No YOU shut up...

Hillary Clinton has always been a polarizing figure for the left and right. However, since the 2016 presidential contest the ever-present debate between her detractors and supporters seems to emanate loudest from the political left. The anger arises, in part, from passionate Bernie Sanders supporters, who feel Clinton is too centrist and that the Democratic party was biased in its support for Clinton in the primaries. Additionally, a vocal number of disillusioned "party line" Dems resent Clinton for bungling what should have, in theory, been a slam dunk campaign. Both sides criticize her post-election for remaining visible and vocal... "picking at old wounds" wrought by the improbable election of Donald Trump to the presidency.

This debate was reinvigorated with the recent release of Clinton's post-election memoir What Happened (full disclosure: my hardcover copy is being lovingly packaged and shipped through the magic of Amazon Prime as I write this blog post) and her accompanying book tour (full disclosure: I will be attending her Davis, CA event with bells on). Reading commentary on Clinton's book and tour, I found not everyone was thrilled to hear from her. Predictably, traditional and social media were full of criticism. As is typical with criticism of Clinton, the language ranged from condescending, to harsh, to vulgar.

Allow me to present some charming excerpts:

“The best thing she could do is disappear.”

"What’s to be done with Hillary Clinton, the woman who won’t go away?"

"Hillary . . . is a major optimist. That’s great for persistence and mental well-being. She’s ready to keep driving the bus. But it’s not so great for knowing when to quit. That’s where the passengers come in."

"The vibe I'm getting is that Democrats wish someone would just lock her in the basement indefinitely. Not in a cold, damp, dark cellar exactly, but locked in a basement — perhaps one with carpeting and high windows — that she can't climb out of."

"Hey, Hillary Clinton, shut the f--- up and go away already."

Of course, there is significant precedent for shushing women in politics. This certainly isn't Clinton's first rodeo. As Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Maxine Waters can tell you, when you're a powerful woman with something to say, inevitably someone is waiting to interrupt you, talk over you, or just plain tell you to "shut the f--- up." And lord help you if you if you're a woman with an axe to grind...

The ire directed at Clinton largely focuses on her alleged inability to "take responsibility" for the failure of her campaign. Instead, the argument goes, she blames sexism, she blames the media, she blames Jim Comey, she blames Russia, she blames Bernie Sanders. It's not enough that she suffered a humiliating election defeat to a ridiculously unqualified misogynist. It was her fault, and now she must suffer in silent, demure penance for her role in the entire catastrophe.

To borrow a term of art from Clinton's critics, I say, shut the f--- up.

I want Hillary to painstakingly dissect the 2016 presidential election. I want her to turn over every rock and connect every dot. I want her to ruminate. I want her anger. I want her frank opinion. I want to hear from the woman who was in the eye of the storm. I want to heed her warnings, her wisdom, and her advice to women who will follow in her footsteps. I want to know what happened. And you know what? It sounds like Hillary's version of events - involving sexism, terrible media coverage, and a corrupt Trump campaign aided by Russia - is being corroborated by an ever-growing mountain of evidence.

The one year anniversary of Trump's election is around the corner and the fact that he is running the country is ever-maddening. I fear for our nation's most vulnerable citizens on a daily basis: our immigrants who live in the shadow of deportations, our sick and disabled who depend on the ever-threatened ACA for healthcare, and our people of color who are dealing (as they always have) with blatant racism and white supremacy... now with the implicit (and some would argue, explicit) endorsement of the administration. Our public education system is being undermined, our environmental protections are being dismantled, and our system of government and political norms are under constant stress.

I think many reasonable people can agree that our country is facing a crisis. Yet all the while a parade of men within and around the Trump administration continue to bend over backwards to defend the indefensible, embarrass themselves, and practice blatant hypocrisy, only to show up later, unabashed, in the public eye because... you know... the past is the past.

We've got a lot of problems... but you know what doesn't feel like a problem? Hearing from the intelligent, thoughtful, badass woman who should have been president.

Hillary’s Trump Card: The Woman’s Card

This was a few weeks ago, but it still makes me laugh. The presumptive Republican candidate for President (*shudders*), Donald Trump, recently made headlines when he stated that the only reason Hillary was succeeding was because she was playing the “woman’s card” and that if she were not a woman she would only be getting 5% of the vote.

The complete nonsense of the premise behind his statement has been broken down in many places, but I’d like to focus this piece on the power of humor.

One of my favorite WaPo bloggers, Alexandra Petri, won the internet in my opinion with her excellent piece Play the ‘woman card’ and reap these ‘rewards’!. I don’t even feel like I can quote from the article because every single line is so good. I’ll wait here while you go read it before continuing.

Within hours (minutes?) of Trump’s statement, #womancard was trending on Twitter:

And it still is, weeks later:

Women across the country have united against Trump’s outright sexism and misogyny and have proudly proclaimed their support for Hillary (see also #imwithher). A Kickstarter campaign for a deck of cards with famous women has raised almost $120,000. Hillary’s campaign is selling an “Official Woman Card.”

While the Bernie Bros’ #HillaryDropOut and #NeverHillary campaigns are a frustrating distraction (see here for an excellent take-down of the privilege inherent in the #NeverHillary camp), the overall tone on Twitter and elsewhere has made me proud and happy to be a part of the Internet generation. For once, a social media campaign by women, on behalf of women, has succeeded. The key, I think, has been humor. I hope that the success of the #womancard campaign inspires Hillary and Democrats to continue working the meme-scape into November. Because the only way to fight Trump (and win the youth vote) might just be to point and laugh at the absurdity.

