Open Thread for Night Owls & Early Birds

A month ago, Kathy G., who ought to be on everybody's daily must-read list, wrote a fine piece at her blog, The G Spot, called The Hillary-ization of Michelle Obama, in which she pounded on Christopher Hitchens's May 5 screed in Slate. But she dug a good deal deeper, and I am going to quote her at considerable length.

The Hitchens piece, contemptible piece o' shite though it is, a surefire sign that, now that it's clear Hillary's presidential campaign is all but over, the right is proceeding apace with its attempt to Hillary-ize Michelle Obama. We have, of course, all heard about how "unpatriotic" she is. Maureen Dowd has already cattily attacked her for not being sufficiently deferential to her husband. And now we're being treated to Hitchens' exegesis of how her college term papers prove she's really Stokely Carmichael in drag. Delightful! But hey . . . radical, unfeminine, unpatriotic -- remind you of any other right-wing caricatures of a certain prominent Democratic woman with a famous husband?    

It's not surprising that they're doing this to Michelle, because it's one of the most basic moves in the wingnut playbook. All Democrats are radicals who hate America, of course; in addition, all female Democrats are ballbusting beeyotches (just as all male Democrats are girly-men). The gender crap, sadly, is probably still going to be an issue for any Democratic first lady. The only first ladies who seem to  be noncontroversial and enjoy wide popularity are the ones who, like Pickles, resemble Stepford wives. But overwhelmingly, it seems to be Republicans, not Democrats, who marry that sort of woman.

The role of first lady tends to be a poor fit for today's Democratic wives, many of whom have been outspoken women with significant careers of their own. Though, of course, virtually any modern woman would chafe against the ridiculous 19th century-style confines of the role. Even the title itself -- "first lady" -- has the musty odor of an antique about it. It's a term that sounds like it's straight out of the 19th cult of true womanhood.

And speaking of the cult of true womanhood -- here is the classic article on the subject, by the historian Barbara Welter (I took her undergrad course in the history of American women, more years ago than I'd care to remember). This is the opening paragraph of that article:

   

The nineteenth-century American man was a busy builder of bridges and railroads, at work long hours in a materialistic society. The religious values of his forbears were neglected in practice if not in intent, and he occasionally felt some guilt that he had turned this new land, this temple of the chosen people, into one vast countinghouse. But he could salve his conscience by reflecting that he had left behind a hostage, not only to fortune, but to all the values which he held so dear and treated so lightly. Woman, in the cult of True Womanhood presented by the women's magazines, gift annuals, and religious literature of the nineteenth century, was the hostage in the home. In a society where values changed frequently, where fortunes rose and fell with frightening rapidity, where social and economic mobility provided instability as well as hope, one thing at least remained the same - a true woman was a true woman, wherever she was found. If anyone, male or female, dared to tamper with the complex of virtues that made up True Womanhood, he was damned immediately as the enemy of God, of civilization, and of the Republic. It was the fearful obligation, a solemn responsibility, which the nineteenth-century American woman had - to uphold the pillars of the temple with her frail white hand.

I always did love that phrase about the true woman holding up "the pillars of the temple with her frail white hand." "First lady" is a term which originated in the 19th century, and the role of first lady was very much part and parcel of the cult of true womanhood. But, as we see, the cult of true womanhood was very much a racial construct -- that was (a lot of) the point. So if Michelle Obama ascends to the role which is the apotheosis of the cult of true womanhood -- the role of First Lady of the United States -- I predict that wingnut heads will explode throughout the land. And there will be a whole other layer of bullshit Michelle will have to deal with. In addition to the anti-Democrat bullshit, and the sexist bullshit, there will be, of course, the racist bullshit.

My heart goes out to her. The road she will be traveling on will be a difficult one, in particular because there is no one in the history of America who has trod that particular path before. She is an exceedingly courageous person to have chosen such a public role. Just by sheer virtue of being black and female, and daring to live a public life, she will be highly controversial. She will attract a hell of a lot of ugly hatred. Even for a person as strong as I am sure she is, there are sure to be times when that will be very, very hard to take.  

