Friday, May 16, 2008

Misogyny 2008

When the Democratic primaries end, we might finally get a break from this country's orgiastic display of woman-hating.

If you're realistic enough to recognize that the Democratic primaries have been an awakening to contemporary American misogyny and the overwhelming existance of culturally ingrained sexism you'll be able to feel this article - Election 08: Misogyny I Will Not Miss by Marie Cocco


I won't leave you with a bad taste in your mouth - the Democratic Primaries have also spawned a reawakening amongst women. Here's the opening paragraph to a very interesting New York Magazine article by Amanda Fortini that ran a few weeks ago.

Not so long ago, it was possıble for women, particularly young women, to share in the popular illusion that we were living in a postfeminist moment. There were encouraging statistics to point to: More women than men are enrolled at universities, where they typically earn higher grades; once they graduate, those who live in big cities might even receive higher salaries—at least in the early years of employment. The Speaker of the House is female, as are eight governors and 16 percent of Congress (never mind that this is 11 percent fewer than Afghanistan’s parliament). Many women believed we had access to the same opportunities and experiences as men—that was the goal of the feminist movement, wasn’t it?—should we choose to take advantage of them (and, increasingly, we just might not). There was, of course, the occasional gender-based slight to contend with, a comment on physical appearance, the casual office badminton played with words like bitch and whore and slut, but to get worked up over these things seemed pointlessly symbolic, humorless, the purview of women’s-studies types. Then Hillary Clinton declared her candidacy, and the sexism in America, long lying dormant, like some feral, tranquilized animal, yawned and revealed itself. Even those of us who didn’t usually concern ourselves with gender-centric matters began to realize that when it comes to women, we are not post-anything.

Keep reading here.