Sexism v. Racism Pt. 2

'Look What They've Done To Her' - E.J. Dionne Jr. @ Washington Post

Apparently I'm on a bit of a sexist rant today as the stance female supporters of Sen. Clinton have taken completely ignores both what Sen. Clinton has done to electoral politics but also the greater achievement of putting the first black man in the office of the President. Not fifty years after the Civil Rights movement and America has the chance to elect a black president but because some white women are so focused on their own issues we might lose that opportunity. And for who? Sen. Hillary Clinton, the woman who smeared other women who accused her husband of sexual harassment, the woman who played up the race card in states like West Virgina and Kentucky, the woman who will do more to harm the cause of women just for the sake of her own ambition. And who is she doing this against? A black member of her own party, not the old white guy from the other party. Whenever I hear white women complaining about how the media has treated Sen. Clinton I have to remember that: a) the mainstream media is a joke; and b) Sen. Clinton seems more than willing to destroy our chance to have a real world-historical moment by voting a black man into the most powerful office in Western history. To argue that electing Sen. Clinton would be a first for women everywhere completely ignores the likes of Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Thatcher; two women who have and had control over two of the most powerful economies in the world. And it just pisses me off that white women in America are so willing to ignore that for Sen. Clinton.

Sexism v. Racism

Limits and Ambitions - Ann @ Feministing

See, I knew Ruth Marcus was full of it when she wrote her op-ed on the 'ambition gap' between men and women in politics. The whole piece just didn't feel right in the sense that I knew there were other, more legitimate explanations than simply that women were not as ambitious as men. But Ann from Feministing nails down what it was that troubled me. Even so, Ann brings up another point that I find troubling: the idea that sexism is just as bad as racism. Yes, I will agree that sexism is bad, particularly in today's media and most of the more serious problems in organized religion come from religious leader's attempts to control sex through women. But, if I recall my American history correctly, 700,000 American lives were not spent on getting women the right to vote. Nor did white American women in the 20th century have to worry about getting lynched among other things. If you want to make the case that sexism is as bad as racism then you have to take it out of a 21st century American context and look at all of world history. But comparing American sexism to American racism not only mitigates the plight not just of blacks but of any minority in America but also overstates the plight of white women in America. Yes, rape and sexual harrassment and abuse are terrible things. But to say that it's worse than what blacks in America have had to go through ignores black history. Of course this comes from a white male third-wave feminist perspective, so take it with as big a grain of salt as you'd like.

A Sweet Rebuttal

Adrienne wrote in with a woman's take on Sen. Obama's usage of the word 'sweetie' that runs counter to my argument. She writes:

Now, granted, I'll give him the "it's just a bad habit" excuse, but that means he needs to make an active effort to stop saying sweetie in the future.
Here's a simple rubric, from my perspective: "dear" or "sweetie" or anything similar is okay and innocuous when it comes from a) a relative; b) a good friend; c) a fabulous gay man; or d) a man over the age of 65.
Coming from any other man, especially in a formal or professional context, it is grating, condescending, and really quite obnoxious, even if he doesn't necessarily mean it that way. But the effect is to minimize what you're trying to say, because you're a woman.
I know this is one of those things that gets feminists branded as humorless, but fuck it all. This isn't like holding a door open, which is common courtesy. This is more akin to catcalling or something--being treated w/ disrespect because you're a woman.

I still think it was an innocent enough phrase, or alternatively, used specifically to appeal to Mid-Western white attitudes. A word like "sweetie" is certainly something that a lot of white men in middle America will identify with. Even so, Adrienne does have a point (damn her eyes) about it's usage in a professional sense.

Sweetie and the Silly Season

So Sen. Obama off-handedly calls a reporter "sweetie" when telling her to wait a moment to answer a question, which he ended up not answering at all. To add to that, the senator has called other women sweetie at times. Now it doesn't appear as if the reporter in question is all that terribly upset, but the rest of the media is kicking the story around for some reason.
Honestly, I don't know why this momentary event required Sen. Obama to issue an apology. On one level there is a degree of sexism you can read into the comment. But on an entirely other level is the everyday mannerisms of a mid-western man showing his respect and acknowledgment of the reporter's gender. Now I've been known to call some of my female friends "dear" on occasion, particularly when I'm trying to get a point across. It's one part use of ethos and one part being from Dallas that directs me to the word "dear" versus "sweetie" but the intention is the same.
I don't believe that the comment was intended as any form of slander or to demean the reporter. If Sen. Obama wishes to apologize for it then that is his business. And if the reporter has taken offense to the comment then I can understand that as well. I one time called a female friend "dear" and was sharply rebuked for it, but only because she didn't get what I meant by the term. That reaction is a sort of knee-jerk feminism. However, it isn't the same as calling a black man "boy" or black people "those people". Terms such as those still carry with them the derision and racism of the past. So, while the furor over the comment is partially reasonable from certain perspectives, I don't think Sen. Obama was being anything but polite.