There Is No Such Thing As “Women’s Issues”

From: Courtney E. Martin

To: Tedra Osell; Wendy Shanker

I challenge anyone to make a simple argument about these primaries and gender politics after reading my girls, Wendy and Tedra, hash out the issues. Brava to you both. For the sake of dialogue, I do want to take issue with a few things: first and foremost, “women’s issues.” This is a phrase and a framework that gets under my skin. When I pitch stories to magazine editors at political or general interest magazines, I am constantly being told: “Oh, we did a women’s issues story last month.” Um, yeah, that was on eyeliner and I want to write about sex trafficking. Likewise, have you ever noticed what gets annexed into the “style section” of most major newspapers? Anything from women experts, articles that look at culture or psychology (even when it has nothing to do with fashion), and yes, my very own book (which is on the normalization of body hatred among young women). The dopes at the top aren’t going to stop using this empty phrase until we feminists do. There is no such thing as “women’s issues,” because just about everything under the sun is potentially important to and affecting women’s lives. In the context of this election, I’m not looking at these candidates wondering who does better on “women’s issues” because it’s not a helpful construct. I’m wondering, who is going to improve our reputation throughout the world, secure economic justice for more folks at home, and live everyday ethically and in service to the people (not his or her people, but the people). I also want to take issue with Wendy’s idea—which was most famously popularized by Gloria Steinem in the op-ed pages of the Times last month—that women are behind men of color when it comes to civil rights. I just don’t think that either/or kind of thinking is helpful. Sure, black men may have gotten the right to vote prior to women, but they have also endured the still-lingering legacy of slavery (poverty, exoticization, cultural depression). Rather than taking the bait of mainstream media and small-minded pundits, we should be refusing to pit women and men of color against one another in an oppression Olympics. None of us will be any better for it. And now for some new ideas… We are emotional creatures, even when we are also political animals. It’s no real surprise that all of us voted, in part, from our guts. In truth, the tipping point for me in deciding whether to pull the lever for Hillary or Barack was when I realized that I would be more devastated if he didn’t win than if she didn’t win (even though I would be sad in either case). What a totally bizarre and irrational voting rationale, no? But it’s the truth, and anyone who claims that they only vote on the issues is full of baloney. A huge part of why Barack has been so successful (especially among younger voters) is because he’s been able to inspire. I realize that his charisma won’t necessarily translate into the nitty gritty leadership skills needed that first day in The White House, but frankly, I’m too hungry for inspiration not to be swayed by it. When Barack says “Yes we can,” I tear up. I feel like I finally understand my parents’ stories about JFK and brazen optimism. I am proud to be an American for that moment. And beyond that, I’m suspicious of a campaign that doesn’t recognize how important hope is right now. Hillary’s camp has constantly led with the wrong messages—I’ve been doing this for years. Hope is just a word. Change is hard work. Yes, yes, and yes, but right now is not the time to harp on these issues. Now is the time to proudly declare yourself a new kind of leader. I know Hill has been falling back on this message in these desperate days, but it’s a little too little too late. As a young feminist, I am so cognizant of the wildly effective legacy I benefit from. Whether I’m buying my birth control or traveling alone to a speaking gig, whether I’m investing in my IRA or playing pick-up basketball, my gratitude to women like Hillary is never far from my mind. I’m thankful, and at the same time, I’m hungry. I want to be part of the next historical moment of earth-shattering social change. And right now, Barack looks like the person most hell bent on shaking things up.