Yes, the title was stolen from the movie Mean Girls. Yes, I realize that the line was uttered by none other than Tina Fey herself. Yes, I realize the supreme irony here.
[Breathing deeply, in and out, count to 5, then do Downward-Facing Dog.]
As a feminist, and someone whom my rather racist and sexist uncle referred to as "Stephanie Steinem" to anyone that would listen, I am struggling with all this media punditry suggesting that men know what women think, what women want, or who women are.
It is true that I hit Palin Overload about a week ago, but this isn't necessarily about that. Sarah Palin scares the bejesus out of me in ways large and small, but she seems to have that affect on most liberals/moderates/people with more than one brain cell, male and female alike. This is about lumping all women together (or separating us by "class") for polling purposes, which makes me feel like a goddamned statistic. I'm not a statistic, thank you very much - I'm a voter!
I was reading an article today about the Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch failings, via HuffPo, at the Wall Street Journal. Now, the WSJ being what it is, I'm not usually inclined to read anything that they print (or post on their website - same difference these days). But I saw a link from that story to one that piqued my curiosity because of its title:
Palin Stokes Class War Among Women
The article is written by some dude named Peter A. Brown, and I have never heard of him before. Not that it matters or anything, but I can't find him in Wikipedia, and I can't seem to find anything else about him on Google. I think that's pretty strange, and I have to wonder why. I can only find what the WSJ says about him, which I don't exactly trust. But I guess he does polls. He's also most likely conservative, as evidenced by the tone of his stupidity.
My first initial response to the title of the article was to go, "Oh, fuck you, man." But then I read it, which I should never have done because it woke up my weeks-away PMS, and it made my blood boil. He starts out with this little gem of a sentence:
The presidential campaign has turned into a high-profile version of the mommy wars.
Huh. Interesting, because I'm fairly certain that a lot of female voters are not mothers. I immediately thought, "This is one of the guys who was trying to provoke a Hillary/Barack war with the PUMAs at the DNC." Also, interestingly, I thought about what is commonly referred to as the mommy drive-by. The essence of the mommy drive-by is best explained by this article that says: "We’ve all experienced it at one time or another: The Mommy Drive-By. When a someone — a relative, another mom, a total stranger — takes it upon herself to question your judgment or criticize your parenting." So it was communicated to me: Governor Palin is a genius. If you don't think so, then you're a bad parent. Thanks, Peter.
He goes on to (boneheadedly) state:
(But) it goes much, much further. It involves lifestyle and cultural differences that have made women’s reactions to Gov. Palin’s vice presidential candidacy something of a Rorschach test.
The traditional women’s groups and Democratic-aligned women are understandably worried that if she is elected, the face of American feminism will be a gun-toting, sexual abstinence-teaching, abortion-opposing Wal-Mart shopper.
She doesn’t eat sushi like they do, but she does catch salmon.
This election will go a long way toward settling the question of whether groups that purport to speak for American women really do, or merely represent a narrow band of those who tend to be politically active, upper-middle-class and left-leaning.
I only eat California rolls, asshole. And given that the Democrat to Republican ratio in this country is huge and only getting wider, I find that whole "narrow band" comment rather funny.
OK, I can only handle commenting on one more snippet because I can feel my blood pressure rising as I type this.
If Gov. Palin becomes Vice President Palin, the clearly political National Organization for Women, the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood, as well as a host of other officially nonpolitical but left-leaning women’s groups, have a problem.
How could such groups and their political allies claim to speak for American women when the country’s highest-profile female politician represents everything they don’t?
(snip)
What is most ironic is that upper-middle-class white women, historically those most supportive of feminist causes and candidates, have been the most negative about Gov. Palin. Many of these women are personally offended by her selection, fearing it could redefine feminism in ways they would find unacceptable.
Duh, Peter. Even Homer Simpson knows that. While Brown's logic is faulty throughout the entire article, this is the part that pisses me off most of all. Who the hell are YOU, Mr. Brown, to tell me what feminism means to me? Who the hell are YOU to define what it means to be a liberal female? Who are hell are YOU to decide that we are all rich, educated white women?
So, in conclusion, I am upset about the following things:
- Peter Brown seems to want to tell me not only what to do (or not to do) with my body, but also how to think.
- Peter Brown apparently thinks that all liberal females are white, rich, and educated.
- Peter Brown would very much like to start a "class" war, because then his boy McCain can not talk about the issues summore.
- Peter Brown and the Wall Street Journal suck rocks.