Today marks the first anniversary of the Obama election. Has the country changed? Hell, yes. Have things sucked in so many ways over the last year – duh. Are we having some really important debates. Yeah. I for one am psyched to get rid of my underinsurance that I pay a fortune for each month and get me some real health insurance.
But lots of things have still not changed and the behind the scenes documentary of the Obama campaign By the People directed by Amy Rice and Alicia Sams airing tonight on HBO reminded me how far we still have to go regarding women’s leadership. Yes, Obama has appointed a lot of great women to his cabinet and to leadership positions which is awesome, but when I watched the movie the thing I noticed most was the absence of women in his campaign. Over the last couple of weeks Obama got a bit of an ass whooping for the male sports focused attitude that seems prevalent in the White House, but once you see the documentary you will understand that it is just an extension of the campaign. There are a couple of very cute scenes with Michelle and Sasha and Malia at home in Chicago, but aside from those scenes the only female voices I heard were the directors asking questions. I saw Valerie Jarrett a couple of times, I saw Anita Dunn in the background once or twice but neither of them featured prominently in the film and neither of them said a word. We have all been told that they were crucial advisers, so how come they weren’t more visible and heard?
The film was fine substantively especially because they were able to uniquely capture Obama speaking in the rain on the day his grandmother died and his emotions were all out there for everyone to see. The film also showed the dedicated commitment of the worker bees on the ground (most all boys again) who worked their asses off to get Obama elected.
But for me the film illustrates how even the most progressive guys (and I am not just singling out Obama, this is about all the men in leadership of his campaign) who care about women’s issues, who live with and love strong feminist women JUST DON’T GET IT. Women need to be everywhere. Seen and heard. It matters.
We need more women in leadership. Bottom line. Commerating this anniversary here are some reflections from the Double X writers on what this year would have been like had Hillary won.
Recent Comments