Cross-posted from Uppity Woman per her request.
March 27, 2012 by Anita Finlay (“Ani”)
In her WaPo article, Twenty Years On, ‘Year of the Woman’ Fades, Karen Tumulty offers many reasons why women have not attained anything approaching parity in political representation, after female membership in the House and Senate doubled in 1992:
“…They made their presence felt beyond Capitol Hill, with the passage of legislation that made the workplace more family-friendly, that directed more medical research to women’s health issues and that made the criminal justice system more responsive to domestic violence.”
Women now represent 16.8% of Congress. We have now hit a plateau, Tumulty says. Another way of putting it is stagnation. The treatment received by Hillary Clinton, who won more votes than any candidate in Primary history, and Sarah Palin, only the second woman to get on a presidential ticket, served as horrifying cautionary tales rather than encouragement. Why would more qualified women run for higher office when a misogynist gauntlet awaits them? What I witnessed in 2008 made the bile rise in my throat from such a deep place that I had to get off the sidelines and take action. The sum total of that action follows:
Ms. Tumulty notes Democrats have declared that Republicans are waging a “war on women.” But the current “war” is being confined once again to a cynical and controlled narrative designed to benefit the President’s re-election bid rather than addressing the underbelly of woman-hate that still seems to permeate all levels of society.
Dirty Words On Clean Skin is a shocking exposé about the real war on women….who’s buying, who’s selling – and why they get away with it.
That war is waged daily by mainstream media, party backstabbers, opposing politicians, advertisers and lowbrow comedians of high powered television shows – all of whom miss no opportunity to degrade and marginalize; reducing women to body parts, wardrobe choices and vocal tics.
The quality and preparedness of Hillary Clinton was continually obscured by the bread and circuses of distraction and character assassination. To a greater or lesser degree, these are tactics with which all females running for office have become acquainted. We say the sky’s the limit for women in this country, but the reality was quite different when we were presented with a test case.
I am so proud to share my work with all of you and will be doing a pre-launch of Dirty Words on Clean Skin for all my kind blogger buddies and readers. The book will be available on Amazon as of April 3rd…The book’s main launch will be April 24th and it will also be available on Kindle at that time.
Your encouragement has both fed me, and taught me to think critically, to make an argument, to stand my ground.
I am grateful to you all.
The Department of Homegirl Security 
We owe a debt of gratitude to the bloggers (present blog included) and authors who have documented and recorded the assault on Hillary, which, along with the dirty tricks of the Obama campaign and DNC, stole the election from her. Of course, there was plenty of help from the media, whose representatives made vile, misogynistic comments about Hillary (and Palin), on a daily basis. The Democrats are every bit as responsible for the war on women as are the Republicans, and they don’t need to be allowed to sweep that fact under the rug. Maybe this book will help prevent that.
Abuse of women occurs along a continuum. On one end are the sexist and misogynistic remarks and jokes, which contain, at their core, the assumption that women are less worthy, less important, less valuable, and inferior. On the other, is the massive and extreme violence against the members of the female population, such as that which occurs in some fundamentalist Islamic countries, and in parts of the world. Also on that continuum is domestic abuse and violence against women, which are rampant in this country.
The belief that women are inferior to men allows and fuels misogynist verbal abuse, as well as physical abuse and violence toward women. That belief also is the source of the refusal to condemn the abuse and to actively fight it, and it is the reason that those with the power to do so, lack the will.
LikeLike
I find it hard to take anyone seriously who denigrates women. We lose a lot of time and energy fighting (back) when we need to focus on progress. Reaction is a distraction.
I also grew up in Canada and moved to the US in 1988, when it still seemed fairly civilized. The current war on women is appalling.
LikeLike
You make some excellent points, broadsideblog. . Sadly, the current war on women and women’s rights demands a strong response from women who refuse to lose hard won rights, and who are determined to fight back.
I I checked out your blog, bsb – much good and thought provoking info.
LikeLike
I have been a fan of Uppity’s blog since 2008 (I think.) She has cats that look like mine – hers do martial arts and stuff. I need a nanny to bring mine to those activities.
LikeLike
And there’s the worst part of the continuum, which doesn’t get nearly enough coverage. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people are said to have as much as 14 times the number of hate crimes perpetrated against us than, I think, Latinos. The underlying sexism is staggering. It really *should* get talked about on every feminist blog because if we went after *that*, and I’ve read more than enough to verify this, a lot harder, and called them out on it, and said that we all stand together (including for those who feel they have to hide), then we’d be all the stronger for it. I know some people do, but nowhere near enough. It’s almost always the same states that do something like the “stand your ground” law that also do the same bills restricting women’s rights and the rights of lgbt people. Ironic, isn’t it?
LikeLike