Time: How Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Other Men Play the Gender Card

[Cali_Democrat]

By Soraya Chemaly
5:05 PM ET

This morning, MSNBC aired a segment in which Hillary Clinton’s voice, once again, was the topic of criticism. “She shouts,” said Bob Woodward. And yet, nobody talked about the loud voices, shouting, podium-slamming, deranged expressions and bombastic anger by the male candidates—all of them. Those men are, in fact, playing the gender card. Many of them.

But Google “gender card” and the results look like this: “Clinton Plays the Gender Card,” “Why playing the ‘gender card’ really could be enough for Hillary Clinton,” “Carly’s Not Playing the Gender Card,” or, conversely, “It’s Time for Carly Fiorina to Stop Playing the Gender Card.” If there is a reference to male candidates playing the gender card, it’s buried. In a race that has at times included 20 men and only two women, for an office never occupied by a woman, maleness the standard. We aren’t thinking about their gender in relative terms.

But every time a male politician takes a debate pee break, when he takes a pass on make-up, or walks around Spanx-free, he’s playing a gender card. When he maximizes airtime to convey serious ideas to a national audience instead of having to bite his tongue and smile politely while answering ridiculous questions about flower arranging—gender card. When he raises his deeper, more “serious” voices—another.

Gender cards fly when male politicians flaunt totemic symbols of male power, affirming entitlement to strength, authority and paternalistic care. If a male politician curses, more power to him.

It’s a gender card that men’s bodies are not publicly debated, subject to review, regulation and casual disgust. If male politicians discuss reproductive rights, as they are wont to do, it almost always means references to women and their bodies, not men’s and men’s bodies. It’s a gender card that male politicians don’t have to waste time and money and psychic resources on what messages their names send. It’s a gender card when no one suggests men use sex to become successful.

Read more:

http://time.com/4207026/hillary-clinton-ted-cruz-bernie-sanders-gender-card/

[daleanime]

1. Because he's evil!!1!!

You have a lovely night.

[SunSeeker]

2. Excellent read. Thanks. nt

[PyaarRevolution]

3. Look, I think the flower arranging shit....

is stupid as well as asking Hillary how Bill will function in the White House. I may not like Hillary but I find these veiled questions on her competence disgusting. If I question Hillary in some way or another it will be on her decisions not her gender.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. She does shout, Platitudes and ovations to herself, no plans, no comprehensive "How I will " unlike

Bernie Sanders .

[farleftlib]

5. I'm a feminist and I find this ridiculous in the extreme

It's the issues, stupid.

[SheenaR]

8. Ha... Same time same ideas..see below n/t

[SheenaR]

6. I'm a woman

This is beyond ridiculous. Disappointed to see it from Time. You could play this game, flip it around, play he said-she said to no end.

As I said. I am a woman. It's nonsense. Let's stop worrying about "cards" and start worrying about the real issues at stake here. This isn't one of them.

[farleftlib]

9. Aha

GMTA, Sheena!

[beam me up scottie]

32. ^^^THIS^^^

Feminists can make their case without demonizing other feminists like Bernie, the author blew it.

[Ron Green]

7. Oh, nice. Equating Cruz and Sanders in your headline. That's classy.

[Metric System]

10. The headline is from Time.

[Cali_Democrat]

11. It's not my headline. Time created the headline. nt

[Ron Green]

15. Right you are. It's "Time's" agenda, then. A bit less surprising.

[orpupilofnature57]

17. They all make up what is a Political Society , where Our only part is only to pay .

[uponit7771]

12. Hillary nationally is strong with Blacks, Hispanics, WOMEN, LBGT (which is hard to poll) and non...

Last edited Wed Feb 3, 2016, 08:58 PM - Edit history (1)

... white poor.

The very people Sanders revolution is supposed to reach are pulling away from his message seeing he lost PoC IA by more than 20 points.

I don't see Sanders as a champion of the disenfranchised

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1130100

[orpupilofnature57]

19. You've drank the Kool-aid then .

[uponit7771]

26. Nah, poll numbers say different

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1130100

[orpupilofnature57]

35. Polls had her winning in 2008 . Issues, history and Her allegiance to the 1% will be apparent soon .

[Ken Burch]

61. Bernie is gaining in all those demographics.

You can't fight for the powerless as the more conservative candidate in the race. Nor can you care about them and support "pro-business economics".

It's either the suites, or the streets. There's nothing else.

[uponit7771]

66. He's has a month... Will see

[Ken Burch]

68. Why are you so personally invested in being anti-Bernie, anyway?

He's proven he's just as electable as HRC.

