Proud of NYC for honoring the women who built this city. Shirley Chisom will receive a permanent monument in Prospect Park. As the first black woman to serve in Congress, she paved the way for the record number of trailblazing women elected to Congress in 2018.
HBO guest host Brittany Packnett warned white Republican women that they will not be protected from male oppression just because of the color of their skin.
Packnett, an activist for Teach for America, made the remarks during HBO’s weekly Pod Save American program.
“Let’s talk about our sister Stormy Daniels because she absolutely does not deserve the way that this president has been talking about her,” Packnett said. “But here’s what, frankly, worries me. This ‘president’ – yeah, I used air quotes – he has been talking horribly about women since he was a candidate.”
“He admitted to being a sexual assaulter when he was a candidate and 53 percent of white women went ahead and elected him anyway,” she lamented. “So let me talk to my white sisters for a second. I just want to issue a warning and I hope you are listening closely.”
Packnett continued: “I want you tell your mamas and your aunties and your grandmothers – from me – to stop selling us out! Listen, I know it’s really hard but your whiteness will actually not save you from what patriarchy has for you.”
According to Packett, women should learn from the way Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was treated when she testified against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“Right?” Packett pointed out. “We all know what happened to her when she decided to stand up and be a patriot in this country and try to save the rest of us.”
Maybe? The thing is, both ideas are problematic. And it’s more about traditionally masculine things being considered better or stronger than feminine ones and women being “better” for being “not like other girls.” I honestly cannot answer this. But misogyny seems to be a mainstay in nearly every culture… so probably not. Even if a woman is considered better for being domestic, that doesn’t mean domestic skills are considered as important or valued and it is still steeped in regressive gender roles. It’s not “women’s work” that is the problem in and of itself, it is a) considering it “women’s” work in the first place and b) considering it less “cool” or “valid” as, say, being able to change a tire.
Giving up your career is still a big red flag. A lot of women here are expected to, if not give up their career, still put family above that and also still be the primary caregiver, which is just as sexist.
I should note that women in America are still expected to take on the lion’s share of domestic work regardless of whether or not they work. And that just sucks. Maybe “not like other girls” isn’t as prevalent in the East, but 1) I can’t say for sure and 2) that doesn’t mean there aren’t a dozen other sexist attitudes to take its place. But you’re asking a gauche American. All I would really have to ask is: are such skills as valued in men as they are in women? If not… yeah, we still definitely have a problem.
Sad thing, too, because domestic skills are just… you know… being useful. We should just encourage everyone to be as useful as possible.
House of Brat 