Comments on: The “Double Whammy” Theory on Smearing Michelle Obama

By: Continued Racism… « SMRZ

Continued Racism… « SMRZ — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:55:26 +0000

[...] are a few snippets from the transcript, Michelle Obama Watch has more here and here. You can also watch the video [...]

By: New Fox racist smear on Obama (calls Michelle "Obama's baby mamma") - Page 7 - Political Forum - US & World Political Discussion Forums

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:06:11 +0000

[...] is another one for you, WEB. Michelle Obama Watch [...]

By: rikyrah

rikyrah — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:31:53 +0000

I’m hoping that maybe we’ll get something in Essence about these attacks on Michelle, but I’ll be for real – I’m not expecting much.

I am happy that the Black Blogosphere is trying to do its part in defending Mrs. Obama.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:03:00 +0000

Let me just add my two cents. As a non-feminist ( don’t ask, just accept), I am kinda out of the loop on the whole first, second, third wave issues, I will leave that discussion to those more well versed.

I can say that I have been OVERWHELMED by the support from some of the larger feminist blogs and mainstream media. In fact not a single Black-run publication has written about this other than Black bloggers.

I also suspect that unlike my main blog, a large portion of the readers here are not African American. You can’t really tell on the internet unless people self identify.

So people of all races and genders are mingling around here, drawn by the treatment of an African American woman. So I hope from your discussion on this particular issue you can reach some greater understanding.

On one of the other threads there was a post from what I am assuming is a White woman reminding us that they suffer from misogyny and abuse as well. Maybe the next time around. Black women and White women will work together so that one day we’ll be talking about monitoring the media coverage of a Black woman running to run the West Wing vs the East Wing.

Carry on.

By: Bella

Bella — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:23:11 +0000

Point well taken. I remember reading that post at ABW, and I completely agree(d). I wonder (and hope that) we’re seeing a split between second and third wave feminism. When I was reading your post I was thinking about the (mostly white) feminist channels that *I* tune into regularly (like the blogs above), but I guess those aren’t exactly considered to be The Voice of Feminism the way that Gloria Steinem and Co. are. Interesting.

By: Hawa

Hawa — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:18:37 +0000

LaLa and Bella:

Thanks for the response. While I appreciate that blogs like Feministe have joined the fight to defend Michelle Obama, feminists who have a voice in mainstream media (and fought tooth and nail to defend Hillary Clinton) have not used their mainstream media influence to defend Michelle Obama at the same level.

It’s possible that such support will eventually surface. But for now, Black women like Shss continue to lament the disparity between the overall feminist movement and the channels from which Black and Latina women receive aggressive defense.

The Angry Black Woman Blog talks about the plight of Black women in the feminist movement in the blog post “Feminism still isn’t for black women:
http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/2008/02/14/a-black-woman-contemplates-breaking-up-with-feminism/

In the end, I’m glad that Obama’s success in the primary election process has opened new debates or race, class, and gender in the U.S.

Thanks for reading!

By: Bella

Bella — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:31:47 +0000

I was also concerned that white feminists would be silent about Michelle Obama’s treatment, but was heartened to see posts on the prominent feminist blogs that LALA mentioned above.

Here is the post on Feministe that talks about it and links to this site, among others:

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2008/06/14/michelle-obama-watch/#more-7534

By: Lala

Lala — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:10:26 +0000

I’m wondering how you could have missed the feminists who are defending Michelle Obama. It seems to me that all the big feminist blogs are really trying to keep up with it – I know that Shakesville, Feministe, and Feministing have all linked to this blog in particular and recommended that it be added to all readers’ blog lists. I think it’s disingenuous to insinuate that feminists aren’t defendending Michelle Obama (which is untrue) and therefore are racists who only care about sexism against white women.