Under the PUMA Umbrella: Afrocity and Donna Darko Are Spot On! And where is Heidi Li?

It takes a while to find out who the deep thinkers in this movement are. One has to work backwards.... from some of the higher profile "political reporting" blogs to the more obscure, philosophically oriented ones.

The first true gem of a Feminist philosopher I found, while navigating the Pumasphere, was Heidi Li Feldman. But, she has been silent of late. So I've had to go poking about for other purveyors of cutting edge Feminist analysis.

Imagine my pleasure then, just this very week, to stumble upon Afrocity's assessment of how the boyz in the GOP are treating Sarah Palin about now. This author's grasp of western, anti-woman, mythologies is plainly obvious. Her choices of artwork, stunning! I was, quite honestly, bowled over by the deep truths the lie between the lines in her deft analysis.

That such an awesome piece comes on the heels of Donna Darko's excellent rant about why white women are not responsible for other people's misconceptions about Feminism speaks for the incredible wealth of wisdom within the PUMA movement. Yes, Ms. Darko nailed it. Hit the ball out of the park, so to speak. Home run!!

Yoohoo! PUMAs!! We have some real thinkers here! Top notch movers and shakers. Herstorians in the truest sense. Their writings deserve attention... the kind of attention that only we can garner for them. And only if we broaden our movement, rather than narrow it.

So, let's not waste time bickering about whether we should more closely associate with Democrats or Republicans. OK?

Let's embrace them BOTH. And more!

SYD

PS. Many thanks to all who have continued to call for a broad PUMA umbrella this week. This (photo above) was the broadest I could find.

Golf anyone?

Reactions to the Ms.Ogyny Are Varied

Around the Pumasphere I have found them to range from humorous, to angry, to scholarly. A few examples would be:
THE NEW AGENDA wonders if NOW will appoint John Edwards to replace Kim Gandy.

PUMA PAC is calling for a letter writing campaign to Ms. Magazine.

Now that the bar has been set so low, THE CONFLUENCE is seeing Feminists everywhere.

RIVERDAUGHTER would like us to remember what a REAL feminist looks like.

Yet again, at The Confluence, TAGGLES is reminded of an Andy Kaufman routine.

Some of the responses to my own musings on the subject have been enlightening as well. For instance, Lawmom (a Kentucky lawyer who works with victims of abuse) responded to my post at Team Sarah. She thought Ms. Magazine was spoofing itself. Seriously. She thought it was a joke. As if Ms. was saying "look what some nuts are calling Feminist."

Here on my blogspot, I was reminded by Kat In Your Hat, that Donna Brazile is on the editorial board at Ms. That does explain alot, now, doesn't it?

I'm sure there are places where the discussion leans more toward "Well, he is a feminist." But I don't frequent O-bot boards. So I'm not seeing those. My response, however, would be along the lines that HEIDI LI's is. "if a feminist looks like President-elect Obama then a feminist looks exactly like somebody who has done nothing, and I do mean nothing, to suggest that he will fight for increased social justice for women."

Or, maybe ... if I was a well spoken historian... I'd say something in the vein of what Anna Belle tells us at PEACOCKS AND LILLIES. "The idea of Barack Obama as Superfeminist is absurd and offensive, but it is also a trick. We’ve seen this kind of rehabilitation before. We saw it with Summers and Favreau, when articles that showed them a favorable light, especially articles by women began to emerge from various media outlets. This is also the same technique we’ve seen the Bush Administration use for eight long years now. Whenever a problem comes up, run it through your personal propaganda mill, the press, and change the narrative."

For me, yet again, it comes down to the sad realization that ... not only have women suffered tremendous abuses of power in the 2008 campaign season, but our own "mothers" have turned on us.

Ms. is corroborating with our abusers. And, that, my friends... is the worst kind of betrayal there is.

S.Y.D.

ADDENDUMS:

1) Some of the bloggers I am referencing are up for Weblog awards. Go HERE to vote for them!

2)Today's image from DancesWithPumas via PUMA PAC.

3) I suspect there will be more and more reaction to the Ms.Ogyny today. I'll try to add links as they come my way!