This Is What a Feminist Looks Like: Barack Obama

Today my Winter 2008 issue of Ms. arrived in my mailbox. I was delighted when I saw the cover. Apparently it's attracting all sorts of discussion, mostly from hardcore feminists who feel that Obama has not yet proven himself as a feminist, and do we really want a photo of a "superman" on the cover of Ms., implying that he has arrived to save women?

I agree with Eleanor Smeal, who writes in the Huffington Post that we are not giving Obama a blank check: he must prove that he supports the rights and further the cause of women.

But I love the fact that when meeting Ms. Smeal and Peg Yorkin, Obama introduced himself as a feminist. That alone, and the fact that he is passionately invested in women's rights, having been raised by two strong women, being married to another one, and raising two of them, is enough reason to put him on the cover. It's about time for us to reclaim the word "feminist" as a positive, empowering word! I love the fact he calls himself a feminist. To my knowledge, he is the first president who has ever done so.

Here's more on this controversial cover from CNN:




What do you think?

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