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A recent barrage of headlines and interviews by prominent feminists suggesting that young women who are gravitating towards Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton are somehow betraying feminist ideals by not supporting the female democratic nominee are quite frankly, outrageous. Madeleine Albright has been quoted as saying on more than one occasion that, “there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” a mantra that I don’t altogether disagree with. However, when using it in the context of young female Democrats who are supporting Sanders, this quote is misguided, as it presumes that women should automatically be lending their support to Clinton based solely on her gender.
If it is not already apparent from my previous posts, I am an ardent feminist. I teach my students about sex and gender related issues in my courses, am currently doing gender related research within the field of Holocaust studies, and regularly use my professional position in academia to try to combat institutional sexism and promote equality between the sexes. As an Iranian American specifically, I am grateful every day for the rights afforded to me in this country, especially given that women in my parents’ homeland are not afforded many of the basic rights that men are entitled to every day.
I find it offensive and wildly misguided that prominent feminists and female figures have been coming out this week implying that women who do not support Clinton are somehow blind to the glass ceiling or the systemic discrimination women continue to experience to the present day. It is also presumptive to assume that electing a woman president would be the only way to be able to lessen the inequality gap in this country—akin to suggesting that for systemic racism to be eradicated a black president would have to be in the White House. Guess what, a black president is there (and I voted for him twice) and systemic racial inequalities continue to persist in our society today. I don’t deny that Obama’s ascendency to the presidency was historic and symbolic and could go a long way to cracking the glass ceiling for minorities, but voting for any candidate based solely on one facet of their identity, be it race or gender, is not an informed way to choose a world leader. I voted for Obama because he was the best qualified candidate for the position as far as I was concerned—his race was just an added bonus that would pave the way for greater diversity in the highest office of the country.
I yearn for the day when a woman is voted into the most powerful office in this country however, I will not cast my vote for Clinton based on her gender when so many other facets of her credentials as a politician are contrary to my values as a voter and it is unfair and ridiculous for feminists to argue otherwise. In fact, I believe that the overemphasis of Clinton’s gender and the rallying cry from feminists bemoaning the lack of support from young democratic women who are Team Sanders will ultimately backfire for the Clinton campaign. There is a reason why young female voters are gravitating towards Sanders, and it has to do with his message, not the fact that he is a man.
Gloria Steinem, a bulwark for feminism who I cringe to even consider criticizing, made the outrageous comment in an interview with Bill Maher recently suggesting that women are backing Sanders because he has more support from young males. “’When you’re young, you’re thinking: ‘where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie,’” she was quoted as saying, to a stunned Mr. Maher who remarked that had he made a statement like that he would have been attacked for it (as reported by Rappeport, 2016, A1). To her credit, Steinem backtracked on social media after the interview, but alas, the damage has already been done.
Feminism is about promoting equality between the sexes and liberating women from the systemic barriers that deny them basic rights in the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres of their lives. It is about eradicating rape culture and making the streets and larger environment, including the intimacy of our own homes, safe spaces for young girls and women, safe spaces for everyone really, regardless of whether they are male or female. It is also about giving women choices—choices to stay at home as mothers to raise their children and nurture their families, the choice to work outside of the home, the choice to do both or neither. Early wave feminism was about advocating for the basic right to vote, and now that women have that right, they will not be bullied by other women to vote for Clinton in order to put a woman in the highest office if in fact that woman isn’t perceived to be the best person for the job. As long as Sanders remains an option, he will get my vote, and that of many other feminists.
In fact, surveys find that while the majority of young women do consider themselves to be feminist, they are not necessarily voting for Hillary based on this (Chalabi, 2016). A 23-year old from Vermont who is supporting Sanders remarked, “’Shame on Gloria Steinem and Madeline Albright for implying that we as women should be voting for a candidate based solely on gender” adding, “’I can tell you that shaming me and essentially calling me misinformed and stupid is NOT the way to win my vote” (as reported by Rappeport, 2016, A1).
Shame indeed. Feminists are better than this.
Chalabi, M. (2016, February 8). Young women are feminists—but that doesn’t mean they will vote for Hillary Clinton. The Guardian: Datablog. Retrieved on February 9, 2016 from: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/datablog/2016/feb/08/young-women-fem… .
Rappeport, A. (2016, February 8). Female Icons, out to Raise Support for Clinton, tell young Women to get with it. The New York Times, A1. Print.
Copyright Azadeh Aalai 2016