What I'm wondering right now is, what can we - as Democrats, as feminists, as people who are deeply committed to racial equality -- do to help and support her?

This isn't the last time Kathy G has focused on the intersection of racism and sexism as regards Michelle Obama and this campaign, and you can count on her to do it again as the inevitable slurs and smears emerge. Some folks here and elsewhere in wwwLand have repeatedly argued that we should get past racism and sexism and move on. I couldn't agree more. But anybody who thinks we as a nation can move on without talking about it, and talking about it again, and again, and actually doing something about it, are confused over how change actually occurs.

Total U.S. military fatalities in Iraq since March 2003: 4094

Total coalition fatalities in the same period: 4407

Total number of U.S. military suicides as a result of the Iraq invasion and occupation: Unknown, hundreds at least

Total number of Iraqi deaths because of the invasion and occupation: Unknown. As many as 1.4 million, possibly more

The Overnight News Digest has been posted.

Sign the "Ex-Hillary Fans For McCain" Pledge

(Promoted by kos)

Dear ex-Hillary fans who are showing their support for her by ignoring her call to support Obama and supporting McCain,

First, I'd like to congratulate you. You've asked yourself WWJMD and you've decided to vote against your own interests and principles while furthering Senator McCain's. Before you're allowed on the band wagon, we are asking you to sign the following oath. A McCain presidency will mean different things for different people, so we have tailored the oaths accordingly.

   * commitment to the Army's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy because to "even reopen the issue" would be a "terrific mistake."

Sincerely,
Signature __________

Sincerely,
Signature __________

Straight white men, I bet you thought we left you out. This country may have turned its back on you, but we haven't. Here's a pledge of your own:

I _____________ pledge to transfer my support from Hillary Clinton to John McCain. I agree to do all I can do to get McCain the vote. In order to achieve this noble goal I promise to support McCain's...

Sincerely,
Signature ________________________________

**Although McCain and Hagee have since un-endorsed each other, that was not until Hagee's controversial Holocaust speech was discovered. McCain didn't think Hagee's position on gay people (or women of Muslims, for that matter) warrant his disavowal.

[originally posted at http://katiehalper.com/ and Living Liberally]

Open Thread and Diary Rescue

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are jlms qkw, PaintyKat, Got A Grip, dopper0189, Avila and joyful, with YatPundit guiding the streetcar down St. Charles Avenue.

• irishwitch reflects on Simple Gifts: Dancing the Dance of Life. (jlms qkw)
• Bcgntn ponders whether Americans have adequate time remaining to respond to our energy crisis, or will we continue with waste and consumption of energy in Let Them Eat Oil. (PaintyKat)
• In searching her past, exmearden finds hope for a brighter tomorrow in Lost objects, second chances, claim tickets. (Got a Grip)
• Diarist and author inflector looks at how the way we finance our school system leads to its many failures in Screwing the Kids Part I - Racism and Scholastic Segregation. (dopper0189)
• AdmiralNaismith suggests that tonight we Focus On....CALIFORNIA!!! (50-state series). (jlms qkw)
• davidkc identifies a great disconnect that will affect McCain's chances of winning the presidency in McCain's gaping "generation gap" problem. (Got a Grip)
• Vyan uses graphs and research to map out some hopeful news in This is where the Real Presidential Race Begins... (Avila)
• dday suggests that the GOP has a big problem with The Enthusiasm Gap between their religious base and their presidential candidate. (joyful)
• dogemperor checks in on The potential naming problem for Obama's "Joshua Generation Project". (joyful)
• attytood proposes a more suitable means for newspapers to address the needs of their customer base in Major newspaper goes on witch-hunt for "liberal bias". (PaintyKat)
• Helpful advice from DailyKos' own Technology Guru, ct, on A Way to Scale Your Blog. (joyful)

Please join Diary Rescue this evening by promoting your own picks in this Open Thread.

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