Gloria Steinem: Young women support Sanders to attract men

[Gman]

Feminist activist Gloria Steinem on Friday suggested that young women support Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders over rival Hillary Clinton because they want to meet boys.

On HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Maher asked Steinem why Clinton, who has campaigned on the historic nature of her candidacy, was losing the young female vote.

don’t mean to over-generalize … but men tend to get more conservative because they gain power as they age, and women get more radical because they lose power as they age,” Steinem responded.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/dem-primaries/268498-gloria-steinem-young-women-support-sanders-to-attract-men#

Calling them out. Somebody has to say it.

[LemmingWarrior]

1. Artful Smear

Maybe Clinton should take care of her own backyard, first. -_-

[shenmue]

2. You realize this is the Clinton group, right?

Do Sanders supporters just wander in here, thinking it's a playground?

[jmowreader]

17. They do, and there's an easy way to deal with them

Just click the "full ignore" button the instant you see them.

[wildeyed]

3. I like Steinem

and think the press is playing the up that one comment a bit, BUT how is saying women support Sanders to meet boys any different or less offensive than what Sarandon said about vagina voters?

I believe that, for the most part, young women support Sanders because they believe he is the best choice. They are still wrong, but for better reasons than this

[romana]

4. Yes

I agree. Those kinds of statements aren't helpful.

[Gman]

5. I don't agree

Most Sandees supporting women don't have the life experience to know personally that it's a man's world. They are very naive and are easily influenced by men. They want to be accepted as equal to the men so they support men against women. They may not even know consciously this is why they are supporting Sanders. . They want the make attention and want to be accepted.

[wildeyed]

6. Can't speak for all young women,

but the ones I know, a number of my young and very bright female cousins for instance, passionately support him their own reasons.

Also, i was a young woman once, and always knew my own mind, even back then. So I give other young women the benefit of the doubt now.

And telling them, "oh you don't know your mind, you are just in it for the boys" is not going to persuade them anyway. I just keep whispering in their ears about how Hillary has their back and so do I. They will come around eventually. And for the right reasons

[Treant]

9. For that matter,

as a man, does that mean I only support Clinton to attract women?

Because my husband is seriously going to find that amusing.

Like you, I find many reasons to support Mrs. Clinton, the sum total being that I find her the best choice, and I give Sanders supporters the same courtesy. Even if, as noted, they're wrong.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Not a helpful comment... IMO...

kinda of like Susan Sherandon's comments of a couple of weeks back!

[yallerdawg]

8. "Where the boys are!"

Gloria Steinem is still so sharp, Bill Maher couldn't keep up with her!

That title is a bit misleading - not yours, gman!

[Nonhlanhla]

10. Not a helpful comment

Although as a college professor, I can actually see that happening in some cases. Young women are often much more conservative than older women. I do see an anti-feminism and even underlying self-hatred among young women that disturbs me. Plus a tendency to be much more submissive to young men than they themselves realize.

I see it in their writing, for example. Right now they have to write a story for me with a complex plot (I provided the basic plot basis, and they have to fill it in and make use of the texts we read to provide philosophical content). In the story two main characters, one female, one male, undertake a political task. So many of the women have the two characters fall in love, and then place the male character in a leadership position while relegating the female character to a subsidiary role - that is, if they don't simply let her die tragically for the cause that the two characters are fighting for. Very disturbing, of course, and I challenge them on that. Strangely enough fewer men do this in their writing - perhaps to flatter me, they often place the female character in a leadership position. I've used this paper prompt for a few years now, so my observations on this span several years.

So there is reason to think that many women might be swayed more by their boyfriends than by real political persuasion. Not true of all young women, of course, and Steinem's comments are really not helpful.

[BlueCaliDem]

11. There's a reason books like Twilight and 50 Shades of Grey are huge hits.

Not saying Steinem's comment was helpful at all, but not discounting its truthfulness in its entirety, either.

Let's just cut to the chase. Hillary Clinton is seen as a strong, smart, experienced, and fearless woman. Most people combined all that into a single word that starts with a "B", and even sometimes add a "Mega" prefix. Men in this country quickly feel threatened by women like Hillary Clinton. They don't see her experience, her strength, her tireless work...they just see the Iron Maiden and feel threatened by it. There's nothing she can do to change that. Do less? Get seen as 'weak'. Do more? Add the "mega" prefix.

Young American women, whether we want to accept it or not, still want to be where the popular guys are. Those who don't care about that actually choose Hillary over Bernie because she's just more qualified and experienced. Period.

[Cha]

12. I agree.

[betsuni]

13. I thought it was an attempt to make a little joke.

I didn't think anything of it at the time I saw her on Real Time. Bill said he couldn't say that, but Gloria's a woman, I don't see why she can't joke about women. It's true that especially while still in school, many/some young women haven't experienced being out in the real world where things are a lot less unequal and competitive, so likely to be less serious about women's issues yet -- at that age I would have absolutely joined whatever lefty protests had lots of cute guys. I was just thinking that the other day while watching pro-immigration marches in Europe on TV. I guess I'm the only shallow one here. Oh well.

I'm reminded of the movie The Front. The comedian who gets blacklisted tries to convince his interrogator that he joined a May Day march and subscribed to The Daily Worker because he had a crush on a cute commie -- "and I didn't even get laid!"

[JPnoodleman]

14. I am sure calling the under 45 crowd whores and sluts will get them in line /nt

[McCamy Taylor]

16. She didn't say that. You just did.

She called them marginalized Americans who can only gain worth in a patriarchal system through their attractiveness to men. As women lose their value as sex objects, they begin to realize what a shitty deal they are being offered.

[McCamy Taylor]

15. Less true than it used to be, but not yet untrue enough to suit me.