Friday, August 12, 2011

Gloria Steinem on the false feminism of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:

Gloria Steinem, a leader of the women's liberation movement of the seventies, was feted at a luncheon on Wednesday in celebration of the HBO documentary about her life, Gloria: In Her Own Words. We were curious what the feminist icon thinks about women like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who are not housewives, yet support traditional values and oppose abortion. "They’re there to oppose the women's movement. That's their job," Steinem said, accusing the two politicians of "selling out" the women's movement. "That’s just the way it is; it's inevitable. Think about Phyllis Schlafly; there have always been women like this." 

 Later, during a speech, Steinem elaborated. "I can testify, the very same things people were telling me 30 or 40 years ago — it's against nature, you can’t do this, my wife is not interested — all these [people] are now saying, well, feminism used to be necessary, but it's not anymore. That is the new form of obstruction. And, of course, it’s accompanied by the other natural thing that happens if you have a big social justice movement: You make jobs for people who sell it out. So we have Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who are on my list of 'the women only a man could love.'" 

 "But it’s important to remember that though they are in the news, they are not in the majority," Steinem continued. "And though they get elected, there's a huge race and gender differential on who votes for them. And if you were to add the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, they are the people our founders came to this country to escape," she told the lunch crowd. "They’re the same people, right? They're trying to say God looks like me and not like you, and to use that politically to make a religious base. And so it is really a kind of rerun."

As a man observing the Sarah Palin phenomena, and immediately recognizing that she was single-handedly dismantling decades of hard work by the feminist movement, I have been particularly interested in how a person like Gloria Steinem deals with watching her receive so much media attention.

This response is kind of what I would have expected, though to be honest part of me would like her to go all "Jerry Springer" on Palin's ass and rip that fright wig and those fake glasses off her head and then turn to the media and say "How do you like her now America?" (And yes as I was typing that I realized that it was totally a stereotypical anti-feminist thing to write. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see it though.)

BTW if you are a Gloria Steinem fan (And if you are a modern woman or man completely comfortable with his masculinity (Like me) how could you not be?) you might be interested in watching her appearance on the Colbert Report last night. It was pretty interesting, not to mention funny.

65 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:58 AM

    So we have Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who are on my list of 'the women only a man could love.'"

    I am a man.
    I don`t want to be within 500 feet of SP & MB.

    Don`t put me on that list...

    ReplyDelete
  2. dlbvet6:59 AM

    Excellent post! I have been thinking the very same thing since Mrs. Palin started screeching. (I remember hearing her once on the radio screeching to a crowd about how she sold the governor's jet on ebay and wasn't she just so cool...I thought to myself, 'what an obnoxious voice.' This must have been shortly after being elected governor.)
    Anyway...I've been thinking all along that she sets feminism in this country back about a gazillion years. Michelle Bachmann too. The Bats**t Crazy Twins. God what a pair.

    And Ms. Steinem had it so right about the fact that these are the people the pilgrims fled!!!!!
    So..history is repeating itsself?

    I honestly don't think I can handle an entire year (and a few months) of this...the election can NOT come soon enough.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am new to your blog, and am thoroughly addicted to your words. Thanks for giving me a new reading habit - that my friends and family will surely wish me to seek rehabilitation for! LOL

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  4. Anonymous7:38 AM

    I admit to being completely fascinated by the PUMA "feminist" organization, which was formed after Obama beat Clinton for the 2008 nomination.

    A small group of influential, mostly NY women started it becauses they remain SO angry that Clinton lost, and the rage they feel towards President Obama fairly steams off their blog.

    They are positively sycophantic towards Sarah Palin. They urge people to read going rogue as if it were gospel truth.

    I believe they were quietly behind Bannon's movie. In an interview, he referred to his target audience as "new agenda women". We all know how that worked out.

    They don't seem to mind that Palin and Bachmann were both against the lily Ledbetter fair pay act.

    Anyway, I think we can expect an anti-Steinem screed on the the new agenda blognin 3,2,1....

