The deep divide in Feminism exposed by the Democratic Primary

[cali]

<snip>

“It was a chick question,” Pernold told the Guardian from the same cafe. “I wanted to know how she did it.”

But the woman who made Clinton cry is undecided in 2016, reflecting a presidential race that has veered from a focus on the “highest glass ceiling” toward an insurgency: Clinton is once again braced for a loss in New Hampshire, where she trails Bernie Sanders, the septuagenarian democratic socialist from next-door Vermont, by nearly 13 points.

Perhaps more worrisome for the road ahead: at a time when more women than ever identify as feminists, Clinton is having trouble persuading women – especially young women – to rally behind her. And now it appears her candidacy has exposed very public fault lines in the modern feminist movement, as Gloria Steinem was forced to apologize over the weekend for saying “boys are with Bernie” and that “young women aren’t serious in their politics”.

Intimate interviews over the past week with 31 Democratic-leaning New Hampshire women, all of whom said they planned to vote in Tuesday’s primary, revealed a passionate divide over the complex and fractured legacy of the woman better poised than anyone in history to become the first female president.

Ranging from a juice bar packed with Clinton fans meeting Steinem to the living room of an Occupy Wall Street activist working for Sanders, the in-depth conversations were declarative (“I’m not voting with my uterus”) and defiant (“this is her time”) but very much in discord (“I want to see a female president before I die”).

<snip>
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/08/hillary-clinton-new-hampshire-women-bernie-sanders-female-voter-interviews

[get the red out]

1. JMO

It's somewhat sexist to believe that Democratic women, as a "voting block", will make their decision based solely on gender. Can we be given some credit for thinking about ISSUES just a little bit, no matter which candidate each of us supports?

[LWolf]

2. I want to see a female president before I die.

Not Hillary Rodham Clinton.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. I have been surprised that so few know about Steimen's anti transgender biases and rhetoric

If I was a politician getting her endorsement I would take the time to point out that I do not agree with her about transgender people. She's not a great endorsement when you look at her intolerant attitudes.