A Dollop of Rage and a Dash of Hope

And a pinch of humor - because we must go forward

Well, it’s been a week. As the kids say, I am shook. Actually, my feelings are much stronger than that. A few days ago, I received this mailing-list invitation to a community Zoom hosted by Governor Gavin Newsom of California.

“Sad and even angry”? I’m sorry Mr Newsom, but no. I am not “sad” or “even angry.” What I feel is something closer to RAGE. But maybe “enraged” doesn’t play well on a mailing-list.

It will take me a bit to process all this to a point where I can write something clear-headed about history, women, and this moment. But I will say this: it is more important than ever for us to read history, to write it, to get it out there, to get it right, to share it. Not to adjust it to fit the story we want to tell. Not to avoid the uncomfortable bits. Because many people now would rather erase history. Erasing history is a means of control.

In the meantime, I am reading. If you want to know what the left can do now, this article in The Washington Post, which brings together a number of writers, is very smart. There is also Nicholas Kristof’s article, which you can find here. I love Kristof’s writing. He is a realist yet relentlessly forward thinking. We could use some of that now.

I am also reaching for two books. The first is Jessica Valenti’s recently released Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths we use to Win, essential reading for those of us who care about abortion rights. Valenti is very practical, and her book is something of a manual, giving us language we can use, even in every day exchanges, to fight for these rights.

I’ve also picked up again Kate Manne’s Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. I tend to think that often (if not always) keeping women down isn’t the end goal of misogyny. Rather, misogyny is a means to obtain something else, a weapon of control that stirs up entrenched prejudices and galvanizes those who hold them - it’s a means to power. That, I think, is how misogyny was working in this election.¹ If, as Nicholas Kristof suggests, we need to keep on guard about gender, I want to think harder about what misogyny is, what it isn’t, and how and why it works.

And now, for the tiniest sprinkle of hope and humor. Why hope? Because we need it. Why humor? Because I’m Irish! Bear with me here.

The other day, post-election, some friends and I were discussing the failures of Democratic messaging. For a long time, now, that messaging has been negative. It’s always against something, rarely for something. This sign, for example, from 2020. It’s catchy, hilarious, and in the midst of a pandemic it worked, but….it’s still negative.

It was the flip side of Obama’s extremely successful message: Hope. Which, if you think about it, is simple, catchy, and offers something for people to latch onto, whether you care about reproductive rights or the price of eggs. Everyone can hope for a better tomorrow on their own terms.

Republicans have gotten really good at slogans - the stuff they come up with has rhyme and meter. “Never Surrender,” “Too Big to Rig,” “Swamp the Vote,” “No Tax on Tips,” etc. etc. The worst of these, of course, was “Unite the Right,” the name of the vile Charlottesville rally in 2017 (yes, seven years ago).

Yesterday, as I was waiting in the car to pick up my kid from school, I passed the time by running through slogans in my head, trying to come up with something that progressives could use. I was going for rhyme, for jingle, for unity.

All I could come up with is “un-cleft the left,” which, um, no.

So I texted my wordsmith husband.

“Bereft is the left?”, he replied.

NO

A pause and then….

There you have it, folks. It isn’t perfect, but that’s all I’ve got for now. We’ll be saying “Upleft!” in my house over the next few days. In the meantime, I’m checking out how to start working on the mid-terms.

Got an uplifting, I mean uplefting slogan? Got ideas about how to start working on the mid-terms? Share in the comments below!

1. Maybe. This doesn’t factor how any individual voter was thinking about gender or about race in this election, though — rather how misogyny was being used as a rhetorical weapon throughout the campaign. All of this will need more thought….