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  5. Anonymous7:40 AM

    Didn't check out Colbert yet but having seen G. S. in person once, I can attest to her great beauty (doubt she's had any surgery) in addition to her obviously high intelligence and amazing leadership in the feminist movement. Palin was a setback to feminism. I think Palin is over now. For me, it's on to negating Bachmann & Perry.

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  6. Thank you so much for posting this. I am so glad to hear Ms. Steinem speaking out--incredible intellect--succinct and dead-on.

    ReplyDelete
  7. G,


    Check out this story from your blog roll from theleft -


    Anti-gay Indiana REPUBLICAN lawmaker caught in Rent-Boy Sex Scandal

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous7:59 AM

    Thank Heavens I was wondering if anyone in that movement would speak out. Our country was founded on freedom of religion, or not to have a religion. That is what made it so great and now these small minded ppl want to take us back to the dark ages. They are the Jim Jones's of our time getting ppl to swollow poison( we don't need SS, mecicare ,planned parenthood, don't need good jobs or healthcare) their policies are against women children and the country

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  9. Anonymous8:03 AM

    Additional insight from PoliticusUSA regarding just who would be wearing the pants [ha ha, laugh on dotted line] if space time fractured, tentacled monsters emerged, and Michele Bachmann was elected President:

    "According to Bachmann herself, she must be submissive to her husband. This is what she told a crowd back in 2006 and there is no reason to believe she does not hold to this still: “The Lord says be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands.”

    http://www.politicususa.com/en/who-is-the-real-candidate-for-president-marcus-or-michele-bachmann

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  10. Anonymous8:03 AM

    Sarah & Bachmann both suck bit time, yuck.

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  11. Anne In DC8:13 AM

    Both Bachmann and Palin are GOP figureheads that their party touts as proof that it is "diverse." But they are figureheads to promote an extremely reactionary ideology. The same goes for blacks like Herman Cain and Allen West. The party likes to present these folks as their answer to women like Hillary Clinton or blacks like the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. That's exactly why John McCain picked Palin as his running mate, on the disastrously false premise that disappointed Hillary supporters would flock in droves to vote for his ticket. As for Bachmann and Palin, those two shallow nitwits are the kind of women only an insecure man with a need to subjugate women to prove his manhood would love.

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  12. Anonymous8:16 AM

    "You make jobs for people who sell it out".

    Mendacity pays, but I've never understood how the hell you live with yourself if you lie professionally for a paycheck. Deep down, on some level, you have to know what a piece of shit you are.

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  13. Anonymous8:16 AM

    O/T Two more clowns at the fair... maybe they can share a fried butter on a stick.

    http://caucuses.desmoinesregister.com
    /2011/08/12/palin-to-be-on-sean-han
    nity-at-8-p-m-today-at-iowa-state-fair/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous8:17 AM

    Gloria and I are from the same generation of feminists. What we did came from our own dissatisfaction with our status, but our activism wasn't just for ourselves, but for the benefit of all women.

    Anyone who wants control of women's wombs is no feminist. Women know what is best for themselves in their own situation as an individual.

    Feminism is not about money and power in the sense that MB and Quitler pursue it. Feminism improves the lives of all women, does not exploit them, and is the same promise of liberation for women of all classes, all races, all nationalities.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous8:18 AM

    It irked me when people (male and female) expected me to be pleased that the GOP had a woman for VEEP candidate. Her chromosome make up being more important than her brain capacity, I guess.

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  16. Anonymous8:36 AM

    Bachmann and Palin are constructs. They are not the true feminine. They are parodies of women, and their reason to be comes from the fantasies of men. That's why they look so transgendered.

    Steinem gets this, although she says it a bit more diplomatically. Her statement regarding the TParty as the people the Pilgrims ran from, is dead on accurate.

    No true mother would act like Palin. No true woman would submit her being to a man like Bachmann. Even their looks are calculated constructions to entrap men-- who hate women.

    Not. Feminine. Pure and simple.

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  17. Anonymous8:39 AM

    Sarah Palin the candidate is terrible for women because she does not have the chops to back up her bravado. When it's time for her to deliver and prove that women can compete, she repeatedly shows that she has only the the most basic understanding of the issues that face our country. Not to mention that when the going got tough, she quit.

