Racism VS. Sexism.... is there a winner?
I'm a fan of blogger Plain(s) Feminist. In my opinion, she is both a wonderfully, interesting and at times very funny writer and she tends to break through the ideological arguments that tend to cement around contentious issues, getting to the truer core arguments that are many times absent from the general public discourse.
She's been discussing the issues brought about by the collision of Clinton and Obama supporters that has created surprisingly emotionally violent arguments about who is more oppressed and/or more deserving of a historic milestone.
Her article is .... If Hillary Clinton were a White man.
My two cents (below) were posted on her comment page HERE.
I think it can easily be said that the tensions between allies can be as strained as those between enemies.
I have always thought of oppression as a grid in which each individual intersects in a different place, defined by gender, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, religion, education, and so on. So many people feel so "in touch" with the ways in which they are oppressed, but they rarely see themselves as part of the oppressive system.
I remember a party in Jamaica Plains where I had a long discussion with a gay, white man about homophobia in black culture. It took me a long time to explain to him that he was not necessarily the "oppressed" party in this situation, but instead there was a weird exchange between these two social groups. Both played a role in the oppression of the other.
As a gay man, he felt oppressed by the hatred, persecution and threats of violence by socially conservative community values that are shared in great numbers by Blacks, Whites, Latinos and many others and he felt especially threatened by negative gay stereotypes in black culture and music.
As a part of the gentrification of Jamaica Plains, he was part of the wealthy, predominantly white populace that bought up tenement houses, displacing predominantly, poor, black families.
In keeping with that, I think the subject that Plain Feminist is so cogently describing is something very real and very under the radar. The sad thing is, that while most people you talk to say they are voting for the best person gender and race aside, the numbers show such a huge race and gender divide, that it just can't be true.
I admit I would love for a woman or a person of color to be president. I think that a president can be a policy wonk and/or a great orator.
I do feel that the "False Hope", "Fairy Tale," and "Jesse Jackson did well too," arguments along with the frankly disgusting audacity to rate sexism against racism and pick a winner, is the most divisive BS I have ever heard. It saddens me to see the compromise of people who I had once deeply respected.
I have always thought of oppression as a grid in which each individual intersects in a different place, defined by gender, ethnicity, class, sexual preference, religion, education, and so on. So many people feel so "in touch" with the ways in which they are oppressed, but they rarely see themselves as part of the oppressive system.
I remember a party in Jamaica Plains where I had a long discussion with a gay, white man about homophobia in black culture. It took me a long time to explain to him that he was not necessarily the "oppressed" party in this situation, but instead there was a weird exchange between these two social groups. Both played a role in the oppression of the other.
As a gay man, he felt oppressed by the hatred, persecution and threats of violence by socially conservative community values that are shared in great numbers by Blacks, Whites, Latinos and many others and he felt especially threatened by negative gay stereotypes in black culture and music.
As a part of the gentrification of Jamaica Plains, he was part of the wealthy, predominantly white populace that bought up tenement houses, displacing predominantly, poor, black families.
In keeping with that, I think the subject that Plain Feminist is so cogently describing is something very real and very under the radar. The sad thing is, that while most people you talk to say they are voting for the best person gender and race aside, the numbers show such a huge race and gender divide, that it just can't be true.
I admit I would love for a woman or a person of color to be president. I think that a president can be a policy wonk and/or a great orator.
I do feel that the "False Hope", "Fairy Tale," and "Jesse Jackson did well too," arguments along with the frankly disgusting audacity to rate sexism against racism and pick a winner, is the most divisive BS I have ever heard. It saddens me to see the compromise of people who I had once deeply respected.
