If Hillary were to make an "if men could get pregnant" statement,

[pnwmom]

like Bernie recently did, and Obama did before him, she wouldn't be applauded for it, as if she were a hero.

She'd be accused of "playing the gender card."

Every progressive woman has probably made a similar statement. Several decades ago Gloria Steinem said, "If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament."

But it's only men who think "if men could get pregnant" statements are insightful and new.

Women say, "duh."

[Agschmid]

1. Yuuuup.

[randys1]

2. You may be right. One reason I will be happily endorsing and working for Hillary IF IF IF Bernie

loses, is the impact it will have on Women's rights.

She will not take certain things for granted.

Men do, not always because they are assholes, it is just that we have been in charge for so long, etc.

[JaneyVee]

3. It's weird that he didn't give her credit for the quote.

Probably because she backs Hillary.

[karynnj]

31. because he did not quote her -- other than "if men could get pregnant" nt

[Kalidurga]

4. This doesn't look like applause to me.

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/12/07/bernie-sanders-if-men-could-get-pregnant-there-would-be-little-debate-about-abortion/

[pnwmom]

5. Doesn't THIS look like applause?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128080960

[Kalidurga]

7. No it looks factually incorrect.

[HerbChestnut]

6. Is there nothing that Hillary supporters won't criticize Bernie for?

He says something you agree with and yet you still criticize. WTF??

[pnwmom]

8. Where did I criticize Bernie? I'm just pointing out that there's good reason

Hillary hasn't made a similar statement in her campaign. She can't make a statement like this without being criticized. Men like Obama and Bernie can, and they get applauded for it.

I would have replied to this OP but I'm blocked there, so I posted my own OP.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/128080960

"Bernie once again says something NO OTHER candidate is saying..."

[MaggieD]

15. LOL - as if Bernie was better on woman's issues than Hillary

Good lord, that's the best chuckle I have had all day.

[pnwmom]

17. He's our hero, dontcha know? n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

27. It's the same thing they've ALWAYS criticized Sanders for.

He's not Hillary Clinton, therefore its not his turn and he shouldnt be running.

That is, I am convinced, 99.99999% of the objection to the guy. It's not ideological, it's not his statements, his "attitude" or his "tone deafness" or anything else.

It's that he is a potential roadblock on the inevitability highway. Full stop.

[Scootaloo]

9. Has she made such a statement so this theory could be tested?

[pnwmom]

10. She can't. Elizabeth Warren has spoken about how women are constrained

in politics compared to men. They have a very fine line to walk.

So Hillary can't say things like that or she'll be accused of playing the gender card. Men can and people think they're heroes.

[Scootaloo]

13. So you're dreaming stuff up, and then blaming Sanders for it.

Don't you have like a hobby or something, pnwmom?

[pnwmom]

16. I'm not blaming Sanders at all. Just the people who want to set him up on a pedestal

for saying things that every Democratic woman has probably said at some time in her life.

"Bernie once again says something NO OTHER candidate is saying..."

I'm sure Hillary would say it if she could. But a Democratic woman saying what Bernie said would be accused, even on DU, of playing the gender card.

[Scootaloo]

20. You're trying to attack Sanders and his supporters over saying something you agree with

You claim that if Clinton were to say it, we would attack her over it, accuse her of playing the "gender card," etc., but you have absolutely no basis of fact for this claim. She has not said it, and so you are assuming, out of your own biases and imaginings, that we would do what you describe.

This is sort of like how FOX news claims "Well if a liberal said what right-winger X said, the media would love it!!!" Of course, they never have an example of this, and it's just FOX falsely claiming victimhood status for their views.

You are trying to spin a positive (if stale, I'll grant) statement from Sanders into a negative against him and people who support him.

[pnwmom]

21. No, I'm replying to the idea that it is special that Bernie said this and no one else did.

Obama has said it. Martin has probably also. It's a common statement.

But a woman doesn't have the same freedom a man does to say it without being criticized.

[Scootaloo]

23. But that isn't what you said

I'm sure Hillary would say it if she could. But a Democratic woman saying what Bernie said would be accused, even on DU, of playing the gender card.

