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Friday, Jul 10, 2009
What this dust-up is really all about is politics -- in particular, Obama's racial teflon. It's hard to believe that Steinem really believes that women are worse off than black men (which is what saying they are more "restricted" really means). Her real animus seems to be the same thing that drives Clinton supporters crazy: that the black Obama is treated with reverence, while the female Clinton is fodder for gossip, penny-ante psychoanalyzing, schadenfreude, projection and every other high- and low-class reaction under the patriarchal sun. To Steinem, this proves that sexism is a more pernicious force in American society than racism.
Steinem's right that gender clichés and biases play a role in the criticism directed against Clinton. And she's also right that Obama has gotten a free pass because of his race. But she draws the wrong conclusions from these things.
First, she ignores the fact that the biggest problem many Democrats have with Clinton is not the fact that she's a woman, but that she voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Had Clinton not voted for the Iraq war (and let's be real, that's what that vote meant), she would be a shoo-in. In fact, it is widely believed that Clinton cast her fateful vote because she calculated that, being a woman, she needed to appear even more "tough on national security" than her male Democratic colleagues (most of whom, of course, also voted for the war).
This casts the whole gender-bias issue in a much more complex light. It isn't Democrats who are troubled by Clinton being a woman -- it was Clinton who was worried by what she perceived to be the political baggage that came with her gender. For those of us sympathetic to Clinton, this is painfully ironic. In fact, I suspect that many Democratic voters who are on the fence -- and I count myself in that camp, and haven't written Edwards off either -- are prepared to consider supporting Clinton despite her Iraq vote because they believe that didn't really support the war, but felt she had to make up for her perceived "weakness" as a woman by voting for it. These voters hope that if elected she will tear off the tough-guy mask and emerge as who she really is. In other words, the hope that Clinton is actually a stealth "woman" -- that is, not addicted to military solutions and favoring diplomacy -- is the best thing she has going for her now.
Of course, there's a reason Clinton felt she had to act tough (or "male"), and that reason is the sexist cliché that women are too soft to lead a nation, especially during a time of war. But that cliché may be less powerful than many think -- and in any case, Clinton didn't have to go along with it. By aiming at the general election, she played it unnecessarily safe. A 2007 Pew Poll found that although a significant gender gap in support for female candidates still exists, Democrats -- men and women alike -- are prepared to vote for qualified female candidates. Indeed, in 40 Senate and gubernatorial races since 1998, female Democrats got 4 percent more votes than male Democrats when both were running against male Republicans. And a 2007 Gallup poll found that 88 percent of Americans said they would vote for a well-qualified woman candidate for president. Clinton didn't need to tilt so far to the masculine right.
Steinem also draws the wrong conclusions from Obama's free pass by the media. The fact that Obama is being treated with kid gloves shows not that racism is less potent than sexism, but that racism remains a much more radioactive force in American society. Politeness is a sign of ignorance, distance and fear. The mostly white commentariat feels freer to attack Clinton, a white woman, than it does Obama in part because he doesn't have as long a track record, but mostly because most white people dread being perceived as racist. It's good that white people don't want to be seen as racist, but their wariness about criticizing him shows that America still has a long way to go.
Obama himself has avoided tangling with the media by running on an inspirational message of hope and unity. But that message, as his critics point out, can veer into the ethereal. Obama is caught in a dilemma similar to that Clinton faces, but he has even less room to maneuver. If he gets tough, he risks being seen as "too black," a perception that would doom his bid; if he floats above the fray, he invites criticism as being a fairy tale, all style and no substance.
Obama is not going to change his lofty message until he gets into the White House, if he does -- because doing so is too risky. But it would be healthier for race relations if he did. Symbolic absolution is good, but getting down and dirty is better. Indeed, one of the best things about an Obama presidency would be that it would usher in an era in which blacks and whites would be forced to drop the politeness act and get real. You don't have equality until everyone gets their fair share of abuse. One of Vince Lombardi's black players once said, "He treats us all alike -- like dogs." This is a desirable state.
Next page: Will John McCain be laughing in the end?
