Feature
- Do You Hate Your Partner, Too?
- California Teen Avoids Heavy Sentencing by Passing the Buck
- Wanna Buy Your Teenager a Padded Push-Up Bra?
- Vampires in Texas!
- These Guys Are As Bad As Westboro Baptist Church
- Funny Letters Sent to Women's Magazines
- Women's Ski Jumping: Still Not a 'Real' Sport
- Will the World Be Pro-Choice Soon?
- Are We Getting Too Lazy to Even Divorce?
- Forever 21's Maternity Line: Glamorizing Teen Pregnancy?
President Obama’s choice of Elena Kagan to succeed John Paul Stevens on the U.S. Supreme Court is only a few days old, yet there is already a great deal of opposition to the pick. However, this opposition seems to be based more on Kagan’s being a woman than any of her political views or legal qualifications.
While there are legitimate reasons to be wary of Kagan (full disclosure: I am no fan), her gender and her potential sexual orientation should not be a cause for concern. Despite this, many of those in the media, particularly on the right, have begun harping about Kagan possibly being a lesbian and using other not so subtle euphemisms (“too emotional”) to attack the fact that she is a woman. This of course is not the first time that conservatives have lost it over a female nominee; Harriet Miers, nominated by George W. Bush in 2006 to replace Justice Sandra O’Connor, was quickly withdrawn in favor of Samuel Alito, over concerns that she was “too inexperienced.” I, however, have long suspected that she was so fiercely opposed because she was a woman, as she was otherwise ideologically and religiously compatible with a conservative Christian agenda. Indeed, while some conservatives may try and couch their criticism of Kagan using vague terms such as “liberal” and “radical,” they are unable to come up with any substantive criticism of Kagan’s political or legal views (in fact, several conservatives have actually praised her moderation). Thus, this leads me to believe that those conservative commentators who oppose Kagan (who perhaps not coincidentally happen to be mostly male), are more afraid of having a woman in power than a “liberal.” Indeed, while there would certainly be much hand-wringing if Karl Marx were nominated, it would be hard to imagine him being criticized for being stereotypically masculine.
In my opinion there are many legitimate political reasons to oppose Kagan (her unwillingness to take a stand on civil liberties issues, her poor handling of racist incidents while she was dean of Harvard Law School, etc.), however, her “womanliness” is not one of them. Few doubt her intellectual ability to serve on the court and would likely not raise these same grievances if she were a man. Thus, Kagan deserves a fair chance to explain her ideological views and demonstrate her judicial fitness, in an environment free from sexism, just as any male nominee, liberal or conservative, would undoubtedly receive without so much as a second thought.
Thoughts?
You Might Also Like ...
-
-
20
She once wrote a thesis on the defective nature of the constitution,that concerns me some. I’m sure Jon Lovitz would love it,he’ll be doing lots of SNL skits.
Why are you personally not a fan? I haven’t really decided how I feel about her yet, so I’m wondering how you came to that conclusion…
I don’t know that I am totally against her, but I have yet to hear anything terribly positive that she has done. She also has some very ambiguous and potentially right wing positions on issues like torture and free speech, thus I am somewhat wary of her on the bench. I am anticipating hearing her answers to specific questions once the Senate hearings begin.
I’m not a fan. I don’t believe that the government needs to place more restrictions on abortions. That should be up to the patient and their doctor. She also strongly opposes research on medicinal marijuana.
I didn’t know about her stand on the sticky-Icky,fuck her!
I haven’t heard much about her except for concerns that she may be a lesbian. How on earth is that a legitimate concern?? So what if she is a lesbian (which I suspect she’s probably not, people are just digging for shit).
Honestly I’ve heard about the same amount as you, which sadly is very little about her politics and too much about her personal life.
You can read her answers to policy questions at the Times.
http://documents.nytimes.com/elena-kagan-documents#document/p320
Shes nothing but a mediocre stooge, promoted and pushed in the front line by the Jews already controlling the USA. Noone ever heard of her before, now suddenly she has become famous and her biography is brilliant. A suspect number of Jews in the top position in the American Government, dont u think smths is wrong? And now, this Kagan mutant… Look at her face… Keep researching or swallow the BS media feeds u. And dont forget to call me racist or antisemite, pls. Its fashionable!
Can you recommend a good gas chamber cleaning service,I’m just not happy with the one I’ve got now?
Touche, good sir, touche.
I don’t really know enough about her yet to make any kind of opinion, but I sure don’t care if she’s a lesbian.
I just heard on Meet the Press that she believes that in some cases its perfectly okay to ban books. I haven’t researched that yet,but that is bullshit.
Whoa. If that’s true, then we’re going to have a little problem. I have serious issues with censorship.
I briefly looked around the web but every site that claimed she’s pro censorship that I saw (admittedly brief search) was obviously biased on other articles therefore threw the one on her into doubt. If you find something from a reputable source please post it as censorship is a major issue.
[...] woman is involved in anything, suddenly the coverage of her changes. It’s a good thing Elena Kagan doesn’t sport anything “slinky” on her Facebook page, otherwise we would never [...]
[...] up and be counted. During the most recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Solicitor General Elena Kagan’s, I wanted to do just the [...]
LOL. That was an odd point of view. I am sure I have the same view.
[...] Coming in at number two, Halle Berry, who recently split with baby daddy Gabriel Aubry. Number three is my girl Elin Nordegren, who recently walked away with a cool chunk of change. Number four is Betty White (which boggles my mind … I love Rose and all, but come on. Get over this revival nouveau already would you please). Coming in fifth place is Lady Gaga, and sixth is Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. … Yes, that Elena Kagan. [...]
[...] Coming in at series two, Halle Berry, who not long ago separate with baby dad Gabriel Aubry. Number 3 is my lady Elin Nordegren, who not long ago walked divided with a cool cube of change. Number 4 is Betty White (which boggles my mind … I love Rose and all, but come on. Get over this reconstruction nouveau already would you please). Coming in fifth place is Lady Gaga, and sixth is Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. … Yes, that Elena Kagan. [...]