Hillary's female supporters and feminism
I've been thinking a lot about this issue for the past few weeks, and I'm having a very hard time understanding where the hard-core, rabid, feminist Hillary supporters are coming from. I can certainly understand their disappointment and despair over her not winning the nomination (for some of them, Hillary was their first and last best hope at electing a female President), but I don't understand their willingness to abandon their Democratic and feminist principles and either sit out the election or vote for McCain. It seems that they became so emotionally invested in Hillary the person, instead of Hillary the candidate, that they have lost all objectivity and reason. Which leads me to my main train of thought. But before I begin, let me state that I realize there are male Hillary supporters. However, in perusing the pro-Hillary websites, it seems that the bulk of her most vociferous and outspoken supporters are woman of a certain age and experience, and it is this group of supporters about which I am writing.
OK, so here goes. We have been told time and time again over the past few months that we need to give Hillary supporters "time" to deal with their disappointment and their sorrow, and that Hillary herself needs "time" to drop out of the race. We are told that her supporters deserve "respect" and that their voices must not be silenced. It seems to me (and I consider myself to be a rather staunch feminist) that these are very condescending, paternalistic, patronizing statements and directives. The message is that her supporters are emotional, temperamental and thus have to be handled with kid gloves. I might be wrong, but aren't these the very same attitudes, misconceptions and generalizations that feminists have been fighting against all these years? Why do only Hillary supporters need to be molly-coddled and "brought along"? Were Edwards, Richardson, Biden or Kucinich supporters given the same considerations? I was originally an Edwards supporter and I don't remember anyone saying that I needed "time" to deal with my candidate's decision to drop out of the race. I was disappointed to be sure, but as an adult I dealt with it, I looked at the remaining candidates, and I made the next best choice (in my opinion). Are Hillary supporters incapable of doing that? Are they that emotionally invested that they need to be given special consideration? And if they are, doesn't that just feed into the stereotype of the "weak, nervous, emotional" female crap?
I really believe that the underlying message, which is being pushed hardest by Hillary herself, is that she is a victim, her supporters are victims, and they will need to be coddled until they can pull themselves together. Now, I'm not saying there weren't sexist elements working against her in this campaign (although, in my opinion, not as many as some others may think), but being a passive victim, in my opinion, is not feminism. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
OK, so here goes. We have been told time and time again over the past few months that we need to give Hillary supporters "time" to deal with their disappointment and their sorrow, and that Hillary herself needs "time" to drop out of the race. We are told that her supporters deserve "respect" and that their voices must not be silenced. It seems to me (and I consider myself to be a rather staunch feminist) that these are very condescending, paternalistic, patronizing statements and directives. The message is that her supporters are emotional, temperamental and thus have to be handled with kid gloves. I might be wrong, but aren't these the very same attitudes, misconceptions and generalizations that feminists have been fighting against all these years? Why do only Hillary supporters need to be molly-coddled and "brought along"? Were Edwards, Richardson, Biden or Kucinich supporters given the same considerations? I was originally an Edwards supporter and I don't remember anyone saying that I needed "time" to deal with my candidate's decision to drop out of the race. I was disappointed to be sure, but as an adult I dealt with it, I looked at the remaining candidates, and I made the next best choice (in my opinion). Are Hillary supporters incapable of doing that? Are they that emotionally invested that they need to be given special consideration? And if they are, doesn't that just feed into the stereotype of the "weak, nervous, emotional" female crap?
I really believe that the underlying message, which is being pushed hardest by Hillary herself, is that she is a victim, her supporters are victims, and they will need to be coddled until they can pull themselves together. Now, I'm not saying there weren't sexist elements working against her in this campaign (although, in my opinion, not as many as some others may think), but being a passive victim, in my opinion, is not feminism. It is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
