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The problem with ‘Bernie bros’

If you support Bernie Sanders, then you are probably an entitled young white guy. A Bernie bro. Someone who purports to support progressive ideas, but is really a raging misogynist who could never vote for a woman. We heard this message ad infinitum during the 2016 primaries; Gloria Steinem even accused young female Sanders supporters of only supporting him over Hillary Clinton because “the boys are with Bernie”. Which was an incredibly bizarre thing for a feminist to say.

Now that the 2020 primaries have kicked off, we are being told once again that Sanders is the brocialist choice, and that he doesn’t connect with women, particularly non-white women. This isn’t entirely inaccurate – just look at Sanders’ recent performance at She the People, a presidential forum for women of colour. When asked what he would do to combat white supremacist violence as president, Sanders reminded everyone he was at the March on Washington with Dr Martin Luther King in 1963. This non-answer justifiably drew loud boos and groans. Sanders didn’t help his cause when, visibly annoyed, he then wagged his finger at the audience in a condescending manner.

Sanders is far from a perfect candidate. He could do with being less arrogant. He could do with listening to communities of colour more. He could do with realizing that you need to talk about race as well as class. Nevertheless, it is ridiculous to claim that he doesn’t connect with women of colour, and that he is beloved purely by arrogant white bros. A recent poll from Morning Consult found that Sanders leads all the other candidates, save Joe Biden, when it comes to support from black voters and female voters. The only demographic that Sanders really doesn’t connect with, according to the Morning Consult poll, is Democrats who make more than $100,000 per year. Which, one imagines, overlaps with the demographic who are constantly smearing Sanders by advancing the narrative that his base consists of sexist morons.

Here’s the thing: universal healthcare is a feminist issue. Widening access to education is a feminist issue. A foreign policy that doesn’t involve constantly bombing other countries is a feminist issue. Refusing to cozy up to Saudi Arabia is a feminist issue. Calling out Israel for its treatment of Palestinians is a feminist issue. As far as I’m concerned, Sanders is the most feminist candidate in the race. Nevertheless, as the primaries progress, I’m sure we’re going to hear a lot more about how he just doesn’t get women.

Who gives a ship?

The Scottish Maritime Museum has decided to adopt gender neutral signage for ships, which have traditionally been referred to as “she”. This has made some people extremely angry indeed. “Ships are ‘she’, not ‘it’ – and we will erode our history if we bow to the PC brigade on this,” Adm Lord West raged in the Telegraph. West explained: “To us, much of the time, a ship is best understood as being like a mother, holding us and keeping us safe from storms … There’s a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that she’s often like a lover, too.” Freud would have had a field day.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Actor and politician Glenda Jackson in New York on 12 April 2019. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Glenda Jackson, a queen, on King Lear

I love this interview with Glenda Jackson, who is currently playing King Lear on Broadway; it touches on everything from sexism to Thatcherism to how gender boundaries blur with age . It also features an amusing excerpt from a 1976 interview where she was asked if she was “waving the flag for women’s lib”. Jackson replied: “Waving it? I mean, I’ll poke it in your eye

The black feminists who saw the alt-right threat coming

Do have a read of this really interesting Slate piece on black feminists who, in 2016, launched a campaign against Twitter trolls pretending to be women of colour. It’s a great look at how to fight misinformation campaigns.

US sabotages UN resolution on sexual health

A diluted version of a United Nations resolution on combatting rape as a weapon of war was passed by the security council on Tuesday. The US had threatened to veto the resolution unless references to sexual and reproductive health were removed, arguing that that language implied support for abortion. The language was then watered down; a stark reminder that the Trump administration isn’t just waging war against women’s rights in America, but around the world.

Please don’t put garlic up your vagina

Thanks to the Goop-ification of the world, this is apparently a real thing that people are doing, in the hope that it cures their yeast infection. Dr Jen Gunter, an influential ob-gyn, recently published a long Twitter thread breaking down exactly why it is a terrible idea. Just in case you needed to be reminded.