This millennial feminist is voting for Hillary

There has been a lot of discussion lately, both nationally and on this blog, about women and feminists voting in the Democratic presidential primary elections. Much ado has been made about the generational split revealed in early primary voting, with younger women overwhelmingly supporting Bernie (69% of women under 45 and 82% of women under 30 voted for Bernie in New Hampshire). Exit polls from Nevada, where Hillary won overall, reveal similar trends.

What does this mean, and why does it matter? It matters to me because at the same time I’m being told that it’s sexist to vote for Hillary because she’s a woman, my presumed voting preference as a 28-year-old is being defined for me because I’m a woman. I’m supposed to ignore Hillary’s gender when I vote, but the media focuses their coverage on the electorate’s gender. What gives? Either way, women are being told what to do and how to think.

A big part of why I’m voting for Hillary is because she’s a woman. Because she’s also struggling to break through the glass ceilings we all face as women. Because she continues to slog through the implicit bias and discrimination women see on a daily basis. Because I want the person determining the fate of legal precedent for the next three decades through nomination(s) to the Supreme Court to understand the importance of ending the Hyde Amendment. Because it’s ridiculous that there have been forty-four Presidents of the United States and never has someone of the gender that makes up more than half of the U.S. population sat in the Oval Office. I don’t think it’s sexist to vote for Hillary because she best represents the same lived experience as me or because I believe she has the best chance of representing my interests in the White House. (Sure, I also have concerns about Bernie: his ability to win a general election, the lack of nuance, the fuzzy math.)

I find myself empathizing with some of the recent commentary that hypothesizes that the generational Bernie/Hillary split is due to younger women not yet having experienced the sexism in the workplace that older women have. I certainly see that parallel in my own voting patterns, from a 2008 college-age Obama supporter to a 2016 world-wearier Hillary supporter. But that’s simply my own experience. I don’t think it’s right to extrapolate so broadly over a generation of women. Nor do I agree that all women who vote for Bernie have a “special place in hell” waiting for them. We can’t all be defined in one broad brushstroke. What I think we all can agree on as female voters is that who we vote for is a personal choice, made by each of us based on our lived experience, our beliefs about the candidate, and our priorities for the future. Don’t assume that we all think and feel the same way solely due to our age and gender. Don’t tell me how to vote because I’m a woman, but then tell me I can’t vote for Hillary because she’s a woman.

This feminist is for Sanders

“Young women have to support Hillary Clinton… It’s not done and you have to help. Hillary Clinton will always be there for you. And just remember, there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.” Former secretary of state Madeline Albright told a crowd of Clinton supporters yesterday in New Hampshire. Albright was not alone in addressing young women voters this weekend.

In an interview on Friday, with Bill Mahers, Gloria Steinem suggested that the main reason Bernie Sanders has so much support from young women is so that they can meet boys: “When you’re young, you’re thinking, ‘Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.’” While Steinem has since apologized for her statement, I don’t really buy it and I’m starting to get offended.

In attempting to support Clinton, Steinem reduced young women to mindless bimbos who are unable to make rational political decisions on their own, and instead politic based on the whims of their hearts. Surely, revolutionary feminist Steinem does not agree that young women are incapable of critical decision-making. However, her views - and Albright’s - echo a widespread sentiment that drives the rhetoric that voting for anyone other than Clinton is both un-feminist and untenable.

I am a feminist, and I support Bernie Sanders. It isn’t because he reminds me of my grandpa (which due to their shared Brooklyn accent and white hair, he really does). And it isn’t because of his “willingness to look and sound like a hot mess,” or that Hillary just isn’t cool enough. It also isn’t because his fervent fan base convinced me. It’s because after a careful analysis of Sanders’s and Clinton’s politics, my beliefs are more aligned with Sanders’. I also firmly believe that Sanders’ policies are feminist policies.

As Kevin Young and Diana C. Sierra Becerra wrote in their 2015 article, “All issues of wealth, power, and violence are also women’s and LGBT rights issues.” Sanders supports single-payer healthcare, women’s reproductive healthcare, free college tuition for public universities, and a $15 minimum wage -- all policies that benefit women in this country. Sanders has an established history of supporting LGBTQ rights, in stark comparison to Clinton who supported DOMA and did not announce her support of gay marriage until 2013. Sanders’ history of opposing foreign wars, the Patriot Act, and the death penalty are all reasons that I support him for president. This is not an exhaustive list, it is merely illustrative of the fact that I, a young, female, millennial am capable of comparing two candidates and coming to my own feminist conclusions.

My support for Sanders does not mean that Clinton has not faced an enormous amount of misogyny and sexism in this election - and throughout her career. Nor is my support for Sanders unwavering. I have legitimate qualms about some of his policies. I’m worried about his age. I’m worried about his effectiveness implementing his policies once in the White House (though, to be honest, I am not sure that Clinton will do any better).

That said, my support for Sanders is indeed rooted in my feminist beliefs. Beliefs that recognize the complexity of womanhood, and the need for intersectional politics that acknowledge race, gender identity, class, and more. I have to support the candidate that I feel embodies those beliefs and I truly believe that Sanders will be the better candidate for all women. After all, I don’t want to end up in that special place in hell for women who don’t help each other.