Obama Speaks on Women…
October 21, 2009
by The New Agenda
|Obama was interviewed this evening on MSNBC by Savannah Guthrie. The President touches on a number of women’s issues. Tell us what you think (skip forward to 5:00 to start):
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Here’s one opinion on the video in Politico: President Obama defends all-male hoops game:
President Barack Obama spoke candidly about the tensions in the early days of his marriage to First Lady Michelle Obama during an interview with NBC News’ Savannah Guthrie Wednesday…
…Five years ago, six years ago, though, we were having a lot of negotiations,” Obama said. Michelle Obama, he said, wanted to know, if their daughters get sick, “why is it that she’s the one who has to take time off of her job to go pick them up from school, as opposed to me? You know— the girls need to shop for clothes. You know? Why is it that it’s her burden,” the president said.
“The truth is,” Obama said, that Michelle “still had to make sacrifices … of the sort that I didn’t have to make.”
Men, he said, “are still a little obtuse about this stuff.” And he said men “need to be knocked across the head every once in awhile” to see the female perspective, and be sure everyone in the family is treated fairly…
…Obama also rejected the suggestion that his basketball game with male congressional leaders was somehow sexist because no women were invited.
“I think this is bunk,” Obama said. He explained that he invited the regular House of Representatives pick-up basketball players. “I don’t know if there are women who— were Members of Congress who play basketball on a regular basis,” Obama said. “I don’t think there are. You know, I don’t think sends any kind of message or signal whatsoever.”
On that point, the president seemed to differ from his own press secretary, who took a different tack when asked about the basketball game at the White House briefing. “I would say that the point is well taken,’ said Robert Gibbs. “The President obviously is someone who, as the father of two young daughters, has an avid interest in their competing against anybody on the playing field. The President has certainly played basketball and other sports with women in the past, and I anticipate he’ll do so in the future.”
Women always carry most of the burdens with the kids in a family.Sometimes women have to tell their mate where they need to start to help.
I can’t believe that powerful men don’t realize that socializing with their peers and their subordinates in a venue that excludes women is denying women equal access to the decision-making process. Whether it’s the basketball court, the golf course, or the strip club, relationships are established between the men attending that exclude women from the “old boys club”. To jump on this by suggesting that he doesn’t think the women in house or the senate want to play basketball with him makes Obama look foolish. The bottom line is that it is inappropriate for him to play basketball with congressmen. If he needs to shoot some hoops for recreation, he should play with the secret service. I’m sure a female agent could hold her own with the guys. I think men deliberately choose to socialize in venues unfriendly to women, and that includes our president.
I have listened to most of the video and I have many many questions. Most of them start with the word, HOW. The Lily Ledbetter Act is only as good as those who police it. If I find out that a male colleague of mine makes more than me for doing the same work and I cannot get my employer to rectify the situation, I can sue them. Nice. HOW am I supposed to find out? HOW will you police this with every employer in America?
The next topic was about stereotypical womens jobs such as teaching and nursing are undervalued in our society. He said they should be paid more. HOW? When states are cutting education budgets left and right and a universal healthcare plan will also make similar types of budget cuts for hospital staff and reduce costs for care for the elderly; HOW will increasing their salaries happen?
In regard to your basketball game. It is indeed an ol’ boys club. That is how women have been kept out of informal networking for years and years. It is not “bunk”, Mr. President. It is fact. You make connections with Male Congress members and your male staff there that you cannot make ANY OTHER WAY. HOW are the women on your staff supposed to get that kind of informal networking time with you and other male staff?
Regarding your last statements on gaining new “perspectives” by having women on your staff. Lucky for you you have any women on your staff at all. The probability that you will get the multitude of perspectives that women bring to the table is proportional to the % of women you have on your senior staff. If you only have 10% of women Czars, then the probability of gaining significant ground on a woman’s perspective is pretty darn low. If you don’t have equal representation of men to women in your cabinet, then you will miss out on many perspectives that will be crucial to you as you make decisions regarding women. Secretary Clinton is good at many things, but she does not represent every perspective on women. Neither does Valerie Jarrett or Anita Dunn. Since they have to neutralize the blather coming out of Larry Summers, you need to boost your % of women represented even higher to get even a word in edgewise.
I would be interested in hearing if Liberal Women who have stuck with the party through their descent into public misogyny are pleased with BOs performance or rhetoric on women’s issues. I am not but then I didn’t expect anything out of him.
You can tell by his body language he was angry about the basketball issue. I also noticed he said “look!” several times which is what politicians (especially men) say when they are about to go to their talking points. And he brought up his “strengths” when it comes to women: he has a strong wife, he is raising two small girls, his mother was a single mother, he appointed HRC. Whenever people are defending him against sexism claims, they always bring this up, the media and he does too. It is obviously a talking point. He seem uncomfortable talking about women’s issues and that he has a chip on his shoulder about anyone saying he isn’t pro women (”let’s not gloss over that!”). I don’t know what his problem with women is. It really doesn’t make sense.
That being said, I have to say I loved his final talking point. So whoever of these strong women in his life and on his staff are giving him his talking points, Brava!
“promoting gender equality is not a burden but instead is a huge opportunity.”
That was the final sentence of the video.
I wonder if all-white golf resorts can get away with that argument about how it’s “bunk?”
Actually, I don’t wonder. Racism is always worse since that splashes on actual humans. You know, MEN.
Bes, thjy’re fine with it, trust me. The levels of denial seeping in from that end of the planet are pretty high.
I think I must have hooked up with you all at the wrong time in my life. When I was really angry at the Radical Feminists, I was willing to question everything I’d ever believed about my fellow Liberals. Now that I’m over it, I feel very differently. I totally trust this man. I think he’s in a very difficult situation but he’s trying to do the best he can for as many people as he possibly can. I didn’t really realize how much I still believed in some of that stuff until I heard other women taking cheap shots at the Democrats in general, and him in particular. Yes, he’s a man. Yes, he had faults and blind spots. Yes, I have some criticisms of him too, mostly about the wars and what appears to be the lack of a public option on health insurance. It’s understandable that you’re mad after what happened to Hillary but look how she’s handling it. She may yet be the first woman President. If you can’t give Barak and Michelle the benefit of the doubt, can’t you at least try to consider her views?
Samanthasmom has it exactly right.
We thought we had this problem solved decades ago when it became essentially illegal to hold work-related meetings in clubs that didn’t admit women. But men can still finding ways around it. Basketball courts now. The President just doesn’t’ get it. This is a step backwards for women – to 30 years ago. It’s like Obama making a joke about Larry Summers comments about women. Would Obama have made a joke about how Mr. Gates was treated? Of course not. Obama understands race bias but not gender bias.
But we knew that from the primary.
So no news here.
Just discouraging as hell.
A president who is dragging women backwards.
[...] this month. When MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie asked Obama if these all-male games were sexist, Obama responded: “I think this is [...]
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