I wanted to expand a bit on some thoughts I was just posting while replying to Diane Casetamorphoses’ post She Ain’t Giving Up Yet on Hillary Clinton’s fight to stay in the race.

I don’t get seriously involved in presidential races. Since I’m usually left voting for the lesser of two evils anyway (99% of American politicians are way too far center leaning for my socialist views). To quote Bob Torres, I watch politics the way many people watch sports. It’s very entertaining and almost everyone involved is just in it for their own personal gain anyway.

However, I’ve been watching this election with a bit less excitement. It’s hard to stay entertained with sexist and racist mudslinging going on left and right. And even among the two candidates themselves who should relate enough to oppression not to use racist/sexist tactics against their opponent. But Clinton has pulled the Muslim terrorist card on Obama and Obama has pulled the weak woman card on Clinton. It’s a bit disheartening to say the least.

When the race first got going I read an article that made note that black men got the vote before white women and wondered if that trend would hold with this election. Are men, regardless of their race, still placed above women in the eyes of those who “really matter”, upper-class white Christian men. And now that some time has passed and I’ve been paying attention to how much flack each candidate is getting for their respective minority status it seems to be true. While I’ve read plenty of racist comments about Obama, a great majority of them being Muslim oriented rather than racially, the sexism thrown at Clinton has been extraordinary.

First, I think it’s very interesting that Obama is getting more flack for his name (gasp, his middle name is Hussein and his last name rhymes with Osama), ie possible ties to “Muslim terrorists” than his race. It makes me wonder, is racism drastically on the decline in the US or is it just so radically looked down upon that people keep their opinions to themselves. I hope for the former but fear the later. Either way, it shows that Muslim fear is alive and well in this country and very detrimental to our Muslim citizens as well as anyone who looks remotely Middle Eastern.

Which brings me to another trend that is alive and thriving in our society. As most feminists know, all you have to do is open your eyes to sexist behavior to see that it is not only rampant, but completely accepted by the majority of the population. Hell, sexism isn’t even a taboo, it’s just a part of everyday life. One of the most popular anti-Clinton groups at facebook is called “Hillary Clinton, stop running for president and make me a sandwich”. And the comments in this group are horrendously sexist. Even though facebook claims not to tolerate any racism or sexism, the sexist Clinton group has been allowed to remain while any racist Obama groups I’ve come across have been pulled almost immediately. It seems to be the belief of many that sexism can’t exist in language alone (that it can only occur in action) which, quite honestly, is complete shit.

Now, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing that racism isn’t tolerated as much as it used to be in our society. It’s a wonderful thing. But why is sexism still completely acceptable, even to such an extreme that many women happily take part in it themselves? So many women want to be seen as cool to the men around them, which usually means not being offended by their sexism and often participating in it themselves. And in return for participating in their own subjection these women get a head-patt from the men instead of being told that they’re uptight, humorless bitches.

Well, you know what? If standing up for the rights of women and calling out anyone who makes you feel lesser just because of your sex makes you an uptight, humorless bitch, then the world needs more uptight, humorless bitches.

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