N.O.W. posted a “Media Hall of Shame ‘2008 Election Edition.’” Their most recent edition, posted today, decries the sexist nature of the September 2008 US Weekly article alleging Sarah Palin’s sordid details of “Babies, Lies and Scandal.” Somehow their Suzy-Come-Lately’ routine fails to impress me. In fact, my initial reaction was to blurt out loud “Who the heck do they think they are?” Many of us have figured out that N.O.W. is NOT an organization that promotes women.
What’s the matter N.O.W.? Donations down? Have all of the ‘bitter knitters’ kept their coin purses zipped tight? Well guess what? This ridiculous attempt at defending the honor of this year’s female candidates will not change that. Your faux outrage at the horrific behavior of your endorsed candidate’s bought and paid for media is transparent. You should have denounced every sickening incident at the time it occurred – and not waited until these moral crimes against women had their intended effect.
Members were then allowed to ‘nominate’ future awardees — How big of you NOW. I’m still not impressed. Your one and only defense of Sarah Palin concerning remarks about her abilities to juggle motherhood and a political career were tempered with commentary that Palin “scoffed at Clinton” for even raising the issue of sexism. Your silence on the vast majority of attacks has been deafening.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
Wow, sod-great post.
If you’d be willing to write this up petition style for purposes of sending it to Gandy I’ll gladly sign it and help circulate.
http://www.ipetitions.com/start-petition/
I”m one of the ‘bitter knitters’ who has not only zipped the coin purse shut, I have also learned to stand-up for women – regardless of differences in opinion. The mistreatment of women by other women has to stop.
whose interests are they representing?
certainly not mine.
women need to fire the National Organization for Women!
pumapac may have barraged them with emails already but I will take the time to email them as well.
those fuckers
thanks for the inspire, sod.
State of Disbelief,
You nailed it big time. Great post.
So N.O.W. makes another appearance after their Obama endorsement? They’ve really not been heard from for years. I quit that donating to that org. years ago, as they never did anything. Why are they coming up for air NOW after so many years?
Or is this really an organization where a few “top” players see it as their private fiefdom for some public and political jollies? Interesting that the L.A. chapter came out and supported Palin. Are their rifts among the N.O.W. chapters? Most women I know see NOW as something THEN, so passe’.
I think you are right on the money, SOD – I recently got a solicitation for membership and funds from them – I not only didn’t give them anything and didn’t join but gave them an earful about why.
Perhaps they’ve heard a lot of the same from many other women and realize they screwed the pooch on this one!
Shame on them!!! 👿
SOD — love all your posts.
I tell every Obot woman I know that I fucking can’t stand Obama and the way he sat silent while the Trinity Church mocked Hillary.
I tell them NOW is nothing more than an “right to choose” organization. They are weak and don’t support women. They are a mouth piece to the Democratic Party / and their men.
Going forward my dollars go to PUMA and my family.
I’m am not alone, obviously. Please consider The New Agenda as a non-partisan women’s organization (thenewagenda.net) They’re doing good things.
Oooh, love these posts.
It hasn’t finished. Every day one hears insulting comments made about both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. Is N.O.W. going to pull its finger out and start protesting these as they happen? Or will they again delay until they need fear no misogynist attack son them for defending the “she-devils”? Moral cowardice is not, normally, a failing I associate with women, but N.O.W. displays it consistently.
I sent NOW a letter explaining why I will no longer support them and have responded to all their fund-raising emails in the same way.
With the exception of the L.A. chapter head who personally endorsed Palin, they have lost my support.
NOW=no opportunities for women
now opposing women
nix on women
non-qualifieds over women
narrow-minded opportunistic women
I think their moniker acquired new meaning during this election.
Great post SOD! 100% on target.
NOW and NARAL broke did such damage to my hypocrisy meter that I had to have it replaced.
My stupid meter is also off the charts and I think the motor is burning out.
I want to see women, and the men who support them, from across the political spectrum, creating new institutions to supplant and replace the worthless ones that gave lip service to women’s rights, but got off the pot in 2008, when giving a shit mattered most. 😦
NOW should be renamed: Not NOW, maybe later.
Hey EricaLeigh — I think you live in Berkeley — right ??
I am voting for Now Opposing Women !! lol
right on SOD!
NOW has not interested me for years. they seem to have no interest in anything other than reproductive rights, which are obviously important but are not the only issue for women.
I’ll sign a petition or send an email. they’ve gone from dull and one dimensional to despicable this year.
Simofish,
Yep, I am in El Cerrito. I like Now Opposing Women, too.
I came to several of your campaign events with my daughter. She loved those, and really grew to admire Hillary. In fact, she was involved in an “ice-breaker” activity at our church retreat where the goal was for her group to make a list of all the things they could agree on. She was heavily pressured to agree on voting for Obama–even our pastor was in the group. But she held strong. She said “even though I’m only 9 and can’t vote yet, if I could vote, I would vote for Hillary, and you can’t make me change my mind.” I wasn’t there, but heard about it from our pastor. Needless to say, I was thrilled at her strength under pressure. I think being at your events, seeing folks work hard for a candidate they believed in, made a difference for her.
