Why, Professor Higgins, Must Anyone Be More Like Anyone Else?
Jill Filipovic of Feministe links to a CNN piece by Rebecca Walker (Alice Walker's daughter)
now is the time for healing, and this can only happen if Hillary’s staunch female supporters let go of the reverse-sexist ideology that women are inherently better, wiser, and more compassionate leaders.
They will have to acknowledge that sometimes the best woman for the job is actually a man — if it’s the right man.
My reflex is to say when Walker said "best woman for the job," let alone "best woman for the job is a man" she was using language she felt would meeting halfway with the "older women" of 2nd-Wave feminism she was trying to reach out to. If so... well, it's *still* not ok.
If I had a dollar for every person who told me I was in touch with my "feminine" side for being able to get newborns to settle, or burp, or sleep on my arm I'd need a suitcase instead of a wallet. And if I had a quarter for every time I heard someone say this strong woman or that had "balls" I'd need a dumpster instead of a change jar. But lookit here, if the *goal of feminism* is not only shared *power* but shared *recognition and ownership* of issues then to designate universal qualities (tenderness, ambition) as gendered is to step *away from* not towards shared recognition and ownership.
Now as it happens I only partly agree with Walker. By all accounts Senator Obama is pretty solid on women's issues, with many of his seeming departures explainable more by his politics of engagement than revealed indifference. But you know what? When it comes to *specific women's issues* Senator Clinton just knew more stuff not so much because she's a woman but because she's *paid more attention* and done more in the field of women's issues. (It's fine to say *why* she's paid more attention: she's a woman with a brain, duh, but that explains only her motive, not her depth of attention or understanding of the issues, or even -- given how many women *don't* -- the extent to which she's involved herself.) So if we were just talking about feminism I'm pretty sure the 2nd-wavers weren't at all crazy to say Senator Clinton would have been the much better choice. Of course we're *not* talking about feminism, and in other dimensions such as deep organizing ability, diplomacy, powers of persuasion, and alignment of other interests such as poverty, education, and military bellicosity that coincide more strongly with women's issues, a President Obama may be able to advance specific women's issues further, if accidentally, than a second President Clinton might have.
But that doesn't make him any kind of (gendered) woman at all, any more than Senator Clinton's courage, brashness, and unbelievable willpower makes her some kind of (gendered) man. Me? I'm a man who is or isn't good with babies. Danica Patrick (and quite a few other women racers, by the way) is a woman who is or isn't really good with cars. Barack Obama is a man who is or isn't good on women's issues. Trying to argue that because of certain gender-assigned qualities Danica Patrick *is* a man or that Obama *is* a woman, even metaphorically, probably isn't going to reach anyone. Let alone the Clinton supporters I think Rebecca Walker was trying to convince.
[Note: Being further charitable, I'm assuming the exhortations about "reverse" sexism were also attempts to reach out. --fl]
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