A lot of the women that I saw who said they voted for McCain did so due to abortion and the heavily misguided idea that Obama supports "baby killing". They don't understand the medical necessities or actual statistics for "late term" or "partial birth" abortions...and they tend to say things like "you shouldn't be able to use abortion as birth control!"
Apparently they believe in some mythical creature called Deliberately Getting Pregnant Just to Terminate that uses abortion as either birth control or a very time consuming way to kill a viable fetus for kicks...not to mention being in collusion with another breed of mythical creature called Doctors Who Want to Kill Babies.
I'm really sad that white women voted that way because UGH. Palin makes my uterus die every time she opens her mouth.
@tiredfairy: Kind of off topic, but that whole argument about using abortion as birth control was one that was used by the chaplain at the highschool I went too. I was always so WTF when he brought it up and the scary bit was most of the kids in the class agreed with him and would get uncomfortable when I called bullshit.
@BluebellaElliot: I went to the same kind of straight-line "Christian" high school (in Arkansas, no less). We were told not only that same thing, we had segregated "sex ed" (and I use that term loosely, since I didn't feel very enlightened by any of it), where we were also told that we were, under no circumstances, to go dancing with a boy, since that automatically leads to pregnancy. (That was my WTF? moment #1)
They also told us we must *never* sit on a boy's lap, but if for some Godforsaken reason we had absolutely no choice, TO PUT A PHONE BOOK ON HIS LAP FIRST AND SIT ON THE PHONE BOOK. (WTF? moment #2)
This explains why I ceased attending services twenty years ago. And voted for Obama.
@Callisto: Okaaaaaay then. At least I had a few years of open and informative public school sex ed before my Anglican high school took all the darn fun of it! The thing is, abortion, STD's, gay marriage and all those 'controversial' issues came up in 'Christian Living' classes, not sex ed, so you can imagine the spin they would put on all these things. I honestly thought I wasn't alone in my 'WTF/yeah right' attitude but the kids totally bought into it and it truly freaked me the fuck out.
But back to your story: WOW. Were you just laughing the entire time because I would have.
I know a lot of women who voted for McCain and almost all of them are evangelical christians who liked Sarah Palin because she was "just like them."
The stern fatherly McCain paired with a subordinate female mother figure slots right into the way they think the world ought to be. The believe deep down in their hearts, that women are truly supposed to be mothers and men are supposed to be in charge.
@Callisto: You live in Oklahoma? I'm sorry. I live in a state that borders it and drives me batshit crazy, especially when my state is one of only three that went more Republican compared to 2004.
I will take my thank you in the form of a brownie sundae.
The day of the election I stopped to get some fast food (I know it's bad for me) and the workers were discussing the election. Both were hispanic women around my age, 35-40. They were considering voting for McCain. It was all I could do to not ask them if they were insane.
@jessicarabbit: Agreed! It really makes me lose my Hope glow when I see all the lists being floated that consist of mostly men. I will be SERIOUSLY disappointed in Obama if we end up with mostly men in his cabinet. That would most definitely not be Change.
@PurplePurple voted for Obama: My uncertainty about where women will be in his personal advisement team and in his cabinet was the hardest thing to overcome when I voted for him.
Let me be clear: I don't think that combating sexism and racism is a zero-sum game.
But I guess I will term this Administration a woman-friendly one when I see it enacting women-friendly policies. And yeah, I have a high skepticism even of Obama, because I detect a certain eagerness to deny the existence of sexism - all this "glass-ceiling has been cracked" stuff - in this culture. Even among young, progressive men! If anything, young progressive men tend to worry me the most, because they tend to think of themselves as wholly immune from sexist words and actions.
@PilgrimSoul: I agree, I think. I will call this a victory for women when I see what Obama does when he gets into office. My hopes, however, are high, so there's that.
I think a more accurate title for this article ould be "Obama is a victory BY women." I think it's important for woman to realize what their votes and efforts can accomplish.
I hope Obama remembers this and does a few things when he gets in office immediately: 1. Repeal the global gag rule 2. Appoint an HHS Secretary who will restore affordable birth control pricing and repeal the conscience clause rules that are sure to be announced any day now by Bush 3. Appoint an FDA head who will expand over the counter EC access for all women, not just those over 18
@TheGuvnah: Our American history professor mentioned today how interesting it will be to see what demands will be made by the "minorities" who propelled Obama into office, and how he will meet them.
He used the example of a asking for a presidential apology for slavery, and I couldn't get over how weird it would be to see a biracial man do that.
@haguenite: How did other presidents respond to the demands of any group that help them get elected? As a minority I don't want an apology for slavery. I do want it addressed in textbooks and classrooms just like I want the killing of Native Americans and other marginilized groups addressed.
I think at this point in American history that most black people are in fact mixed with other ethnicities.
@SarahMC: Huh... Odd. The prof also compared what happened this election season to the abolitionist movement and the emancipation of African Americans A LOT and there were a crazy amount of similarities.
@CreoleSugar: He didn't talk about that. I should really ask him about it next week.
If you have any money to spare, you might want to look into buying The Enduring Vision: A history of the American People. It's a monster of a book (almost 1000 pages in the abridged version, but it has pictures!) exactly because it discusses American history in a well-rounded manner. It talks about exactly how each treaty and war affected each native tribe, how women were involved in the makings of history, what happened to all the minorities etc. It's a pain to get through it all (well, it is if you're behind 600 pages, like I am), but I think it's a really great book.
