The Apathy Problem
Posted in Editorials, Personal Essays on June 25th, 2012by Elizabeth
Tags: Feminism • First Amendment Solutions • Politics
Darcy Burner said at Netroots Nation,
“I have exactly one ask for you between now and November, and that is: get women to vote.”
I got goosebumps because I knew I was being tasked with an awesome quest. But it’s also an incredibly difficult one. There are women in my life, intelligent, compassionate women who truly believe in progressive values. But whether or not they call themselves feminists or liberals, they also have the incorrect belief that everyone else thinks the way they do. A great example of this is Chelsea Handler’s “sexism is bullshit” comments. But I also see it in women with a lot less money and power than Handler.
A friend asks where I was on Saturday morning when the rest of the group had met for coffee. I explain that I was clinic escorting.
“What’s that?”
“Well, there are a lot of protesters at Planned Parenthood and I volunteer to be a part of a program to keep an eye on them, call security or the police if they break any laws, welcome the patients, and not let them get harassed or stopped from entering.”
“Oh…. Wait. People protest outside Planned Parenthood?”
“Yup. Sometimes they just quietly pray, but sometimes they are really obnoxious and nasty.”
“Huh… That’s so weird!”
And we will never speak of this again. Not because she’s lazy or wasn’t listening. It’s because in her worldview, what I just said was that I was trying to stop martians or microfungi from destroying the earth. The kind of misogyny that exists in our own community, or the power that Citizens United gave to the wealthy is something she doesn’t perceive or think about.
I have another friend, really caring and funny and ambitious as hell. But she doesn’t vote. She says that whoever wins or loses has no influence on her life. I tried to change her mind during the contraception debate.
Elizabeth: So here’s a great example of how the government impacts your life – right now Congress is having hearing about whether or not health insurance must cover contraception, but they aren’t allowing any women to testify
Friend: Isn’t that illegal, not allowing women to testify?
Elizabeth: No.The chairman of the committee can decide who will testify at the hearing.
Friend: Oh. But men should care about contraception too. So…
Elizabeth: Well, I don’t think the consequences of not using contraception are in any way equal
Friend: Maybe a decision like that will change social norms. If it’s not covered by insurance then maybe more women will start actually asking for money from their partners to cover half. That would probably be a good thing.
Elizabeth: Right now the law is that insurance must cover the pill in 28 states. In the other states, women are shit out of luck, and this is a response to that
Friend: Men too, indirectly. I think a law like that would be nice but I don’t expect it to be passed.
Elizabeth: That’s why you should vote!
Friend: If I got involved with politics it would take up too much of my life. I’d rather just not be bothered. It’s a lot of hassle/stress that you are inviting into your life.
Elizabeth: But the money you pay for birth control pill co-pay is a real impact on your life.
Friend: Yes but you choose your battles. If it cost like $1000 then yes it would be a problem but by the time it gets that far, many other people get involved anyway.
She pretty much quoted Ever After. “I used to think that if I cared about anything I’d have to care about everything and then I’d go stark raving mad!”
Why do I care about this? Because 39% of single women don’t vote.
I know that a record number of women voted in 2008, and we might break another record this year. But women did not vote in 2010, and that’s one of the reasons why our Congress and State Legislatures have been taken over by anti choice radicals. Even if women come out to vote in 2012, they must do so every year for real progress to be made.
It’s the reason Kirsten Gillibrand’s campaign created an entire project around getting women to vote. And it’s the reason Darcy Burner made it the point of her speech at Netroots Nation.
So how do we do it? How do we reach women who don’t read feminist blogs? PSAs during Major League Baseball and True Blood? Pamphlets in locker rooms and ladies bathrooms? Cocktail napkins at bars and coffee shops? And what should these messages say? How do we explain to women why they should do something they never do?
I’m not as discouraged about this as Adam is. I’m just completely baffled.
June 25th, 2012 at 9:38 am
Women are the majority of voters already…
June 25th, 2012 at 10:07 am
Hi Chris,
Women might make up the majority of voters in an election, but that doesn’t mean that a majority of women are voting. Older women and married women tend to vote, but younger women and single women don’t. In 2010,
June 27th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
“There are women in my life, intelligent, compassionate women who truly believe in progressive values. But whether or not they call themselves feminists or liberals, they also have the incorrect belief that everyone else thinks the way they do.”
There are people in my life who call themselves liberal but insist on voting for moderate and conservative candidates when they know that liberals are running.
On the other hand, you shouldn’t assume that everyone else who’s a woman cares about reproductive rights as much as you do. There are many other issues, and on nearly all of them, anyone who does easy research knows that the major parties are essentially the same. And where there is a difference, the Democrats tend to surrender early, even when having full control. These facts and the corporate media’s general refusal to cover other parties is surely reducing many people’s motivation to vote.
Sure, the major parties need to drive a couple of wedge issues to maintain the illusion of a significant difference, but even those tactics aren’t holding much water anymore. The Senate Democrats chose to allow the confirmations of the anti-choice justices who were nominated by George W. Bush, a man whom the Democrats allowed to steal the presidency twice. Moreover, reproductive choice is a Constitutional right. Therefore, as neither major party has much regard for the Constitution anymore, all bets are off.
Insurance coverage of contraception would not be an issue if we were to have single-payer healthcare, which this president and most Congressional Democrats refuse to consider, but which is being advocated by the only female presidential nominee this year, Jill Stein, who happens to be a medical doctor. I trust that you, as a self-identified liberal feminist, will cover her candidacy. In fact, I look forward to your enthusiastic endorsement of it.
June 27th, 2012 at 3:09 pm
I would encourage people to vote for third party candidates if that’s what their conscience dictates. But as for:
That’s quite a leap.
June 27th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
How so?
June 27th, 2012 at 5:44 pm
Because there’s no reason that being a liberal feminist automatically means that a person must vote for the green party candidate. It’s an option, but it shouldn’t be an assumption.
June 27th, 2012 at 9:30 pm
That’s a strawman argument. My case is that people should vote for the candidates who best represent their views. For reasons previously stated, it’s clear which presidential candidate would most effectively address your concerns.
June 28th, 2012 at 8:11 am
But I’m also concerned about practicality. I’m willing to consider Jill Stein because I don’t live in a swing state. But I want to vote for a candidate, not just cast a protest vote.
June 28th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
So vote *for* Stein. Many people who vote for Obama will only be voting *against* Romney, and vice-versa. Most people in major parties know their own party is terrible, but think the other one is still a little bit worse. Voting *for* something is the point of voting for Stein. She’s the people’s candidate. Voting for another four years of a corporate presidency isn’t practical.