Call. It. Out. Again, and again, and again, invariably and unwearyingly. CALL IT OUT!

[TygrBright]

Unbelievable MTP misogyny. "Nana Clinton?" Do they even hear themselves? A rant.

This one's a two-fer!

Sexism PLUS ageism.

Of course, this is a combo all of us "invisible women" (On the Invisibility of Middle-Aged Women) are all too familiar with.

I am looking ahead, to a Clinton victory. I refuse to consider the alternative. (Denial CAN be a good thing, sometimes...)

And I am looking back, at the past eight years of an Obama presidency, and what it foreshadows for a Hillary Clinton presidency.

First, an admission: While I never, ever bought into the whole "post-racism" bullshit, I really DID think, back in 2008, that America's progress in dealing with racism was more substantial than subsequent events revealed. It's one of the costs that come with white privilege. No matter how good our intentions are, white privilege allows us to take breaks, to accept the hopeful narratives rooted in our privilege with less critical scrutiny, to selectively focus on what we want to see.

Black people know otherwise. Black voices were there, quietly trying to prepare us for what they knew was coming. Black experience was unsurprised by the post-election explosion of unvarnished, virulent, racist backlash.

It has been a painfully expensive eight years for black Americans, faced with the surging manifestations of bigotry, hate, and discrimination. But black people and allies worked to turn that costly experience into an extended "teaching moment" for all of us, making lemonade from a harvest of unspeakable bitterness by their determination to use the power of the spotlight.

I salute and admire those who have provided an example for American women facing the vilely misogynistic backlash to come:

Call it out.

Call it out, without wearying.

Call it out, every time.

Call it out, again and again, and again.

Call it out, the big manifestations.

Call it out, the small manifestations.

Call it out, EVERY TIME.

Call it out, in the face of being dismissed as "angry, strident, shrill" and all the other epithets.

Call it out, in the face of danger, assault, doxing, rape threats, death threats, denial, hate.

Call it out.

Call it what it is: Misogyny, sexism, bigotry.

Call it out, to the point where even if they don't give a rat's ass about the reality of the issue, they get so damn' tired of being called on it that they start to think before they act or publish or speak misogyny.

Yes, sure, there'll be a whole new crop of contemptuous dog whistles. They'll find all the creative ways to justify their sexism that they've already used to justify their racism, and more.

This fight won't be won in weeks or months or years, there's millenia of patriarchal misogyny baked into every aspect of our culture, economy, and our institutions.

I'll get tired, I know.

I'll want to let it slide, sometimes, just because the fight is so damn' wearisome.

But I have your example to inspire me, black America. I have my children and grandchildren's experience to anticipate. I have a lifetime of being told "girls can't" to burn for energy.

So I will CALL IT OUT.

unflinchingly,
Bright