IN MY SHOES: I Am A Hybrid - And How Cool Is That!
By Cynthia Ruccia
Special To The Stiletto Blog
The best I can say about Election Night is that I survived it. I cried a bucket and couldn't sleep that night. I was inert the next day. Honestly, it felt like a death blow to my soul.
At the same time I was amazed by my reaction, and another part of me was thinking: “What the f***? Why am I being so, well, melodramatic?”
I mean, I'm as happy as anyone that we have broken an important racial barrier in this country. Well, maybe not as happy. I couldn't exactly dance in the streets over it, and can hardly crack a smile over it. But deep down inside, I'm glad for it.
On the surface, however, my emotional catatonia can be attributed to the realization that Barack Obama’s election only confirms that women don’t count in this country. Before we al pat ourselves on the back for electing Obama, let’s remember that the Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin candidacies exposes an ugly truth about our society: That violent, ugly expressions of misogyny remain perfectly acceptable. Day after day after day. And day after day. And so on. And no one protested, not even the feminist establishment.
It felt personal to me, and I know I am hardly alone. For years, women had put their trust in the Democratic Party and in NOW and other second-wave women's groups to stamp out the scourge of sexism in all of its manifestations. We were under the delusion that misogyny was passé - at least, for the most part – and that women were accepted and respected in all walks of life.
We now know we were wrong in our assumptions about women’s place in modern American society – we’re second-class citizens, make no mistake about it – and about what he Democratic Party and second-wave feminists actually stand for. This awful discovery that there is a complete vacuum of leadership on women's issues is actually a blessing in disguise, because like-minded feminists have started to unify around a common theme: Sexism is un-American, morally wrong and beneath us as a country.
The New Agenda, of which I am a co-founder, has been formed to fill this void. We are pioneering a new wave of feminism – call it the Fourth Wave, if you will – and we are determined to get the job done this time.
Our goals: to expose sexism – even when it is perpetrated by some women against other women; to get more women elected, regardless of political and policy beliefs; and to bring women together so we can leverage our strength in numbers. By the way, The New Agenda also welcomes men, and they have been joining our movement in impressive numbers.
Oh, the hybrid thing? I'm now neither Democrat nor Republican. I'll never again love everything about one party and vilify everything about the other party. I will judge each on its own merit. I'll be a hybrid, a little of each and the best of both – and I urge you to become a hybrid, too. We women can't sell ourselves so cheaply ever again. Hybrid's the way to go!
Yes, 2008 has been just plain awful for the women's rights struggle. But let's get over our shock and sadness and come together to overcome the national shame of sexism and misogyny – you, know, change we can believe in.
Editorial Note: Cynthia Ruccia’s last post was a first-person piece, “If The Election Were Held Today …” She has also written about attending the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN, and the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO, for this blog. She is a co-founder of Women for Fair Politics and of The New Agenda. Until the 2008 election, she had been a Democrat for 40 years. She has been married to Nick Ruccia for 35 years, and they have two sons, Daniel, 25, and Michael, 19.
Man, I hear you there. I was appalled by the Palin coverage. I honestly thought they would know better than to ask whether a woman with minor children at home AND A FULL TIME SPOUSE- sorry- ought to run for Vice President. I know Palin is Us and they are Them so people like Charlie Gibson are going to play "Gotcha!" with Sarah Palin but I thought some things were finally beyond the pale. W-R-O-N-G !!! I will not vote for someone because of gender, but they owe us big time.
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