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Democratic presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, received a potentially knockout blow yesterday when a large number of feminist groups turned their backs to her, after her comments about “cleaning the house”.
“It is time for us to clean house, and one thing women know how to do – we know how to clean house”, Clinton reportedly said addressing a massive crowd in Philadelphia, last month.
“It’s a horribly horribly conservative remark”, a statement by spokesperson of a leading feminist organization said. “What Clinton is implying is that it’s for men like Bush to dirty the house and women need to come and clean it. That’s such a patriarchal position to take. It’s an insult to every women in the world”
Clinton said that “[my] remarks have been taken out of context. It’s the Obama camp that has created a controversy out of this non-issue. I was tired after climbing up the steps of the podium and the words came out in a way I never intended them to be”
Explaining what she meant by her remarks, she said on live television: “There is no question of supporting patriarchal world views. I can assure you that I can keep the house as dirty as the feminists want it”
As they went offline for a commercial break, however, she reportedly said: “Oops, I did it again”.
American feminists, however, are not ready to buy this explanation.
“However tired one is, one understands what’s patriarchal and what’s not. We do not want a president who is just a pawn in the patriarchy”
Obama’s campaign spokeman Bill Burton has issued a strong statement condemning the remark: “It’s unfortunate that a woman, and a Democrat at that, should make a Conservative remark like that. Such a remark has no place in this campaign”
“When it comes to cleaning the house” Obama said “we will show that anyone whose heart is clean, can do the job as good as anyone – woman or man, black or white, rich or poor. We must believe that we want a change — that we want a clean house, and we will all work to get there, each and every American”
Meanwhile, it’s unclear why it took the feminists a month to realize the insult. Couple of groups we spoke maintained that they had spotted the instance rightaway but they were debating the course of action.
PETA activists have condemned Amir Khan for naming his dog after India’s biggest star, Shahrukh Khan. Amir recently wrote on his blog that “Shahrukh is the name of our dog”.
Speaking to Kanadabatata, a senior PETA activist expressed concerns over the dog’s emotional well-being.
“No animal can handle celebrity status. By naming his dog after SRK, Amir is putting a huge strain on his dog. In two days since he posted the entry, two hundred and twenty one reporters have tried to interview the dog. It’s an irresponsible act by one of the most respected actors in Bollywood”
When contacted Amir Khan said that he had nothing to do with naming him. “However, I strongly object to this lowly view of animals”, he insisted. “Any dog can handle celebrity”, he said.
Sources close to the actor say that the actor is undergoing a depression due to lack of media attention to him since the dog blog. The actor, who was in Panchgani for a holiday, has had nightmarish 2 days because of constant quarrels among the bitches in the area, and various TV channel crews who want “exclusive” interview of the dog.
SRK, meanwhile, has come in support of Amir Khan. In a statement released recently he said:
“It proves once again … not that it was ever needed to be proven, but still it proves … that I’m the number one star in the industry. And if someone wants name a dog after me, and not after Hrithik, or Abhishek, or Akshay, or even Amitji, PETA should not make a hue and cry about it. Why even Amir Khan’s caretaker thought of me, and not Amir, when he named the dog. Doesn’t that prove, what never needed to be proven in the first place. As for the dog, inshallah, he will learn to cope with the fame”
Meanwhile the dog, unaware of its name, is silent.
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