Marie Cocco (Alternet) argues that unlike California’s governator, women “will never burst into high political office without a lick of experience.” She also notes that experienced women don’t do much better.
The glass ceiling remains firmly in place — not cracked, as Hillary Clinton insisted as she tried to claim rhetorical victory after her defeat in the Democratic nominating contest. It wasn’t even scratched with the candidacy of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee — unless you consider becoming an object of national ridicule to be a symbol of advancement. As divergent as these two women are ideologically and temperamentally, as different as are their resumes, they both banged their heads — hard — against the ceiling. Both were bruised. So was the goal of advancing women in political leadership.
Women make up seventeen percent of our Congress. 17. That’s not even halfway to half way.
Marie Cocco concludes:
Yet American women are a majority of the population and a majority of the electorate. They earn more than half the bachelor’s and master’s degrees, a level of educational achievement far exceeding that of women in developing countries. There must be some reason we don’t do any better than women in impoverished, rural regions of the world where cultural norms oppress women.
Maybe it is because our culture isn’t so different after all.
Antigone Magazine has created a “Dreams for Women” calendar. I always love reading these postcards (similar to the concept of PostSecret). This calendar will be a great holiday gift and can be used for fund raising.
Some background:
For those of you who aren’t familiar with our Dreams for Women community art project, I will provide you with some background. The project began in January 2008 and has since been featured in Ms. Magazine and in the International Museum of Women, garnering worldwide media attention and submissions from as far away as Japan, Germany, Brazil, France, and Romania. The Dreams for Women art project asks women and men of all ages to tell us what their dreams are for women by painting, drawing, writing, sketching or decoupaging them onto a postcard. Postcards are posted every second Saturday on the Antigone Magazine blog.
Four years after the college safety nonprofit Security on Campus filed a complaint against UVA for its mishandling of sexual assault cases, the Department of Education has ruled that the university has, in fact, violated federal law by threatening victims of sexual assault with punishment if they spoke about their cases.
The ruling has major implications for victims of sexual assault on college campuses across the country, according to the man who filed the complaint on behalf of then-UVA student Annie Hylton, now Annie Hylton McLaughlin.
“It means that victims can’t be silenced at UVA or anywhere else,” says S. Daniel Carter, director of public policy for Security on Campus.
They were only concerned with feminism while it had a pretty face that they thought would help them win the election. Not surprisingly, conservatives have instantly forgotten their cries of sexism (wolf) and taken to bashing Palin and blaming her for their loss.
Every time you hear these Monday morning quarterback criticisms of Sarah Palin coming from the right, interpret them as outright blows to John McCain’s judgment. She did everything they asked her to, read the speeches they wrote for her, while they used her to rally the base and supposedly appeal to women. It didn’t work, so they’ve decided it’s her fault. It’s always easy to blame the woman.
McCain will go back to being the “old” McCain and people will forgive him for this disgusting campaign. He will scrape what little is left of his dignity out of the gutter and go about his job. Meanwhile, the right will attempt to dismantle Palin’s career and make her a laughingstock.
Sure, she’s not very bright. You chose her! She knows nothing about geography? You wanted her to be next in line for the Presidency? Notice the criticism of her is heavily focused on the shopping and “diva”-ness, rather than on the lack of substance that was missing all along.
Let’s stop gobbling up these juicy pieces of gossip about how stupid she is, unless we’re willing to recognize exactly what these details say about John McCain and the entire Republican party. Instead, let’s get back to work because we obviously have a long way to go.
Shakesville has good posts on this topic here and here.
Some good news for women coming out of this election from EMILY’s List.
Those of you planning to vote Yes today, please consider the realization that Mayor Sanders came to last night.
Two years ago, I believed that civil unions were a fair alternative. Those beliefs, in my case, have changed.
The concept of a ‘separate but equal’ institution is not something I can support.
I acknowledge that not all members of our community will agree or perhaps even understand my decision today.
All I can offer them is that I am trying to do what I believe is right.
I have close family members and friends who are a member of the gay and lesbian community. Those folks include my daughter Lisa, as well as members of my personal staff.
I want for them the same thing that we all want for our loved ones — for each of them to find a mate whom they love deeply and who loves them back; someone with whom they can grow old together and share life’s experiences.
And I want their relationships to be protected equally under the law. In the end, I couldn’t look any of them in the face and tell them that their relationship — their very lives — were any less meaningful than the marriage I share with my wife Rana. Thank you.
Noticing the Gap 