There's no real practical risk to Democratic chances in nominating him.

And he's always been stronger and more consistent in his opposition to racism, sexism, homo- and trans- phobia, and ethnic/religious bigotry than HRC.

You seem to be obsessed with stopping him and painting him as indifferent to social oppression. What did he ever do to you to deserve this?

It's not as though the anti-bigotry cause would have benefited from Bernie not getting into the race.

What's this really about with you?

[ybbor]

72. This ^^^^

This is exactly what I am wondering. It doesn't make sense. There are many reasons to be against HRC, and very few against Sen. Sanders.

[uponit7771]

74. Stating facts is being "anti" usually to ideologues. I, like other PoC, have my reasons for not bein

... attracted to Sanders and seeing that Sanders camp is for the people they've internalized these reasons and know all about them...

Or...

They've ignored us... like those who marginalize people do...

[Ken Burch]

78. They never really ignored you, and you have their full attention now.

Bernie would become a conservative if he said that we can't deal with economic justice until racism has been eradicated...it would also mean giving up on eradicating racism, since it can't be wiped out under our present economic model. It can be driven back a bit, but never defeated.

And why would you think anyone who helped found the DLC(a group that existed for no other reason than to get the Democratic Party to tell POC to go to hell) cares about you?

HRC never even mentioned racism until 2015...before that she was "law and order&quot which has never meant anything but "let cops kill black people&quot .

It's not as though POC would gain anything from HRC beating Bernie.

[uponit7771]

79. Then why ask the question you already know the answer to?

The other part is a strawman, no one is talking about Sanders putting economic just before racial... just address them separately which in some interviews he intimated the latter wasn't important.

Then continued to minimize some of the revolution in BLM that he should've clinged to IMHO... seeing he was trying to start a revolution of his own... it took him how long to give these people an audience!?

Clintons imperfect long term relationship with PoC in black and Hispanic communities supersedes the guy who is claiming she sucks vote for him... the bad done is easier to forgive because of this relationship and hugging Obama.

[Ken Burch]

84. No Sanders supporter minimizes BLM anymore.

The only issue there ever was was the belief that BLM was singling Bernie out when we all knew that ALL white politicians needed to do more to fight racism. Bernie was accused of not caring that the cops were killing black people.

And Bernie stands fully with BLM now, which HRC never did.

The fact that she appeared in magazines with ads for fade cream doesn't change that.

And nobody in the Sanders campaign, to my knowledge, ever used phrases like "she sucks vote for him" in regard to HRC.

[uponit7771]

86. I didn't say his supporters I typed SANDERS HIMSELF... that was just BLM which was a racial justice

...revolution I would think he would cling to but he didn't ... at first... but after that the optics were horrible.

Either way, other than addressing racial as a separate issue than economic there have been enough post here to outline other things that were top of the list.

I don't see going over them again and again at this point is progressive to any position

Right now I feel like there were enough PoC screaming from the beggining of his campaign and were pretty much marginalized at least at the table... if not in the memes throughout...

I still feel we'll be blamed if this doesn't work out for Sanders no matter how much

Also

I've already addressed your comparisons of HRC and SBS... Her imperfect relationship with PoC trumps the bad along with her wanting to continue the Obama legacy.

Clinton has an established relationship with PoC... not too much posted has or is going to change that

[Ken Burch]

88. No one who has nothing but "an imperfect relationship"

You know perfectly well she won't listen to POC once in power. Centrists and corporate types never do.

[uponit7771]

89. Ok, so far HRC has a recent history of listening to the black community by clinging to Obama...

... the first black president who is very very very popular with black folk.

On the other hand

Sanders associates his campaign with west and bigga, two blacks who've said some of the most racially vile things about Obama that I'd be afraid to post here.

They're deemed "haters" by the black community and not for policy positions either... West feels slighted about freaking TICKETS!!!

Seeing these easily falsifiable facts are laid before you do you want to amend your statement about HRC will or wont listen to PoC once in power vs Sanders!?

now.. before you answer......

I have enough of these examples to make the case of who'll listen better.... I don't think Sanders is that much better than Clinton and could be worse quite as its kept.

Again, you're NOT going to be able to properly proffer Sanders by parading Clinton bad... "She sucks vote for Sanders" is a bad campaign tactic.

On the other hand

How about addressing some of the things AAs have been saying on DU ... not less outside of DU... on the reasons we're pushing 20+ point spread away from Sanders?

tia

[Ken Burch]

92. This is more about you having a grudge with Dr. West and Bigga.

Does Bernie have to ditch them before you'll stop with this?

