Dear Gloria Steinam,
As a feminist and a Clinton supporter, I am extremely disappointed with your recent remarks concerning young women who are supporting Bernie Sanders during the primaries.
Regardless of how you may have meant it, your choice of words “And then when you’re young, you’re thinking, where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie” are damaging to the most fundamental concepts of feminism. It's insulting not only to young women voting for Bernie Sanders, but for those of us who intend to vote for Hillary Clinton.
It seems you've forgotten that one of the basic principles of feminism is women's rights to make their own choices. Your choice to endorse Hillary Clinton is your choice and that is fine.You feel that Clinton’s beliefs align best with your own and that is what matters most when deciding who to vote for. And you know what, there are young women, yes women, who align best with Bernie Sanders’ values. The work Clinton has done over the past twenty years for women’s rights and human’s rights is admirable, but keep in mind Gloria, that Clinton’s views evolved to being moderately left wing during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Bernie Sanders on the other hand possess a voting record and political reputation that is an anomaly in United States politics. He has been consistently practicing what he preaches since the late 1950s and early 1960s. His electoral history makes a clear case for why many young women would be more inclined to trust him and his ability to get things done as President.
I could go into more detail about both candidates, but this isn't about who I think anyone should vote for. Again, it is their choice.
You’re probably wondering how your remarks could have possibly been hurtful to young women who are Clinton voters when your intent was to help Clinton. Let me tell you something that I am often confronted with when discussing politics with peers. When I bring up that I am voting for Hillary Clinton, one of the first responses I usually get is “You’re not just voting for her because she’s a woman, right?”
I have gotten used to stating my case for being pro-Hillary (foreign policy experience, more appeal to me as a moderate, her ability to get work done as exhibited by her records in government work, etc.) if anything, the idea of her being the first woman President is more of a bonus in the grand scheme of things.To vote for Hillary just because she also happens to be a woman would be akin to a Jewish person choosing to vote for Sanders simply based on the fact that he is Jewish. In that case Gloria, while there is no question about the presence of any possible double standard existing between Clinton and Sanders, your claim that women are voting for Sanders to “meet boys” only perpetuates this idea that women should vote for Clinton simply because she is a woman, which is an extremely narrow minded practice of feminism.
With all that mind, I feel it would be a good idea to remind you Gloria, that in fighting for women to make choices for themselves, perhaps it would not be bad to respect women who vote for Sanders and women who vote for Clinton for their own valid reasons.
Sincerely,
An Informed Feminist
