Bernie vs. Hillary: What's a Feminist to Do? Kshama Sawant
SNIP........... She first talks about Seattle politics and makes a great point
Throughout the Democratic Primary, Hillary Clinton and her supporters have sought to portray her ascendance to the presidency as the next logical step toward gender equality in America. And for most of that time, her nomination as the first female Democratic nominee was assumed to be straightforward and assured.
Yet instead of the expected coronation, Hillary Clinton has had a real fight on her hands from the self-proclaimed socialist from Vermont, and that turn of events has perhaps been most clearly reflected in young women's enthusiastic support for Sanders.
The Democratic Party establishment has been dumbfounded at young women rejecting Hillary, and have made various ham-fisted efforts to turn back the tide.
"Why are establishment feminist icons on the defensive with young women?"
Debbie Wasserman-Shulz, the Democratic National Committee chair, helped kick things off by suggesting young women were "complacent" about women's rights in not supporting Hillary, followed by a social media backlash. But the firestorm hit in February with Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright's widely discussed comments. Steinem's remarks about young women supporting Bernie because "that's where the boys are" particularly hit a nerve, as young women who had long looked up to Steinem were stunned to hear what sounded, more than a little, like a demeaning sexist put down.
Feminism and Identity
Why are establishment feminist icons on the defensive with young women?
At the heart of the matter is the deep divide between the substance of women's rights and the identity question of gender in this race. And the sticky problem facing Clinton defenders is the undeniable fact that Sanders' platform and record are far more pro-woman.
In looking at Sanders' commitment to women's issues, from an unwavering commitment to reproductive rights, to the $15 minimum wage, to single-payer healthcare, or a dozen other issues -- it's clear ordinary women stand to gain greatly from what Bernie is campaigning for.
Hillary's own political history reveals the hollowness of her expressed oneness with ordinary women. She helped champion Bill Clinton's gutting of welfare funding in the 1990s, which plunged hundreds of thousands of women (particularly black women), into a deadly spiral of intergenerational poverty.
Clinton's position on abortion has long been that it ought to be "safe, legal and rare." Safe and legal, yes, but her addition of "rare" is a frightening backtracking on the hard-fought battle for reproductive rights, and only serves as bait to encourage right-wing attacks. As recently as September last year, Clinton made overtures to anti-choice Republicans, saying, "if there's a way to structure some kind of constitutional restriction [on abortion] that takes into account the life of the mother and her health, then I'm open to that."
"If the question is one of policy and not of identity, can there be any doubt that Bernie Sanders is the real feminist in this race?"
As Secretary of State, Clinton was stunningly silent on the widespread abuse of women's rights in U.S. supported regimes like Saudi Arabia, and put U.S. corporate interests squarely ahead of questions of women's and human rights. Bloomberg Businessweek noted approvingly that "Clinton turned the State Department into a machine for promoting U.S. business," and sought "to install herself as the government's highest-ranking business lobbyist."
As has been noted by many, one of Hillary Clinton's legacies as Senator and Secretary of State is as a foreign policy hawk. This is revealed not only in her support for the war in Iraq, but also the bombing of Libya, and her disastrous role in the bloodbath in Syria. And war, of course, has a particularly brutal and devastating impact on women.
Her support for NAFTA and later TPP (which of course she's done an election-campaign backflip on), again underlines her willingness to sell out working people, not least of all working women who have been deeply affected by corporate trade deals.
Sanders, in contrast, has been a consistent advocate of reproductive rights, and a leading opponent of Clinton's welfare "reform," NAFTA, and TPP...........................
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kshama-sawant/bernie-vs-hillary-whats-a-feminist_b_9367996.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
group, These people are anti reproductive rights and fundies of high order. There was a good OP the other day on this with the links to the Mother Jone article as well as other reference. So now it begs the Question, "Is Hillary really pro women or not?" I'm thinking that based on her past and present actions the answer is not . God damn this is going to bite me in the ass.....
I turned 42 in 2000, My engineers license # is all 4's and 2's and I found a ten dollar bill that's all 4's and 2's..... do you think the dolphins are trying to tell me something? or have I've been on DU to long? 
