This is not Progress

Generational polarization of women in the political debate

A perspective

I have recently read about, and personally experienced, women from older generations, prior Senators of State and acclaimed feminists alike, attacking younger women for their choice to support Bernie Sanders, over Hillary Clinton, in the upcoming election.

‘There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support Hillary’ said Madeleine Albright. Gloria Steinem stated (and later apologized for saying) that ‘young women support Bernie Sanders because they want attention from boys.’

I have been accused of being unsupportive of women, and furthermore, being ignorant to the history that made it possible for women to vote, because of my choice to support Sanders over Clinton.

In light of these recent disturbing attacks on women of younger generations by [some] self proclaimed feminists, let’s visit the meaning of the word ‘feminist’, shall we?

“Feminist” -Definition: advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men

Interesting that “feminist” does not, in fact, mean ‘anti man’. Nor does it mean voting exclusively for women.

The statement, “young women support Bernie Sanders because they want attention from boys” implies that young women aren’t smart enough to think for themselves, when it comes to politics, and that their political motivations are not based on information and education, but on their desire to have sex. It is a sexist and demeaning statement to all women of younger generations and it seems remarkably similar to the despicable arguments used to keep women from having equal rights in the first place.

If there is, in fact, a “special place in hell for women who don’t support women”, wouldn’t there be one for you, Madeleine? Isn’t your statement expressing a blatant lack of support for young women to exercise the very rights that you fought for them to have?

In an attempt to understand why older women would attack younger women in this way, I came up with this speculation.

It seems the older generation feminists feel invalidated by younger women in their fight for equal rights. Perhaps the older generation, having fought for the right of a woman to even run for president, take offense to the choices of younger women to vote for anyone other than the woman who made it on the ballot. The fact that there is a woman on the ballot being enough reason to gain the vote of the generation who fought specifically for her right to be there.

I can see why things could get a little heated.

While the mere thought of a female candidate was seen as a far cry from reality in generations past, in current times, many of us have surpassed the novelty stage of ‘a woman in office’. Therefore younger generations have the ‘luxury’ of focusing on the issues, character, and agenda of the candidates without regard to gender. Believe it or not, this is progress!

The younger generation thinks less about this critical fight for women’s rights, not because it doesn’t matter, or because we’re a bunch of ignorant, uneducated, snotbags, but because we now have this right. Since we have the right, we are no longer focused on fighting for it. This is not intended to be dismissive of the very real struggle that took place in order for us to gain this freedom. It is simply the natural progression of taking action on the issues that are present now.

The irony is this.

The very platform from which the younger generations are speaking from was built by the older generations.

Think about it.

This fight wasn’t fought so that women would be obligated to vote for women alone. It was fought so that women could partake in the political process.

Well, We Are!

As a woman of the younger generation to the older generation, I’m asking you, Please;

Stop criticizing us for standing on the platform that you built. Isn’t this why you built it?

Stop berating us for speaking our minds and voting our conscience. You taught us to do just that.

Stop insulting us with sexist comments about our political motivations. All your efforts are wasted if we become our own oppressor.

Stop accusing us of being unsupportive of women simply because our opinions don’t always agree with yours. We have a different view of the world, and it is valuable too.

Instead of berating us for taking advantage of the liberties that your efforts afforded us, let’s celebrate the significant progress and accomplishment.

This IS the freedom you fought for. Not the freedom for all women to have one opinion. Not to dictate whom she should vote for, but to have the freedom to vote in the first place. To be a part of the political process in the way we, as individuals, feel morally compelled to.

While you had the issues of your time and faced them with determination and steadfast resolve, the younger generations have a whole new set of issues to contend with. Because of the progress you made in the fight for women’s equality, we can now face the fight on the broader issues of the world by educating ourselves, and voting our conscience the way you voted yours by fighting for our rights in the first place.

Regardless of who we vote for, the point is that we have the freedom to vote, and we, as American women of all generations, are standing up to do so.