By the way, thanks for all your emails, I’ve really appreciated them.
I got a letter today from some private printing press which is publishing Time magazine’s election coverage (I’m assuming selected articles) in a leather-bound edition – big photo of Obama on the cover. They are waxing lyrical about the historic nature of Obama and his campaign, and the strength of his character, and how he inspires millions of Americans. I immediately shredded it.
Interesting that their collection of election coverage is singling out Obama. Nevermind anybody who ran against him. None of them are relevant.
Erica, what a wonderful daughter you have!
I once believed in NOW. But after it refused to support one of its true contemporaries, as she attempted to break through the final marble ceiling, the organization lost my loyalty.
What a mess!
great post SOD: NOW is so irrelevant any more …
and to give Dowd an award? and Matthews? give me a break
DYB, on November 29th, 2008 at 5:18 pm Said:
Be sure to get your commemorative plate and coin also; you’ll want a complete set of everything! {{S N A R K!}}
EricaLeigh — you’ve done well !!!!
I have been over at LL Bean looking at stuff.
OK, I am 10 minutes away from getting a 90 minutes massage. Carolina is on the table now !! It’s great having someone come to your house !!
Catch everyone later.
dk: I think this is what NOW awarded:
NOW presented lifetime achievements awards in absentia to Chris Matthews (MSNBC) and Maureen Dowd (New York Times) for their stubborn dedication to sexist commentary.
Let’s have a “dinner” and give out “award” to recipients “in absentia.”
This is too little, and too much too late. Where was NOW when the media and the Obama campaign were vilifying Hillary Clinton on a daily basis? THAT was the time to speak out. Under the circumstances, your endorsement of Obama over Clinton was breathtakingly offensive. NOW no longer represents me.
Let me know when the petetion goes up.
Just watched Iron Jawed Angels with my 11yo daughter. NOW is like NAWSA was in that movie.
National
Organization
for
Women
for
Obama
Shameful.
THANK YOU so much for this post …we have been set back such a long way baby , now is so yesterday …
One interesting thing about NOW’s endorsement of Obama during the general election is that with that endorsement (nevermind Palin) they threw overboard McKinney/Clemente. Now, I know some people have problems with McKinney, but there’s no question that both she and Clemente are strong feminists. NOW choosing a two men ticket over a two (liberal) women ticket is really quite astonishing.
seriously, DYB
how to they claim to be “for women?”
All NOW is anymore is a Pro-Choice organization.
I’d say NOW is leaning towards pro-abortion, not pro-choice. I mean, Palin isn’t good enough for them because she’s pro-life. She’s not allowed to make the choice that doesn’t satisfy them. And they’re not alone. NARAL is right up there with them.
I was also disappointed in Women’s Media Center. After a strong start defending Hillary during the primaries, they were clearly campaigning against McCain/Palin in the general election with the articles they chose to publish and as they remained silent against the misogyny that was thrown at Palin.
http://capwiz.com/now/issues/alert/?alertid=12179051
I just emailed this post in its entirety to my local chapter of NOW
gee that felt good 🙂
great idea, swan
The entrenched “progressive” groups all support the patriarchal system. They were willing to look the other way on the sexism because supporting Obama was a way to raise money, they believed. The focus on choice–even though the votes to overturn or significantly roll back protections on Roe are already in place, and Obama’s appointments will be *at best* the status quo (and since the ones to leave are the most liberal, Obama will most likely shift the court to the right)–is a way for them to give a “handout” to women. The “handout” being “protecting Roe” even though both sides rely substantially on having Roe as an issue. By constantly waving that handout, they raise money and maintain their power.
It will be nice to see a real change in the system. We found out that “Crashing the Gate” really meant joining the system. In some cases, directly (by joining Newsweek and Cato Institute).
I couldn’t agree with you more, SOD. When NOW endorsed Obama, I immediately unsubscribed to their emails. They and other organizations have really let us down.
Thank you, SOD. NOW got an earful from me as well. None of my precious money will go anywhere near them.
Felt good reading this. The leadership of those organizations truly betrayed their base.
Their “what, who us?” innocence and hypocrisy is astonishing.
What goes around, comes around, though, SOD. I believe in karma.
I would suggest that if enough of us respond in their post paid envelopes what we really think of them, instead of just trashing their direct mail pieces they might get the message and leave, disappear, go kaputski.
There is a petition by Catarina
NOW .with friends like these who needs enemies.
I also vote for now opposing women.
These are the women who hold other women back.
Unless they get something out of it they will hurt not help women.
WOMEN,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMAS,BUBBAS, AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
Maybe the best way to stick it to Kim Gandy would be to redirect all future NOW donations to the LA branch. Then she can wonder why they’re doing so well, while the national and other branches are starving to death. It’d show her that the money is out there if she’d just grow a backbone and get RELEVANT.
SandraS — ha! good idea!
I’ve been lurking since the election ended but thank you for this post. All of the feminists and feminist organizations out there should be ashamed of themselves and I hope more women have the sense to realize not to donate to these organizations until they start to really defend women in politics or any other profession who are attacked and brutalized. I don’t think they’ve done enough except for some faux outrage at their conferences that no one cares about.
