The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuit

[NewHampster]

The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuit
by goldberry
Sun Nov 18, 2007 at 09:58:02 AM EST

There I was on Thursday night, letting my Sandstone Pearl toenails dry while I reread one of Rebecca Wells Ya-ya books and trying to decide whether to watch Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment on the DVD, when I heard a familiar word coming from the background noise of the Democratic Presidential Debate that I use to relax.

"Campbell", it said.

Hmmm, there was something very knowing and mysterious about that voice. So, I backed up the DVR and replayed it.

There was Hillary Clinton in her light gray tweedy jacket and asbestos pants (and great makeup, by the way) gently chiding the gravid Campbell Brown.

And it suddenly occurred to me: Karl Rove must be sweating big time. It will be so much harder to suppress the female voters than the African-American voters. Someone might notice.

At daily kos The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuit

[MADem]

1. That's a rather amusing take--and there's a few serious points in there, as well.

No, just because every woman can remember some time in her life when she was given a little less attention than the boys in math class or got less praise than Raymond C. Persic in Organic Chemistry (Nyah-Nyah, scored higher than you on the ACS exam), that doesn't mean anything.

Or all of the times when our ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands called us "bitch" and "c$^t" when we dared to assert our rights. Or the times that our bosses gave the one raise in the department to a guy with a newborn- year after year after year, there's no reason to think we might want to level the playing field.

Or the fathers who preferred our brother's company after we became adolescents. Or all of the family members who told us we could never succeed in science or medicine or law because we were the first in our families to want to go to college and it was too much money to spend on a girl who was probably going to get married anyway, perish the thought of righteous indignation.

Or the husbands who questioned our expenses, by saying, "What did you spend your allowance on anyway?!" (You women my mother's age know what I'm talking about.) Or just because of the men who said, "*I* make the money, I make the rules!", we are not looking for a champion.

[emilyg]

4. I remember.

[aquart]

2. Using the Democratic Debate to relax? LOL!

[glowing]

3. Here's my take on the women's movement and being completely

screwed:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2304794&mesg_id=2307828

Its time to break down the wall and realize we are all humans, and we all deserve decent wages and time with our families, without stepping all over each other to get to the top.

I don't think a woman who worked to push a Walmart agenda (which works very hard to discriminate women) and a woman who has worked to push globalization at the expense of poorer women becoming subjected to slave labor and the sex trade is the woman I want representing me.

[pnwmom]

5. That's a nice, idealistic thought, but the fact is

that each member of the married couple is screwed when the wife's salary is artifically lowered simply because she is a woman -- and this is still happening to millions of women in many industries across the country. My sister filed a claim with the Equal Opportunity Commission and she and all the other women in her department ended up with huge raises -- which still didn't make up for all the years they had been denied raises, promotions, etc., just on account of their gender.

Gender discrimation is real and ongoing, and involves male supervisors giving preferential treatment to other men. We can't wish that fact away or pretend that everything's already equal -- we need to keep working to stop it.

[glowing]

7. No, we need to work together. The whole family is getting screwed.

80 + hrs out of the home for both couples makes a strained marriage and leaves strangers making barely above minimum wage raising our children. When a movement arises, one must look at who is funding it and who benefits. Corporations benefited from having cheaper labor. The US govt benefited by charging more taxes. Social Security benefited (which they continue to rob) becasue once the male dies, the woman can choose to pick her spouses benefits... She doesn't get hers and his. What has this brought for us? Abused children with ADD problems, divorce, more financial obligations, and more money and profit for the war machine. Its not about building walls, its about building bridges. If you can't see this, then you should vote for Hillary, because you certainly aren't ready for Dennis.

[pnwmom]

9. If Kucinich doesn't recognize the reality of gender discrimination

and the need for the government to make sure that women have equal opportunity and PAY as men, then NO ONE should vote for him.

But somehow, I believe that he does.

[pnwmom]

6. I LOVED that column! Thanks so much. But you left out a key point:

I agree with the writer. I wouldn't put it past the Rethugs at all to try to suppress women's vote FROM NOW ON, whether the candidate is Hillary or any other Democrat -- since the party is tilted toward women. We saw this happen with African-Americans. Can we trust him not to try it with women? By the time there was a backlash, it would be too late.

So the advice in the article is important.

"BTW, sisters, make sure you update your social security cards, driver's licenses and voter registration ID to be consistent before going to vote. Karl's not finished yet.

"Updated: I'm really serious about the ID.

"This could be the very reason we are turned away at the voting booth. Don't wait until the month before. Get all your notarized divorce papers in order and make sure the IRS, Social Security office, driver's licenses and the voter's registration office all have the same name for the same person.

"For all we know, they are purging the databases as we speak, looking specifically at name mismatches."

[NewHampster]

8. Seriously

this is important

[pnwmom]

10. I'm going to talk to both my daughter and my sister, since their names

and/or addresses have changed within the last five years. And I'm going to send a mass email. I never do that, but it makes sense in this case.

[NewHampster]

11. This is a must read especially for women

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Beacool]

12. I remember!!!

I also remember being a pretty naive teenager politely saying "no, thank you" to a boy who asked me to dance and he responding "are you a lesbian?". The words shocked and stung, just as much as the many sexist comments that I (and almost every woman I know) have received at one time or another over the years.

Don't get me wrong, most of us chicks love men, but like the saying goes: you have to kiss a lot of frogs.....

Would I vote for Hillary if she were a Republican? Hell, no!!!!

But my chest fills with pride and my heart sings with joy at the prospect of having a first woman president.

[NewHampster]

13. and as my people say Never Forget

But my chest fills with pride and my heart sings with joy at the prospect of having a first woman president.

Excellent!