Oops! She Did it Again: An Open Letter to Gloria Steinem

[ProSense]

Keli Goff

Oops! She Did it Again: An Open Letter to Gloria Steinem

Posted January 10, 2008

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And yet "Oops She Did it Again" seems to be the perfect phrase to describe Gloria Steinem's recent New York Times Op-ed titled, "Women are Never Frontrunners."

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The primary question posed by Ms. Steinem is this:

Could a half-African, half-white woman with only a few years of experience in the United States Senate and two small children be considered a viable candidate for the presidency? The answer is obvious to Ms. Steinem. Absolutely not. Her gender would make it impossible. Ms. Steinem uses this hypothetical assessment as the springboard to opine at length about the inherent unfairness in the fact that a female version of Barack Obama would never have enjoyed the meteoric rise that he has. The moment I read this overly simplistic analysis, I knew that we were in for a bumpy ride.

To be clear, I agree with Ms. Steinem's fundamental point. She is right that a hypothetical female candidate with Mr. Obama's story and credentials might not be considered as viable a candidate. But I would argue that this is not simply because she is a woman, but because she is a black woman.

A new report out by Catalyst notes that white women in corporate America not only out-earn, their African-American female counterparts, but ascend higher and faster, in greater numbers than black women--numbers that cannot simply be accounted for in terms of population demographics.

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So while I have great respect for Ms. Steinem, her Op-ed demonstrated an extraordinary level of naivete regarding the differences between the black experience in America and the white female experience; a level of naivete that only a white woman of privilege could. For instance, she notes that black men received the right to vote before white women. What she forgets to mention is that for decades many of those black men could not actually exercise that right because attempting to do so could result in death--and did many times.

Ms. Steinem writes, "I'm not advocating a competition for who has it toughest." That's good. She shouldn't. Because there is no competition. Speaking as someone who has both ovaries, and a God-given tan, I can personally tell Ms. Steinem that she has no idea just how tough it can be.

While I was disappointed by her Op-ed, I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. The feminist movement wasn't particularly known for its multi-cultural paradigm, and "Women are Never Frontrunners," was merely a continuation of a limited perspective.

What can I say? Besides simply, "Oops they did it again."

Response to Steinem

In 2008 Vote, Ladies First: 'Because I Said So'