    The example that Sarah Palin, the first Republican woman candidate for VP, sets reflects very badly on women.

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  18. Anonymous8:40 AM

    Mendacity pays, but I've never understood how the hell you live with yourself if you lie professionally for a paycheck. Deep down, on some level, you have to know what a piece of shit you are.

    8:16 AM

    It's why the right is so entwined with religion. To believe because there is no proof requires tolerance of cognitive dissonance. That indoctrination must start earlier and earlier in our uber technologized communicative world. Thus the rise of religious schools, and the push for vouchers by the right.

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  19. Anonymous8:43 AM

    Anonymous said...

    It irked me when people (male and female) expected me to be pleased that the GOP had a woman for VEEP candidate. Her chromosome make up being more important than her brain capacity, I guess.

    8:18 AM

    It's the equivalent of the low-life at the bar, who knows he can't get a "respectable" woman, nor an intelligent one, nor a beautiful one. So he goes home at night with the alcoholic "bar floozy" with the missing teeth, while spouting his misogynist sour grapes theory of "turn em upside down and they're all the same anyway.

    That folks, was the reason for John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin. And quite possibly Levi's of Bristol.

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  20. Speaking of Bachmann and Palin... I finished a new spoof poster last night and it includes these two anti-feminists. The poster's called "Dude, Where's My Candidate?" http://twitpic.com/64q364

    Some other GOP candidates are on there too--clearly, the GOP is having trouble finding anyone even remotely presidential. Hope you all enjoy it!

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  21. Anonymous8:56 AM

    Both Bachmann and Palin are GOP figureheads that their party touts as proof that it is "diverse." But they are figureheads to promote an extremely reactionary ideology. The same goes for blacks like Herman Cain and Allen West. The party likes to present these folks as their answer to women like Hillary Clinton or blacks like the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. That's exactly why John McCain picked Palin as his running mate, on the disastrously false premise that disappointed Hillary supporters would flock in droves to vote for his ticket. As for Bachmann and Palin, those two shallow nitwits are the kind of women only an insecure man with a need to subjugate women to prove his manhood would love. And I say that it's against everything that the woman's movement stands for to pose naked for playboy on you back with your legs spread in a split beaver pose. As we know one certain slut did just recently for a bit of cash.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous8:57 AM

    Excellent post! I have been thinking the very same thing since Mrs. Palin started screeching. (I remember hearing her once on the radio screeching to a crowd about how she sold the governor's jet on ebay and wasn't she just so cool...I thought to myself, 'what an obnoxious voice.' This must have been shortly after being elected governor.)
    Anyway...I've been thinking all along that she sets feminism in this country back about a gazillion years. Michelle Bachmann too. The Bats**t Crazy Twins. God what a pair.And Ms. Steinem had it so right about the fact that these are the people the pilgrims fled!!!!! So..history is repeating itsself? I honestly don't think I can handle an entire year (and a few months) of this...the election can NOT come soon enough.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous9:04 AM

    Also on your blog roll:

    http://www.americablog.com/2011/08/palin-got-s-to-raise-alaskas-rating-by.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Americablog+%28AMERICAblog%29

    She's too stupid and thinks people can't read or do research, like her home-schooled kids.

    nswfm

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  24. I always thought I'd see a female president in my lifetime. Thanks to Palin, it won't happen. Anytime a female candidate's name will come up, both parties will say "remember what happened the last time we put a woman on the ticket."

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  25. Anonymous9:05 AM

    A long time Republican/Independent the blindfold was ripped from my eyes during the Bush years. I thought the party could not go any lower.

    Then, with the promotion of SP and Michael Steele to be the "look we have a black man and a woman on our team too!" - as stand-in's for Hilary Clinton and Obama - I thought, this party REALLY thinks that women and minorities are interchangeable.

    I was very insulted.

