Speaking of the Obama campaign's challenge to institutional feminism, Jessica Valenti has a great essay in The Nation urging feminists not to run away from "infighting" over the Clinton-Obama race, but rather to "own the conflict. ... Instead of the group hug approach, let's focus on tangible goals: fostering youth leadership, working from the margins in and using intersectionality as our lens -- instead of just a talking point." As Jessica points out, some Clinton supporters' disapproval of women who prefered other candidates can be traced to the very same critique that women of color, younger women, and LGBTQ women have been making of mainstream feminism for decades: That it fails to take into account how "isms" other than sexism and identities other than simple female-ness play into women's political and personal choices.
--Dana Goldstein
