The meeting is particularly important as Sanders – who has been neck-and-neck in the polls against his rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – works to court the black vote, a major undertaking that is essential to both campaigns.
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“I don’t even know where to start with this”, Emilia says, pointing out that Ms. Steinem’s own feminism was forged among young women during the 1970s.
She then wrote that she was surprised when the remark went viral. On Friday, in an interview with Bill Maher, Steinem explained young women’s support of Bernie Sanders over Clinton by chalking it up to sex: “When you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys? Since women tend to have lower incomes, they benefit more from various government programs that redistribute income to the poor, such as progressive taxation”. When I told her Gloria Steinem was also on the panel, I closed the deal. She concludes, “the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues made the lives of millions of women better in large and small ways”. That statement was rightfully viewed as a slap in the face from many young women who grew up with tattered and dogeared copies of “The Feminine Mystique”. But we thought it worth devoting space here in praise of Millennial women, who have apparently decided they’ll vote their conscience over gender. The majority of the white men who control the lion’s share of corporate wealth typically vote Republican, for instance, as is their right. In New Hampshire, Sanders resoundingly beat Clinton among younger voters, securing 83 percent in the 18-29 age range.
Clinton was gently dismissive of Albright’s comments at Thursday’s debate, sticking to her credo that women are free to back her or not. And where 38 per cent of voters say they hope “the USA will elect a female president in their lifetime”, 57 per cent say “it doesn’t matter to them”.
It’s a unusual day for American politics when former Secretary of State Madeline Albright relies on a Taylor Swift quote to convey the necessity of female support for Hillary Clinton.
Janet Davis, a UT professor who specializes in women’s history, said she does not think the criticism holds, but that it does represent a generational divide in the idea of feminism.
“What are women missing about you?” No one is totally immune to the conservative – and sexist – drumbeat against Clinton, which has been pounding in the background of our national political soundtrack for two-and-a-half decades: She is shrill, she is dishonest, she is corrupt, blah, blah, blah. Whether they gravitate to Bernie or Hillary, young women are activist and feminist in greater numbers than ever before. “What I experienced was so concerning to me”, said Tom D’Angora, a theatre producer from NY who was waving a Clinton sign and said he was targeted with vulgar language.
It was a historic moment when we could believe in the possibility that the world would at last fully open its abundance to women. Repeating a line she uses frequently, Albright said: “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other”. That Sanders never outgrew his own socialist-rebellious tendencies – We’re going to have a revolution! – is vaguely interesting, but not his best recommendation for commander in chief, among other presidential duties. “She hugged the president, she wouldn’t let any daylight between them, and accused Bernie of infidelity”. But it was one of his aides, Rodney Slater, who actually introduced us in 1991 and asked me if I would support his presidency.
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Two recent comments by famous feminists have underscored the inevitable and predicted the foregone: The feminist era of Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright has come to a close. “‘Theres a special place in hell for women who dont help each other”, Albright said. Clinton is more than just a woman, she is an experienced politician and policymaker. It’s only when we have full gender equality that we’ll have the luxury of complete gender neutrality in our choice of leaders.