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  26. Virginia Voter9:14 AM

    He, I was in the car listening to MSNBC on satellite radio, and everyone is calling Sarah a party crasher. Apparently , she's there with only Todd and Piper, she must have had to bribe her with a new Coach bag. No Trig or Ma & Pa Heath.

    Sarah claims she's still a potential candidate "Still thinkin about it"

    She is only a political prick tease

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  27. "they are the people our founders came to this country to escape," BINGO!! And they want to return America to 18th Century Europe with the established state religions, religious wars, and persecution of the "different".

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  28. Good post. But wuzterface from Alaska isn't singlehandedly doing anything. The media is taking care of that for her. She's incapable of sustaining a thought long enough to complete a sentence. If it weren't for the OMBP [Old Men in Baggy Pants] who own the media all she'd be doing is a daily can toss in AK.

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  29. Anonymous9:35 AM

    I wish to second someone's post he said what I was thinking:
    So we have Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who are on my list of 'the women only a man could love.'"

    I am a man.
    I don`t want to be within 500 feet of SP & MB.

    Don`t put me on that list...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous9:38 AM

    Sarah Palin doesn't even look like a real woman. She is ugly and manly.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Enjay in E MT9:49 AM

    Gloria Steinem was almost too radical for my tastes back in her day. But she did bring attention & change for women.

    Saying we no longer need a women's movement is like wiping out all the civil rights legislation. Even today on average women are paid less then men - with less benefits, less promotions, and even less reproductive freedom.

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  32. I have always admired Gloria Steinem. I suggest her books. They are fascinating and explain so much about her. She is brave aside from everything else good.

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  33. cckids10:16 AM

    Seeing Gloria Steinem reminded me of a great book I just read, & want to rec to anyone interested: "When Everything Changed" by Gail Collins. Funny, heartbreaking & interesting, about the women's movement & the changes we've gone through since the 1950's.

    One line in it reminds me of Palin: discussing the non-passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, one worker says that Phyllis Schlafly did more damage to women's rights than all the bigoted men in the country. Sarah is right up there with her, in my opinion.

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  34. Anonymous10:24 AM

    Excellent post! I have been thinking the very same thing since Mrs. Palin started screeching. (I remember hearing her once on the radio screeching to a crowd about how she sold the governor's jet on ebay and wasn't she just so cool...I thought to myself, 'what an obnoxious voice.' This must have been shortly after being elected governor.)
    Anyway...I've been thinking all along that she sets feminism in this country back about a gazillion years. Michelle Bachmann too. The Bats**t Crazy Twins. God what a pair. We know that you're avoiding the babygate issue because of your deal with your slut friend.

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  35. Anonymous10:26 AM

    ANON @ 9:38AM

    What? Don't you know that men can be pretty, too? WTFV with Colbert & Steinem!

    SP is just ugly

    period

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous10:33 AM

    I love Gloria Steinem. I've seen her speak twice and bought her books. She is great. Warm, good sense of humor. And despite what some would say about her, she apparently was quite the man magnet.

    But Gryph, I'm sitting here eating my lunch at work and reading your blog and I almost burst out laughing at your comment about going all Jerry Springer. You are hilarious! And I love you too. Thanks for being you.

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  37. "I am Woman! Hear me submit?" I don't think so! Thanks, Gloria, for reading these mean "girls" the rules. They were both raised in Patriarchal cults and don't know any better . . . In other words, "Mother, forgive them for they know not what they do." Then get them the hell away from ANY power, because they'll totally misuse it!

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  38. Anonymous10:52 AM

    I know one man that is on the list of 'the women only a man could love'. He thinks the sun rises and sets on Sarah Palin STILL. He met her a few years ago in the Valley and thought her personable and beautiful. I've not been able to change his mind even w/all the proof sources I showed him about her lies, etc. Just keep shaking my head!

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  39. I really think its important at some point for a woman to be President....the thought of Palin or Bachmann in there makes me physically ill. Talk about fake christianity! They set women back 50 years. As a woman, what an embarrassment they are!

