Feministing's Jessica Valenti has a piece in the Nation about feminist infighting between supporters of Hillary Clinton and supporters of Barack Obama. More specifically, she focuses on mainstream feminists who believe that supporting Obama instead of Clinton is a betrayal of feminism. Valenti vigorously disagrees, and so do I. By all means, check out her piece, but here is a choice excerpt:
We know that Clinton supporters are taking heat from sexists ... We also know how hard our feminist foremothers fought to be here and how important the moment is -- and we want to be a part of it. I certainly do. But not at the expense of what I believe is best for women, and not just because a movement that assumes it knows what's best for me tells me to.
No matter what Clinton's fate, feminist election tensions will start to fade -- but we shouldn't let them, no matter how many calls for solidarity are issued by movement leaders. Instead of the group hug approach, let's focus on tangible goals: fostering youth leadership, working from the margins in and using intersectionality as our lens -- instead of just a talking point. Let's use this moment, when our politics and emotions are raw, to push for a better, more forward-looking feminism.
Shares