THE PARTY LINE - BIG TIME - AT 8:25 A.M. ET:  I make a sharp distinction between women's rights and feminism.  Equal treatment for women is a responsible and noble goal.  (In this connection I should point out that George W. Bush appointed more women to high positions than any other president.)  Feminism is more of an ideological movement, sometimes almost religious, and often hard to define.  At Wellesley College, Hillary's alma mater, the word is often pluralized - feminisms - to denote the different interpretations.

But the question must be asked:  Does feminism today have much to do with women, or is it just a branch office of the political left?  The answer seems to be increasingly disturbing.

Kim Gandy, the radical former president of NOW (National Organization for Women) spoke at Harvard, which provides a loving home for every bad idea in American politics.  Her subject was the stereotyping of women in political affairs.  It's what she didn't say that was most telling.  From the Harvard Crimson:

The sexist portrayal of women politicians in the media is “not just a right wing thing” but a problem spanning across the ideological spectrum, said former President of National Organization of Women (NOW) Kim Gandy in a forum held last night in Emerson Hall.

The event—hosted by the Harvard College Women’s Center—featured the screening of television video clips followed by Gandy’s commentary and an interactive discussion between the current Kennedy School Institute of Politics fellow and audience members.

Gandy called attention to the apparent double standard that exists in the media’s treatment of women either running for or serving in public office, with the majority of the night’s conversation focused on Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primary elections.

COMMENT:  There is not, in this article, a single reference to Sarah Palin, the only woman who actually ran on a national ticket last year.  She does not exist in the eyes of the "feminist" movement.

Yet it was Sarah Palin, not Hillary Clinton, who got the brunt of any sexism that we saw in the campaign.  Charlie Gibson would never have treated a man the way he treated Sarah. 

So-called "women's" organizations can address these issues intelligently when they become more inclusive, and come to understand that radical Marxists are not necessarily who American women look to for guidance.

October 21, 2009