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  40. Anonymous11:21 AM

    Good post. But wuzterface from Alaska isn't singlehandedly doing anything. The media is taking care of that for her. She's incapable of sustaining a thought long enough to complete a sentence. If it weren't for the OMBP [Old Men in Baggy Pants] who own the media all she'd be doing is a daily can toss in AK. Now can we talk about palin's faked pregnancy again and how you learned the secret and have to keep it to yourself?

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  41. An 'Anonymous' commentor wrote earlier about the formation of what he calls the PUMA movement who allegedly support Palin and Bachmann primarily because, he asserts, Clinton didn't win?! I was a Clinton supporter but I've never heard of a PUMA, nor has any supporter in my circle ever heard of them. Surely he must realize that no woman on earth who would vote for and support Hillary Clinton would have a single kind word for either of the bat s*** crazy twins.

    Completely absurd, on numerous levels. In fact, so much so that its almost insulting to any feminist woman to suggest that we'd throw our support behind creatures who represent the very worst kind of woman or human being for that matter; the one who loathes herself, turns on her sisters, sells her soul for money and influence, and sets the cause of human rights back by centuries.

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  42. Anonymous12:41 PM

    First of all, Palin is not "single-handedly dismantling decades of hard work by the feminist movement."

    Sarah Palin simply does not have that power.

    What she does is what all no talent people do, she plays upon emotion and sexuality to manipulate foolish, weak people. That's what makes us so angry: we see right through her.

    There have always been people who've achieved success without having earned it. Just a crappy aspect of life. Then again, they get their comeuppance in unexpected ways. As they say, the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.

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  43. Anonymous1:06 PM

    I'm female and a mother. Bachmann and Palin don't represent mainstream women. Most of us can smell their bullshit a mile away.

    As far as PUMAs. I heard of them back in 2008. There are a few who defected after Obama won the nod and went with Palin for the vagina vote. Most women, including my registered republican self, saw Palin for what she really is, a bullshit artist and we defected to the Dem side where we will stay in 2012.

    PUMA stands for "party unity my ass" by the way.

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  44. Interestingly, the same sort of analysis has been applied to Margaret Thatcher in my country. We had a great politician called Barbara Castle who should have been our first female Prime Minister. But horrible, thoughtless people and politicians should be judged by their character, not their gender.

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  45. Anonymous2:50 PM

    JCT, sorry, but PUMAs do exist. You and your friends may have been too smart to fall into that trap, but some Hillary supporters were just blind angry.

    AnnfromCA on Huffpo is one such critter, so they say.

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  46. Anonymous4:18 PM

    As much as I admire Gloria Steinem, I believe that she's got Bachmann and Palin wrong. We need to stop separating ourselves and dividing ourselves over women this way because we have much more that unites us that what divides us. As long as we allow ourselves to be divided over a women's agenda from 30 years ago, we'll never be able to muster the support we need to break the glass ceilings we've been unable to break. It will require some new thinking, but it is worth it. Here are some new thoughts on the matter:

    http://womenwintoo.blogspot.com/2011/07/running-up-against-brick-wall-sexism-of.html

    and also this:

    http://womenwintoo.blogspot.com/2011/08/21st-century-feminism-call-to-action.html

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  47. Anonymous4:28 PM

    @2:50am "They" say that AnninCA is Rebecca Mansour, also, too.

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  48. SARAH PALIN IS A REAL PIONEER, A WONDERFUL MOTHER! SHE IS DOING NOTHING TO HURT WOMENS RIGHTS! QUIET THE OPPOSITE! HER HAIR IS REAL! SO SHE NEEDS GLASSES, A LOT OF PEOPLE DO! SHE IS A SHINEING EXAMPLE, THAT A WOMEN CAN DO ANYTHING THEY SET THEIR MINDS TOO!
    GLORIA STEINEM IS JUST JEALOUSE BECAUSE SHE CAN'T DO THE THINGS SHE DOES & YOU MEN, I GUESS SHE SHOWS YOU ALL UP! SHE IS MY HERO!!