Was every AA person obligated to never say anything publicly critical of Obama?

What good would that have done?

Dr. West was right that Obama, while well-meaning, gave up on progressive change far too easily...and that there was no excuse for the Obama movement being told to go away once the election was over. If he had encouraged them to mobilize, they could have built pressure for things like the public option and a tougher policy towards the banks. And keeping the Obama movement continually mobilized rather than ordering it to essentially disband would have brought a lot more people to the polls in 2010.

Pointing out that HRC is weak on racial justice issues does not equal saying "she sucks". There is no disrespect in critique on the issues.

And we have addressed the issues AA people cared about.

Bernie speaks about institutional racism MORE than HRC.

He has fought for economic justice as much because it disproportionately affects POC as anything else.

And he never dismissed BLM like the conservative candidate you defend did in that meeting. Bernie fully backs everything BLM wants and even though he didn't say so in the stump speech for the first couple of months, his whole record has effectively been in support of everything BLM supports from the get-go. If he wasn't passionately anti-racism, he wouldn't have endorsed Jesse Jackson.
He wouldn't have been a committed opponent of apartheid.

Bernie is now saying everything you want said, and with greater passion than HRC.

He went to Baltimore to stand with police violence victims, and no other candidate did.




He

[whatchamacallit]

24. Well, he'll never be this kind of champion

[orpupilofnature57]

25. + 1000000000000 !!!!!!!!!!!

[uponit7771]

27. another out of context quote by SBS camp... typical half truth...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1130100

[whatchamacallit]

36. Considering the entire exchange was a tour de farce of

dismissive posturing, pandering, doublespeak and bullshit, I'd say I did Hilteam a favor only posting this bit.

[Chitown Kev]

82. At least that was better

than the "don't you know who I am" routine that sanders gave to BLM at NN.

[whatchamacallit]

85. Sure, whatever supports your construct n/t

[Chitown Kev]

87. Well, we all have opinions...

I preferred the way O'Malley handled the BLM protest to sanders in spite of his monumental "All Lives Matter" srew-up.

Clinton performance with BLM in New Hampshire was...Meh...

I didn't blame Sanders for the Seattle thing; in fact, I thought he acted quite well given the situation.

[whatchamacallit]

91. Valid

Yup we all have opinions. And they are shaped or filtered by our life experience. I'm confident everyone will weigh the issues that are most important to them and make their decision accordingly.

[Ken Burch]

90. It's what she said. When she met with BLM, she physically looked down on them.

She cut then off when they talked rather than sitting and listening to what they had to say. She showed them no empathy. There is no way you could look at the tape of her meeting with BLM and believe she had any respect for them. She built no relationship with them.

And this makes perfect sense with her history as a founder of the white supremacist DLC. People who are "law and order" don't care about ending institutional racism. You can't pose with cops and still say you're against cops killing black kids.

[in_cog_ni_to]

37. Oh, OUCH!

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[840high]

67. + a zillion

[beam me up scottie]

30. Hillary was a champion for lgbt people?

[uponit7771]

48. They think so... Taken by the endorsements

[beam me up scottie]

50. They all endorsed her?

[uponit7771]

51. Of course not... All is a red herring

[loyalsister]

33. Are you one of "the disenfranchised"?

I am, and those are the circles I run in. In Mid-MO, there is NO love for Hillary Clinton among the demographics you mentioned. In fact poor people are smarter and more aware than she hopes. People are, in fact, aware of the fact that they were left out of the 90s boom and the recent economic recovery. She wants to attach herself to both without acknowledging that there are a lot of people who were left out and whose living conditions were made worse by policies she supported in the 90s.

[uponit7771]

52. Yes...

[Cali_Democrat]

62. As an African American, I do consider myself one of "the disenfranchised" nt

[loyalsister]

64. I mean poor

with all options and opportunities for help from the government unavailable because of a felony conviction. Or, working at McDonalds and barely breaking even because of child care expenses, and inelligible to medicaid and food stamps due to welfare reform. Or, fearful that a parent is going to wind up in a detention camp, or uninsured because you live in a state that refused to expand Medicaid? These are the stories that Clinton refused to listen to when she did not attend the Putting Families First candidate forum. The people who told them were angry that she didn't show when the other 2 candidates did.

People have been disenfranshised by policies she advocated and takes pride in helping get passed. Yet she somehow wants to pretend she bears no responsibility for the predictable unintended consequences.