Now if you want to say I dunno, that FOX would accuse her of that, okay. It's still an assumption, but it's not an unreasonable assumption. But your target is clearly democrats, especially other people posting here. And you are absolutely trying to spin a positive statement into a negative.

[pnwmom]

24. Hillary gets accused here on DU of playing the gender card

and it would happen more often if she brought up women's issues more often.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251674802

[Scootaloo]

25. And why was she accused of that, pnwmom, do you remember?

It wasn't because she was talking about women's issues.

[beam me up scottie]

22. "This is sort of like how FOX news claims ..."

Nailed it.

[ljm2002]

11. WTF?

Bernie makes a good statement on reproductive rights and you complain about it?

I am glad that progressive women have been making this point for lo, these many years -- and I'm glad Bernie is echoing the sentiment. Even if it is true that Hillary would receive more flak from making the same statement -- and it probably is -- that doesn't mean that Bernie should not say it. If he chooses to use his male privilege in a way that promotes an important women's issue I'm all for it.

[pnwmom]

14. I'm not complaining about his statement. I'm pointing out that it's unfair

to criticize Hillary for NOT saying it. i'm sure she'd love to say that. But as a female political figure, she faces constraints the men don't face.

"Bernie once again says something NO OTHER candidate is saying..." is the subject line of an OP about Bernie's statement that I can't reply to in the thread. So I did it here.

[ljm2002]

18. Fair point...

...thank you for clarifying. Yes you are right, it is unfair to ding her for not saying it in that way, as you correctly point out she would be subject to much more criticism for using such a turn of phrase, even though it has been part of feminist thought for a good long time. Or maybe because of that!

There is no doubting her positions on women's issues, this is one area where she has not wavered.

Sorry I misunderstood your point.

[pnwmom]

19. Thank you for listening while I explained!

[MaggieD]

12. Bernie does that a lot on social media

He loves to take well known quips and tweak them a little to feign originality. I find it irritating, but maybe that's because I don't care for him to start with.

But to your point, yes. And I believe she HAS been accused of playing the gender card many times. Apparently women are not permitted to speak about issues that solely impact women. Similar to how Obama is not permitted to talk about race without being accused of playing the race card.

[JonLeibowitz]

35. Was she accused of playing the gender card for talking about women's issues? n/t

[arcane1]

26. The original Gloria Steinem quote has appeared on DU repeatedly, for years.

Nobody ever complained about it then.

This OP is a made-up fantasy used to hide the absence of substantive criticism.

[pnwmom]

28. The OP is a response to the idea that Bernie is better than the other Dem candidates because

he made that statement. He isn't.

As another poster here put it, it is unfair to "ding" Hillary for not having made the statement herself, as another OP today tries to do.

I couldn't respond directly in that thread so I did here.

[arcane1]

32. And it's based on a false, invented claim n/t

[beam me up scottie]

29. "I can't find anything to criticize Bernie for today so I'm going to make something up."

So transparent.

Bernie's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

[in_cog_ni_to]

30. Oh bullshit. His statement is a twist on an old quote -

"If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament." ~Said to Florynce Kennedy and Gloria Steinem by an elderly Irish woman taxi driver in Boston, popularized by Kennedy and Steinem in 1971 speeches

That quote has existed since then. It's a well known quote from when women were fighting for abortion rights and it's TRUE. No one would give that quote a second thought if HRH said it. You're trying to create an issue where none exists. Every True Progressive I know has been trying to save abortion rights.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[pnwmom]

33. Of course it was an old quote. But the OP said that he was the ONLY ONE who had said it.

As if there was something wrong with Hillary for not having said it.

But if Hillary HAD said it, it would have had an entirely different effect. When a man says that sentence, it has an entirely different response than when a female politician says it.

He would be considered supportive and insightful -- she would be accused of playing the gender card.

[beam me up scottie]

34. "Women say, "duh." "?

No this woman says right fucking on, Bernie!

And thank you for being our ally - a true feminist who has fiercely and consistently supported our rights for decades!

Only a transparent Hillary supporter would find fault with that comment.