No state of disbelief over here. Many ,like them or not conservative/moderates knew that NARAL and NOW were phonies and just big mouth piece for abortion. When NARAL
endorsed Obama instead of Sen. Clinton, I was not shocked given the fact many not all whom are Presidents/vice etc. over these organzation are minority. Race/male trumps everything. When Rev. Wright was ranting about America and Powell, Thomas and Rice, He addressed the males by their formal title but not Sec. Rice infact called her “Condaliesa Rice”.
This is a great post, SOD. I haven’t contributed to NOW in years because they have always seemed to be less about defending women and women’s rights and more about being staunch supporters of the prevailing winds.
Post such as this one remind us of NOW’s betrayal of women and keep us focused. We must never forget what happened in this election.
“Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth” — Aesop
The 2008 election showed us that any organization, whether NOW, Emily’s List or political parties, are only as good as its leaders and these organizations created to protect the rights of People suffer from a total disconnect between their “outside show” and their “inner beliefs”.
April 19, 1917 Senator William E. Borah told his colleagues that
“Without an unfettered press, without liberty of speech,
all of the outward forms and structures of free institutions
are a sham, a pretense — the sheerest mockery.
If the press is not free;
if speech is not independent and untrammeled;
if the mind is shackled or made impotent through fear,
it makes no difference under what form of government you live,
you are a subject and not a citizen.”
And here we are 91 years later living in the world he described; a subject and not a citizen. For that we need more than an apology from those institutions and the people who run them who have shackled us with Obama by their own “inner worth”.
Recently I received a request for a donation from N.O.W. – I promptly wrote on the letter “too bad you didn’t endorse Hillary when you had the chance” and returned it in their postage paid envelope (without a donation, of course). I would further encourage people to take any money they may have previously donated to N.O.W. and consider making a donation to the “National Women’s History Museum”
http://www.nwhm.org/
which is trying to fund (through private donations) a permanent home on the National Mall in Washington D.C.
NOW probably missed this from CNN which I’ve recapped in the roundup…PLEASE…we really have to support the New Agenda!!
The Past Week: November 23-29 (Dogs; Obamabilia and “Mt. Crapmore”; Jobs; Black Politics; CNN Delivers In-Depth Report on Our Best Hope to Save Us from “First Lady Fashion Fumbles”)
Thank you for creating the petition! 🙂
Sod please let me out of the dungeon-Maureen Dowd is down here!
Personal Rant Alert:
NOW has become just a little too precious during the recent election. Presently, the organization is experiencing a second-act blowback from what had been a good run, but eventually suffered degradation by virtue of its inbred, specious, meddlesome truth-fixing alignment with That One’s platforms. Instead of encouraging women to speak out about their beliefs, NOW wants to parse and adjudicate which voices will be heard, and those to be spurned. It is as if the old-school notion that most women just aren’t smart enough to make important decisions has been dragged back into action; and that only the women of the New Left –N.O.W.–have enough intelligence to know what is right for us.
Once a NOW supporter, and even an occasional guest speaker at regional grass-root NOW meetings—waaaay back when—-I have come to see the organization as out of touch with mainstreet American women; a group of shrill harpies who increasingly and willingly march to the beat of a male-dominated drum corps; and, like the gossip-girl-cliques of the Pat Boone era, seek to exclude women whose views are wider than or more divergent [thus ‘wrong-er’] than those proscribed by the clique’s leader. They have their own hair-dos, dress, language and manufactured accents, reading lists, film reccommendations, allowable places to live, and most importantly the singular right to besmirch those who refuse to suffer the crumbs that might fall from their silver plates at The Annoited One’s table.
Kudos to those those women who committed the unforgiveable sin of holding minority beliefs and opinions, who demanded that they be represented, and respected, who demonstrated with their votes, and continue to speak out against a newed effort [by other women!!!!] to repress and silence. Now, at last, women of all opinions are demanding respectful representation of their voices, whether or not they pass muster of a N.O.W.-turned-shill-for-Obama.
Great, great post SOD. I have nothing to add to the post and comments, except a briief “fuck you, N.O.W.”
SOD
my comment has now appeared at 10:14
*pffffttt* to MoDo!
DYB, I was hoping that when the DNC forced Hillary out of the race NOW would endorse McKinney-Clemente & rally women behind this all women ticket. I didn’t know at the time they had a non-endorsement policy. So when I found out they broke it to endorse a chauvinist creep over the 3 women candidates running I was appalled. Add in the fact they didn’t say anything about the rampant misogyny going on thruout the campaign, I became totally disgusted. NOW is useless any more.
I have been a lifelong feminist/activist. NOW is despicable and deserves all the ridicule and trash that will be heaped at their feet for their refusal to speak up as Hillary and Sarah were destroyed. I delight in the idea that NOW’s donations and membership are drying up – NOW betrayed women because it gives lip service to the history of women’s struggles but does not understand, respect or value women in the least! Too bad, NOW, toooo bad!
please sign the petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ExplainandApologizeNow/
thank you for the brilliant petition, I signed it.
typo in article 5 of petition: demand and apology…should be an…..