Clinton and Feminists

This week there have been two analysis pieces on Hillary Clinton and her image as a feminist in contrast to the campaign image she has been presenting as a home maker. Such a feminist paper as the Washington Post saw fit to point out her transition, or at least the transition of her rhetoric. There was also an extensive story in the Boston GLobe.

There are important differences in their approaches though. The Globe is more interested in the political face Clinton presents and the political considerations that might backfire or feed into it. The Post deals more with the pop culture side; showings on the view, jokes about weight and hair. The Post uses a feminist art show called Whap to compare Clinton's public persona to what women artists have done earlier. My impression is that this is almost a false comparison. Obviously Clinton is not a performance artist so to compare her to women who appeared in porn as a political statement is ludicrous to say the least. The story also uses more interjections by the author ot make it's point while the Globe quotes experts or participants or Clinton herself. The Globe piece is also at least twice as long. It looks at the perspective of homemakers to see if they buy her "act." It then talks to feminists (an integral part I think). Two pretty different approaches that come to the same end, that Clinton is purposely showing herself as a more traditional "girl" (her words) to undermine right-wing criticism of her as a radical socialist feminist. The Globe is undeniably the more interesting and informative perspective.