The current spiel around some Hillary Clinton supporters (perhaps it was there all along) is that anyone who doesn't vote for Hillary is a sexist misogynist. Blogs have been posted from women who write that they experienced tears of joy when they found themselves in a voting booth with a real opportunity to vote for a woman to be a candidate for president of the United States.
I heard Carol Gilligan, a gender studies scholar and professor of psychology at New York University, on National Public Radio say that Hillary hate is part and parcel of a paternalistic society where women are encouraged to tear each other down. She likened it to 7th grade girls who ostracize any girl who stands out from the pack, dresses unconventionally, is smarter, or otherwise different in some way. She said that we're doing this now to Hillary.
To me, there's no contest between Senator Obama and Senator Clinton as to who is the stronger candidate. My choice is not Hillary Clinton, but I find myself agonizing over whether I'm putting women and the women's movement back by not voting for Hillary. And while I agonize I find myself moving towards outright Hillary hate and wonder whether I could even support her in the general election should she be nominated.
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