politics: election 2008

You may have seen this Hillary Clinton nutcracker around, but did you know they are selling it at the super popular Urban Outfitters?

Analiese M. said that when she “ran across this item in Urban Outfitters online store… [she] emptied [her] shopping cart.” Awesome, Analiese!

NEW: A commenter on this post, Ana, says she found this on the Urban Outfitters store also:

Note: It also comes in George W. Bush, but not Barack Obama.

More sexism and racism in the 2008 elections: sexist anti-Hillary propaganda, comparing sexism and racism, and “How do we beat the bitch?”

One of the frames for Obama and his candidacy that Wendy’s post didn’t cover involved the extent to which he does whiteness (and the degree to which we approve). This t-shirt, available on CafePress, riffs on his whiteness and the common compliment/insult about black people’s ability to be articulate:

Thanks to Jenny S. for sending along this image!

This commentary by Dan Charnas on Obama’s speech and the public reaction (found here) might inspire an interesting class discussion on race, politics, and getting along:

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/808451[/vimeo]

White People, Get Over Yourselves from Dantrification on Vimeo.

Thanks to Lawgeek for sending this our way!

.

While we’re on the topic of the current presidential campaign…

I’ve noticed something interesting about the images and phrases used to criticize Clinton and Obama. Why does the majority of anti-Clinton rhetoric use sexist images and language? And how prevelant is the (expected?) matching racism in the anti-Obama rhetoric and images? Why, instead, does Obama’s national allegiance and patriotism come into question? I think this would make for a great class discussion on intersectionality, an what prejudices are perceived to be “socially acceptable.”

Some possible questions for discussion:

• Is it more socially acceptable to be overtly sexist than overtly racist? Why?
• Why might it seem to be more okay to question someone’s patriotism/nationalism than to be overtly racist? What is the difference?
• What is really racist that doesn’t immediately appear racist?

And the images– again these come from Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members. See also previous images of Hillary Clinton here and here.

“I found my voice”:

“Stop mad cow”:

“Fly, my pretties, fly!  Bring me the presidency”:

And now for Obama…

And here are some attacking Barack Obama’s nationality and patriotism:

And the infamous image (more info from snopes.com):

Thanks Ali V!

More on Hilary Clinton here, here, here, and here.

Axe body spray is so powerful, a woman will give up all her dreams and become putty in your hands if you wear it.

Axe and Dove are owned by the same company, so keep that in mind when you encounter the “pro-woman” Dove ad campaigns.

Despite all kinds of “truces” and “promises” in the media lately about “leaving race and gender out” of the democratic primaries, gender and race are obviously a part of this presidential election cycle.

But, here’s a newsflash: even when the candidates are all white men, gender and race are STILL a part of the decisions made about who should be president.

Think back to 2004 for a moment– remember all those political cartoons criticizing Kerry for being too “French” (as opposed to American Cowboy) and generally feminizing his image (feminine = bad for politics) in political cartoons.

I’m fascinated by the anti-Hillary Clinton facebook groups. There are dozens of these groups, but four groups have the most members.

• Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich– 30,000+ members
• Anti Hillary Clinton for President ’08– 65,000+ members
• Stop Hillary Clinton: One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary– 700,000+ members
• Life’s a Bitch, Why Vote for One?– 14,000+ members

So this morning I spent some time looking at the images that dominate these groups. The images these groups use to criticize Clinton as a presidential candidate make it pretty clear that sexism is alive and well (beyond the protesters asking Clinton to iron their shirts)– and that gendered ways to talk about politics are as cogent as ever! Here’s a smattering for you– there are so many I couldn’t possibly post them all!

And the intersection of race and gender…

Hecklers shout at Clinton to “iron my shirt!” at a campaign speech in New Hampshire:See the video:[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjS8_WWhjao[/youtube] Via the Huffington Post.