Women and Politics

I’ve attended Netroots Nation in the past as a candidate, which helped propel my online campaign to a whole new level. This year, I had the pleasure of attending Netroots as the President/CEO of WCF, which was a tremendously enriching experience.

It was inspiring to listen to and meet women like Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend—who I watched win one of the first annual WMC Women in Media awards earlier this year, presented to her by Gloria Steinem.

Of many panels I attended, one that especially stood out to me was about feminist blogging, organized by former WCF blogger and PunditMom, Joanne Bamberger. What a thrill it was to hear Amanda Marcotte, Jill Filipovic, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Lindsay Beyerstein, and Pam talk about their pioneering work as feminist bloggers! These remarkable young women leaders are the future of the movement.

What really stood out for me was that as women bloggers, their very presence on a blog required the addition of “trap doors” and enhanced “TOS (Terms of Service)” due to the instant misogyny their presence elicited. Striking. These are the hurdles that men never experience.

There are also, of course, challenges that are unique to women candidates. We all agreed, audience and panel alike, that we cannot let blatant sexism thrive in our political system anymore.

I shared my story of when I was running for U.S. Congress in 2008: My local paper plucked from the internet this juicy tidbit and decided it was appropriate to run day after day on the front page (I apologize for the profanity):

“Sammy Bennett is a phony political wh***, who makes cheap political opportunists look like fuc**** Mother Theresa. Even her c*** is made of plastic.”

Yes, folks—misogyny is alive and well. We must create a unified force against all kinds of institutionalized and accepted sexism, whether it be as blatant and crass as I encountered, or more covert.

With the support of the amazing women activists and bloggers I met at Netroots, I know we have the players on the field to fight—and one day win—this battle.

Tags: bloggers, feminism, feminist, misogyny, netroots nation, sexism