Web Letters: Barack Obama, Feminist in Chief?

Feminists for Obama exists as an official supporter group within the Obama community and I have participated actively in that group since February 2008. We are feminists who supported Obama months before Hillary left the race. Once Obama had secured the nomination of the Democratic party, another Feminists for Obama was created by Feminist Majority, and there are a few other FFOs floating around Facebook.

I'm writing as a longtime feminist who just spent nine months of my life working to get Obama elected. The dialogue on our listserve went well beyond what I observed on other supporter lists--we were sharing our personal stories and forging real relationships. We wrote A Powered Woman: Feminist Platform for Obama, which exists as a Google Doc. It's a visionary, radical document.

As soon as Obama won the presidency, I shifted my organizing to Facebook and am now developing Feminist Advisory Board for Obama. We are about visibility of real women, especially women who are invisible to mainstream media. We are about creating access points to the conversation and reaching out to women who are not yet confident enough to enter the blogosphere or political process. We will build our table and invite Obama to listen to what we know.

I invite you to visit my blogs and Feminist Advisory Board's Facebook page.

Madama Ambi

Phoenix, AZ

Too bad Katha Pollitt can't quite overcome the tendency to discriminate. As President-elect Obama makes his selections it is absolutely out of the question that his choices of the best would perfectly match the ratios of blacks to whites, male to female, Catholic to Protestant etc. At any given time the best might be all of one or all the other. Then it will be time to keep a watchful, critical eye. He shouldn't ever pass over a best choice just because he or she doesn't balance some ratio.

Dave Cox

Sellersburg, IN

Let's listen to the deafening silence from Obama and his people on the outrageous fratboy behavior of his chief speechwriter. Take a look at the Facebook photos (removed, of course, but widely available online) of said speechwriter groping a cutout of HRC, while a colleague (wearing "Obama staff," no less) puts a beer to her cardboard lips.

Nothing, from Obama, for what in most corporations would be a firing offense. And what's the word from many people? The equivalent of "boys will be boys," and "lighten up." That speechwriter should have been fired, immediately.

So, forgive me if I think Obama, he of "lay off my wife," after he dispatches her to campaign for him, is somewhat less than enthusiastic about backing women. I think he agrees women are equals on one level. I also think he, big strong man, is smarter and should be in charge, always.

Beth Bales

Geneva, IL