[frylock]

42. How was he polling with PoC in Iowa 3 months ago?

[uponit7771]

49. - 837777 billion and its still irrelevant... 20+ points is a big loss with that demo after profferin

... That's all Black's would have to do is heart his message.

Well after 3 months they heard and revolted... Against it

[frylock]

55. What's irrelevant is this nonsense you're pushing.

[uponit7771]

56. 25 point loss in a needed demo isn't nonsense

[frylock]

59. It is when you continue to remove any and all context.

What were his numbers with PoC 3 months ago? I'm going to keep asking you this over and over and over.

[Ken Burch]

60. They aren't pulling away.

And you can't be the champion of the disenfranchised when you're running to the right of the other candidate in the Democratic race.

Why are you fighting so hard for the conservative Dem?

HRC has never cared about anyone who wasn't a CEO.

[uponit7771]

63. 20+ point loss doesn't mean they are pulling towards ... After 3 months in IA that's a bad number

[zalinda]

73. They've known her in Iowa for 25 years, what's her excuse? eom

[uponit7771]

75. She's had millions of tax payer dollars spent against her by members of the government to lower

... her poll numbers and these very people are the ones who ran adds helping Sanders in IA.

Sanders execuse for such a bad number with PoC in IA?

tia

[zalinda]

77. She spent millions of dollars more than Bernie. Still, 25 years......... n/t

[uponit7771]

83. Which was overspent with the help of the opposition party... Again, Sanders excuse? tia

[zalinda]

96. They've only known about him less than a year.....vs. 25 years. Big difference. n/t

[uponit7771]

97. He's had more than 7 months and 3 of those was spent in IA... where he lost PoC by 25 points...

... and made gains with working class white males.

[cali]

13. What whining. And trying to conflate Bernie with Cruz.

Poor victim Hillary.

[orpupilofnature57]

21. A Ploy that's served her well, she should sue the voice coach from Hollywood, she hired .

[notadmblnd]

14. I dont think Sander's campaign has said a damn word about HRC voice

If you have evidence that he and his spokes people have, please provide it.

As for MSNBC talking about it this morning, take it up with Joe and Mika.

[trillion]

23. I think it's been everyone else attacking Sanders with agism bigotry.

[orpupilofnature57]

31. When was the last time Hillary Ran Anywhere ?

[orpupilofnature57]

28. It's proof they can rationalize anything, like their candidate .

[notadmblnd]

39. You see the OP hasn't responded with any evidence.

[orpupilofnature57]

45. Shopping for low information sympathizers who don't want to think too much .

[kath]

99. Low information types seem to be what they're all about.

Because people who have been paying attention know what a phony she is.

[whatchamacallit]

16. I missed the part that explains adding Sanders to the title

[trillion]

18. I'm a woman and a feminist.

I'm as appalled at Hillary playing the gender card - "elect me because it's time we have the first woman president", as I was when Pailin was doing it for vice president. I don't elect people on their gender.

Don't get me wrong, I do want a woman president and vice president - just not one whose first campaign announcement says she will overturn Roe vs. Wade (Palin), or one who is a Goldman Sachs super pac queen and is so pro wallstreet and insurances companies(read it in her super pac list) that I would be voting for the 1% and worst of Wall Street.

Someday I hope to get a progressive woman that I would be proud to have as president.

That said the article has a little truth and too much reaching - from what is posted of it here. I'm not going to read further because the start was reaching too much.

[jillan]

20. If I hear vote for her because she is a woman one more time!! And I am a woman of her age.

Enough!

It's articles like this that make it about her sex.

[uponit7771]

29. cause those other guys haven't :rolleyes:

[mcar]

22. +1000

[cali]

34. Clinton's Internet Supporters Desperately Want This Campaign to be about Sexism

<snip>


The strategy of Clinton supporters had to shift, and the solution was obvious: Avoid policy, and make the campaign about sexism. It wouldn’t be a stretch. In fact, they simply had to reprise the same tactics from 2008, when “gender bias” was one of the most reliable arrows in Clinton’s quiver, and Obama supporters fretted about losing the female vote because of perceived abuse toward Clinton’s backers. It’s the same today, and it started with the “Bernie Bro” phenomenon—a fabricated demographic supposedly chock-full of misogynistic dudes whose support for Bernie is less about policy and more about keeping a hated woman out of office.

The entire concept of a vast sexist conspiracy operating from the political left is ridiculous, and has been effectively debunked by Glenn Greenwald and Sam Kriss at Vice, but it’s worth looking at a specific example of its origins to examine the absurd, dishonest way this stuff gathers steam. I’ll take you step by step, with this post as a guide.

