I hate it when my heroes fuck up. I know, I know. They're human. They're human and prone to making mistakes, like all of us. It sucks that, because they're in the spotlight, their fuckups are more magnified, and so they seem worse than the fuckups you and I get involved in.
As a role model, they should know better, we complain.
It really would be awful to be famous and have to watch what you say all the time since you basically live with a microphone in your face. But when you're paid to say intelligent things into a microphone, and you blow it, you deserve to be called out on it.
Like Gloria Steinem. Yes she's one of my heroes. But, come on. She blew it. You'd think someone who's spent her career fighting for feminist causes would be a bit more open minded about young women's abilities to think for themselves. Instead, she acts like young women are too boy crazy to think for themselves. As if young women only think with their vaginas. Look at
what Steinem said to Bill Maher on his show the other night when he brought up the fact that younger women tend to prefer Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton:
“Men tend to get more conservative because they gain power as they age, women get more radical because they lose power as they age...And, when you’re young, you’re thinking, where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie...”
Huh? What? Did Gloria Steinem really just say young women are too boy crazy to care about politics and to think for themselves? So disappointing.
I'm a woman, and I'm a feminist, and I support Bernie Sanders. Not because he's a man, but in spite of the fact that he's a man. I support Bernie Sanders, regardless of his gender, because I think his policies would benefit all humans. Yes, as a feminist, I'm thrilled to see a woman running for president, and I'll vote for her in November if she beats Bernie in the primaries. I'm certainly not going to waste my vote by staying home when I can at least use it as a vote against Trump or Cruz or whoever else wins the Republican nomination. But, as a woman and a feminist who thinks for herself, I'd much prefer to vote for Bernie. Why? Because Bernie gets it. I've been following him for years now, and he's one of the few politicians who seems to understand the root cause of many of our nations' problems: greed. Hillary Clinton has many fine policies, but one thing she doesn't seem to get is that the greedy Wall Street bankers and their legislative cronies are making it harder and harder for everyday people like you and me to get by. I'd prefer to vote for Bernie because I recognize that voting for a woman whose gender matches mine but whose policies do not align with mine is voting against my best interests.
Ironically, Hillary Clinton, a woman, represents the status quo in this race. Bernie Sanders, an elderly man, represents change, which is what our federal government needs if we don't want to end up like Rome.
Being a civic minded adult is hard, whether you're young or old. Politics and elections are complex. Everything is not black and white, male and female, good vs evil. Let's give young women the respect they deserve. Let's acknowledge that young women are quite capable of thinking for themselves. Honestly, if you're a woman, and you're voting for Hillary Clinton simply because of her gender and not her policies, that's not using your brain, Sister.