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  49. Anonymous5:27 PM

    I don't think Palin & Bachmann are feminists. But I think you can oppose abortion & still be a feminist *if* it's about the prenatal lifetaking issue, not sexual hysteria & craze to control women, & you are working your butt off to make sure women can have other & better choices, & you fight for all lfie born and unborn. I know about an organization that does this, All Our Lives www.alllives.org Looks like feminism to me!

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  50. Anonymous6:04 PM

    I assume "Libby" is being a joker with that post but in case she isn't...

    Gloria Steinem and her courage are the reason women such as Bachmann and Palin can even dream of the office of the Presidency. Steinem would never be jealous of those two dolts as unlike those dumb bimbos, Steinem actually paid her dues at a time when women were not encouraged to actually seek any positions outside of housewife, teacher or nurse.

    Steinem and her peers ARE the women's movement and if she says Palin is a fraud, she speaks from a place of knowledge about such things.

    Palin and Bachmann owe Steinem their gratitude because without her, they would still be boring house fraus and their husbands would really be the ones in charge.

    And Libby, in case you are serious, you need to worship real female heroes like Steinem, Clinton, Ferraro and the Suffragettes without whom, Palin and Bachmann wouldn't even be allowed to vote let alone run for office and milk moronic idiots out of their money.

    But I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your post is comedic gold meant to make us all laugh.

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  51. Anonymous7:08 PM

    Gloria Steinem helped open doors for women at a time when very few options were available to women. To get a sense of the way her mind works, you have to read her books and old copies of MS magazine.
    She fought for women's rights, but respected men at the same time. Accepting Women as equals and blurring the traditional roles of both women and men was a tightrope she walked with guts and grace in the face of hate.
    I'm a woman in her fifties, and remember the role my father had in our family. He saw my brother nurture his children, change diapers, do his share of housework and cooking, and he realized the "Good" he saw in that.
    I'm not saying my dad wasn't a loving father, but it was difficult for men of his generation to adapt, but he tried his level best.
    The greatest gift he gave my brother was to say "I love you", something I credit women like Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, etc.

    I'll be watching the bio on hbo. I especially like how she infiltrated Playboy by becoming a bunny, then doing a scatheing documentary piece about the experience.

    We've come a long way, but we've still got a long road ahead of us.

    I want to see a woman president in my lifetime, but it has to be a woman of honor, who is intelligent and compassionate. SP and MB just don't fit the bill.

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  52. Anonymous4:47 PM

    you people are sick! I grew up in the 70's and supported women's rights. I am now a 59 year old woman. I am pro life, I've seen what your policies have done to the family. Some of us are proud to be mothers, wives, teachers and republicans. I would vote for Sarah or Michelle in a heart beat! I am recently retired from my 30+ years in public education. I bet this post won't be approved

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  53. Robin5:30 AM

    I was angry that Hillary got passed over for the presidential nomination and VP nomination. The polls showed her national clout.

    But they also show the potential for damage which just having any woman run for the 'sake of it' does.

    Sarah Palin ran on an abstinence-only ticket while her own teenage daughter was pregnant. And then one of the targets on her 'crosshairs' PAC map happened to be shot in Arizona.

    She too is nationally-known, but for vastly different reasons than Hillary. 'Any' publicity is not necessarily good or effective publicity.

    Because we want women taken seriously as effective and competent leaders, we have to make this critical distinction.

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  54. FloridaDem5:08 PM

    Gloria is a true feminist, the real deal. She's not a faux feminist like Sarah. And really, I don't even think Palin still puts up the pretense anymore. Palin is a feminist the way the Tea Party are Patriots. These people think they can co-op ideas and twist them around to their own advantage. The tea party parades around in silly outfits and hold pamphlets of the constitution, and it's blasphemy, really.

    Steinem was on target with most of what she said. As she pointed out, there is a long history of women before Sarah, including Phyllis Schlafly. But I disagree that they are appealing exclusively to men. I think Sarah has a huge right wing, rural, evangelical, homeschooled, female following. A lot of her cues are for the women, not the men. And while these women are a minority to the overall population, they are a significant enough factor, because they are active.

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  55. FloridaDem5:14 PM

    "Bachmann and Palin are.....parodies of women, and their reason to be comes from the fantasies of men. That's why they look so transgendered."