1. Emily Nussbaum, of The New Yorker, tweets that she’s been called a “psycho” after expressing support for Hillary Clinton. “Man,” she writes, “the Feel the Bern crew is such a drag.”

We’ll stop here for a moment to point out that the person who called her a psycho was a Republican congressman named Steven Smith who identifies as a Tea Party advocate and who, we can safely guess, is not feeling the Bern.

2. Outlets like Mashable and the BBC quote Nussbaum, without bothering to check who delivered the insult.

3. The New Republic cites Mashable.

4. Others cite The New Republic.

<snip>

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/02/hillary-clintons-internet-supporters-desperately-w.html

[kath]

43. Wow. Fantastic article. thanks cali!

[NurseJackie]

38. This. Is. Superb.

Thank you for sharing it with us. Many people here can benefit from reading this. (Not that they will ... but they could.)

[Odin2005]

40. This shit is a good example of how so many Hillary supporters...

only care about the symbolism of having the first woman president, actual issues be damned.

[kath]

44. Check out the article that cali linked to in #34 above, about this issue.

[Odin2005]

47. Thanks!

[frylock]

57. The TRUE one-issue voters.

[Dems to Win]

41. Bob Woodward made the sexist comment, not Bernie

Trump made fun of Hillary for going to the bathroom, not Bernie. Bernie then made fun of Trump for not realizing women need to go to the bathroom.

I agree that 'society' demands Hillary be made up and coiffed, while Bernie is not. But I'm willing to bet that Bernie would say nothing at all if Hillary wanted to show up at the next debate without make up. And I'd cheer for her!

[boston bean]

46. Let me proclaim, I AM A WOMAN!

And I agree with the author of the article.

[MrWendel]

53. +1

[retrowire]

54. Feminist here.

*facepalm*

[Ken Burch]

58. It's only the right that plays the gender card.

Bernie is MORE pro-choice than HRC, so logically he can't be playing the gender card.

And he wasn't the one who made the issue about the pee break.

It's bullshit to lump Bernie in with Trump and Cruz.

[Lilith Rising]

69. Because only a man can be MORE

pro-choice than a woman...

jfc

[Ken Burch]

71. Not what I said.

Not what I meant. Not even what I thought.

But you'd have to admit that it's silly to assume that only a woman can really care about defending choice.

Or that only a woman can achieve victories for feminism.

Especially if we're talking about a woman who is a big supporter of trade deals and military intervention, neither of which can ever have feminist results.

No woman can ever be freed from oppression by U.S. troops. No anti-feminist country can ever be made feminist through an invasion of foreign troops.

And nothing that lowers women's wages, reduces social benefits and workplace protections, and flat out puts women out of work(as every trade pact always has and there fore always will) can ever have any significant feminist results. Promotions for the rich white Sheryl Sandberg types at the top never lead to any gains for working-class women, especially working-class women of color.

[Lilith Rising]

80. You know what? This is exactly why I

should never say a word around here.

You say very clearly that BS is "MORE pro-choice than HRC" and then say that you didn't say it then go on about invasions and other crap that has zero to do with these candidates choice stances.

Just... nuts.

[Ken Burch]

81. I said Bernie as an individual was more pro-choice.

I never said that only a man could be more pro-choice and you know it.

And the issues I talked about later in the post deal with policies that affect women. The issues I mentioned affect women just as much as choice does. Choice is important, massively so, but it can't be so important that it justifies conservatism on pretty much everything else(all war is conservative and can only have conservative, anti-woman results...same as all trade deals).

All these issues are women's issues. Feminists in the Seventies like Bella Abzug and Shirley Chisholm taught me that. I honor them for their wisdom.

[Nyan]

65. Have you ever seen Elizabeth Warren using gender card?

I haven't. Because she's too busy raising important issues.

[Hiraeth]

98. thank you and now I am trashing this thread for the ridiculous nonsense.

[jfern]

70. Women under 30 are overwhelming for Bernie

Obviously they'd love a woman President, but they'd much rather vote for a man who is good on the issues than a woman who isn't.

[CBGLuthier]

76. Fucking men and their fucking standing up pissing.

Yeah, its so unfair that no one makes fun of bald men. No one makes fun of men having to pee five times a night when they get older.

Yeah the whole fucking world is so fucking unfair.

Shit article.

[Fearless]

93. False... but Time funds the Hillary campaign so.... yeah.

[closeupready]

94. Not gonna work.

lol

[Jenny_92808]

95. Since you are showing an ignorant

portrayal of our President, I see where you are coming from.....troll....Evil! I think Obama has been a great President!