Yet another discussion of femininity in this race
Posted by xJane on March 13th, 2008 at 8:31 pm · 9 Comments
heh, didn’t originally mean race like that, but it works that way, too.
A recent book is out, called the New Feminized Majority: How Democrats Can Change America With Women’s Values. I’d like them to have a few quotation marks in that title (“…Change American With “Women’s Values”…”), but it certainly looks interesting. Feminist Law Professors has a brief review, written by the authors (or their publicist) and it seems to make some valid points. Namely, that the “masculinized” values of the patriarchy are beginning to be devalued by Americans at large (not just liberals, although it surely started there), and that Obama is the one doing it. I’d like to read it, if only for the discussion of Hillary’s (I would argue necessary) use of “masculine” values and Obama’s use of “feminine” values. If their politics were reversed, I’m pretty sure we’d be calling the former “Mrs.”, rather than Senator (I don’t think she’d've made it as far on those values) and the latter “a republican”. I suppose it’s nice to show (even in a book) that “feminized” values are beginning to be valued rather than denigrated, but I find it telling that the only way for them to gain acceptance (since they are, still, “feminized”), is for them to be promoted by a male.
The review is worth a skim; I will see if my library has it before recommending the book.
Tags: Current Events · Ethics · Feminism · Gender · Pacifism · Peace; conflict resolution. · Politics · Sexuality · Society · Women
