing of two huge male hands parting vaginal lips, with the world being revealed between them that's quite stunning. the whole place is lit with pink lights, and the stage is a great swath of pink and sparkled fabric, with great pink brackets framing it.
More to follow, but there's a powerful scene going on in New Orleans this weekend, radiating out to the world. I was so happy to meet several women, standing on line, who'd learned of Eve's work through our conference, and came here or joined Codepink (http://www.codepink4peace.org/) after being initially turned on through us. Made my day!
Tom'w am, there'll be a huge parade through New Orleans, of women wearing pink, likely to be covered on either codepink's site or vdays...Very happy-making!
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Permalink Reply by Susie-Q on
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Thanks for keeping us up to date on the Vday happenings in New Orleans, Nina! I can't wait to hear what happens tomorrow.
Democracy Now! broadcast from your location today. Listen to Eve Ensler and Amy Goodman chat. A great show!
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Permalink Reply by Nina S on
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Thanks for linking us with Amy Goodman and Democracy Now, Susie, it's great she's spreading the word!
More manana, after seeing Swimming Upstream, tonight.
(and saw our colleagues, Patty and Christian, today, too, on their southern tour!)
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Permalink Reply by Judith O'Keefe on
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Looking forward to pictures!
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Permalink Reply by Nina S on
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thought you all might enjoy a link to the women's e-news coverage of V-day in New Orleans http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3553.
Swimming Upstream was amazing, I hope they mount it to perform throughout the country, as it's a tour de force performance.
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