Too expensive for most schools, probably. I paid 53 euros for my copy.
@haguenite: Another great author of books that defy the "master narrative" (read: white colonial patriarchy) is Ron Tataki. Bad-ass 80 year old Japanese dude who taught the first Black Studies class at UCLA ever.
@TastyBites: Read this for some reassurance. Basically the gist of it is that although marriage equality supporters lost a battle on Tuesday, demographics alone (younger voters are sharply in favor; it was older folks who got Prop 8 through) show that we will eventually win the war. It's awful for Californians and others who continue to have to wait to marry, but the trend of tolerance overall is in the right direction.
@Princess Leela: Yeah, it does suck. But I am hopeful about the appealing of the decision by the ACLU, among other wonderful groups.
And hey, don't look at me...all my white sistas voted for Obama. Except for the one who moved back to Texas and "changed her mind" about her political orientation.
"Sad news today: the last of that rare breed, the P.U.M.A., has died off in captivity... her last words were 'But Sarah Palin was on the ticket... Sarah Palin...'."
@NefariousNewt, Serving at the Pleasure of the President-Ele...: "Ms. Palin tried to resuscitate the P.U.M.A. by throwing a fake Louis Vuitton bag at it, but to no avail. The P.U.M.A. is survived by by her husband, T.I.G.E.R. - Tired Irrational Guy Emphatically Republican.
11/06/08
Apparently they believe in some mythical creature called Deliberately Getting Pregnant Just to Terminate that uses abortion as either birth control or a very time consuming way to kill a viable fetus for kicks...not to mention being in collusion with another breed of mythical creature called Doctors Who Want to Kill Babies.
I'm really sad that white women voted that way because UGH. Palin makes my uterus die every time she opens her mouth.
11/06/08
11/07/08
They also told us we must *never* sit on a boy's lap, but if for some Godforsaken reason we had absolutely no choice, TO PUT A PHONE BOOK ON HIS LAP FIRST AND SIT ON THE PHONE BOOK. (WTF? moment #2)
This explains why I ceased attending services twenty years ago. And voted for Obama.
11/07/08
But back to your story: WOW. Were you just laughing the entire time because I would have.
11/06/08
11/06/08
Sigh.
If I find any of those other 52% though, I'll bring em to you for a good smackin'.
11/06/08
11/06/08
Hell yes!
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
The stern fatherly McCain paired with a subordinate female mother figure slots right into the way they think the world ought to be. The believe deep down in their hearts, that women are truly supposed to be mothers and men are supposed to be in charge.
11/07/08
11/07/08
11/06/08
The day of the election I stopped to get some fast food (I know it's bad for me) and the workers were discussing the election. Both were hispanic women around my age, 35-40. They were considering voting for McCain.
It was all I could do to not ask them if they were insane.
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
I'm trying to keep my Hope glow, too.
11/06/08
And dauntless crusaders for woman's votes,
Though we adore men individually
We agree that as a group they're rather stupid.
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
LOVE THIS SONG.
11/06/08
Let me be clear: I don't think that combating sexism and racism is a zero-sum game.
But I guess I will term this Administration a woman-friendly one when I see it enacting women-friendly policies. And yeah, I have a high skepticism even of Obama, because I detect a certain eagerness to deny the existence of sexism - all this "glass-ceiling has been cracked" stuff - in this culture. Even among young, progressive men! If anything, young progressive men tend to worry me the most, because they tend to think of themselves as wholly immune from sexist words and actions.
11/06/08
I think a more accurate title for this article ould be "Obama is a victory BY women." I think it's important for woman to realize what their votes and efforts can accomplish.
11/06/08
1. Repeal the global gag rule
2. Appoint an HHS Secretary who will restore affordable birth control pricing and repeal the conscience clause rules that are sure to be announced any day now by Bush
3. Appoint an FDA head who will expand over the counter EC access for all women, not just those over 18
11/06/08
11/06/08
He used the example of a asking for a presidential apology for slavery, and I couldn't get over how weird it would be to see a biracial man do that.
11/06/08
11/06/08
As a minority I don't want an apology for slavery. I do want it addressed in textbooks and classrooms just like I want the killing of Native Americans and other marginilized groups addressed.
I think at this point in American history that most black people are in fact mixed with other ethnicities.
11/06/08
@CreoleSugar: He didn't talk about that. I should really ask him about it next week.
If you have any money to spare, you might want to look into buying The Enduring Vision: A history of the American People. It's a monster of a book (almost 1000 pages in the abridged version, but it has pictures!) exactly because it discusses American history in a well-rounded manner. It talks about exactly how each treaty and war affected each native tribe, how women were involved in the makings of history, what happened to all the minorities etc. It's a pain to get through it all (well, it is if you're behind 600 pages, like I am), but I think it's a really great book.
Too expensive for most schools, probably. I paid 53 euros for my copy.
11/06/08
11/06/08
What I'd like to see is that kids get this information in elementary, jr. high and high school.
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
And hey, don't look at me...all my white sistas voted for Obama. Except for the one who moved back to Texas and "changed her mind" about her political orientation.
11/06/08
11/06/08
11/06/08
This is a HUGE win for women. I am also relieved that I won't have to smuggle in birth control or make my own IUD out of papier mache and twigs.
11/06/08
11/06/08