    I disagree with this as an oversimplification, but you have a point about their look. I'm sure the square jaws on both of them contribute to that, but even without it, they do have a overly-made up, plastic, tortured look about them. Some republican women in the past have also had a severe look, but not quite like these two. I think both are the result of mental illness. And mental illness in women is often linked to past sexual abuse or sexual issues of some kind.

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  56. FloridaDem5:22 PM

    "You people are sick! I grew up in the 70's and supported women's rights. I am now a 59 year old woman. I am pro life, I've seen what your policies have done to the family. Some of us are proud to be mothers, wives...."

    The women's rights movement gave you the choice to be a wife, working wife, or not a wife at all. Funny how you claim to have supported women's right yet think this very movement destroyed the family. You sound confused. Right now, in Saudi Arabia, there are brave arab feminists protesting for the simple right to leave the house on their own and get into a car and drive. Do you know one of the MAIN OBSTACLES to that effort are a group of women who oppose it because they don't want to be forced to drive and give up their servants? You see, even today, there are feminists, and there are the "other women." Which one are you?

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  57. When I was back there in Seminary School, the Jesuits taught us that Morality was what they tried to brain wash you with when you were a kid and to young to know any better; and Ethics is what you synthesized out of the Morality they stuffed your head with and rules of behavior you found worked out after testing out what worked and what didn't! This some times takes awhile!
    I sometimes think the Amish Wondervar that 18 to 21 year olds go thru might not be a bad Idea for everyone! geno .... aka atGypsyDoktor on twitter ....

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  58. Anonymous2:12 PM

    Here, here! Feminism comes from finding one's inner strength and wisdom as a woman and wielding it with flexibility and sincerity, not from borrowing a man's sword and slashing the living daylights out of everything...

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  59. Here here. Feminism comes from finding one's inner wisdom as a woman and wielding it with strength and flexibility and virtue, not from borrowing a man's unyielding sword and slashing the living daylights out of everything!

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:03 PM

      So we men "slash the living daylights out of everything." Women of course have "wisdom," "strength," "flexibility," and "virtue." This is what I detest about feminism - the self serving generalizations that men are pure evil and women are all goodness and light. Absolutely sickening. It amazes me why people wonder why feminism is so hated. Oh, and incidentally I detest that bigoted , hate filled Steinem bitch.

      Delete
  60. Anonymous8:35 AM

    Forgive me for restating any points already made. I sense that there is a consensus that not only did gloria Steinhem singlehandedly direct a movement but that that was something to be admired. With the gracious help of the CIA Steinhem helped to destroy the traditional family system and wage the psychological war on us all that was called women's lib. This is a historical fact and something to consider in this conversation. Thank you. That said I agree with Cathy, the poster above me. Nicely said..

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  61. Anonymous9:55 AM

    Interesting isn't it how Sarah Palin's husband quit his job, stayed at home and raised the kids, did the house work and cooking all so Sarah could pursue her political career. Isn't this a feminists dream come true? Yet Steinem has nothing good to say about Palin. Why? Because Palin is a Republican and democracy free enterprise and capitalism are what leftist crank Steinem hates almost as much as she hates men. Hypocrite communist Steinem becomes more of a joke every day.

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    1. Anonymous3:00 PM

      Exactly. Had Palin been a Democrat instead of a Republican I am one hundred per cent certain Gloria Steinem would not consider her to be "selling out the women's movement." Palin would, instead, be regarded as a "great feminist leader," or "A fearless emancipator of all womankind," or some other such garbage. I wish someone would ask Steinem about her romantic involvement with Henry Kissinger back in the 1970's. Why would a leftist liberal radical feminist be involved with a right wing "patriarchal" conservative Republican? Steinem is now and always has been a self serving hypocrite who founded, as instructed by the CIA a hate movement full of self serving hypocrisy.

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    2. Anonymous1:48 PM

      I think you got one thing wrong, Steinem hates women who disagree with feminism more than she hates men, democracy, free enterprise, and capitalism - and that's some heavy duty hate.

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