Yesterday Courtney Martin and I had a little convo about Robin Morgan’s latest piece over at the Women’s Media Center, in comments. Thought I’d share snippets here:

CM: Did you really think she was at her best D? You know I love me some WMC, and I thought it was chock full of interesting details, but I’m not sure this is a terribly effective way to communicate. Seems like a terribly effective way to alienate. And make the converted chuckle.

DS: Ok Court, you made me read it very closely again. I found objectionable parts. Like, “Bottom line: Obama’s book title: Dreams from My Father. McCain’s book title: Faith of My Fathers. Patriarchy? You think? Neither one gets it. BUT. One doesn’t not get it much more than the other.” I think of it differently. And I also think this line is a bit of doublespeak: “HRC campaigned intrepidly. But her campaign was unworthy of her—and that’s her fault.” If it’s her fault, then it’s her fault. Just own it. And lastly, this line: “We must never again collaborate in our own invisibility.” Not sure I agree with Morgan that that’s what happened in the primaries.

But other than that, I did think the piece–full of vitriol, yes, and sure to p** off the nonconverted–was effective in terms of pulling together a lot of what I’ve been thinking about the Palin-McCain ticket and hence in rallying a base. I do think outrage is called for in the face of McPalin. And I agree it’s not exactly a bridge-building kind of piece. But tell me more C — what specifically turned you off? The tone? The format? The content? I wanna know.

CM: You pointed out lots of the things that irritated me, but even more than that, I just find Morgan’s overall tone so alienating. It’s like, and I feel bad writing this but it’s really how I feel, a feminist Dowd…too clever and snarky and sarcastic to really communicate from the heart. Maybe I’m just cheesy, but my favorite writers get at the HEART of politics. I feel like she’s missing heart. (I’m also, totally admittedly, still angry at the way she characterized young feminists in her last controversial piece.)

It all got me thinking a lot about feminist messages and communication styles. Got thoughts on this? I’m curious to hear!