The Women’s March is hosting a progressive “Women’s Convention” October 27-29 in downtown Detroit. It’s supposed to be monumental — and before the conference even begins, the Women’s March has struck new ground for the feminist movement: they’re letting a man lead the way.
That’s right. On Thursday, Women’s March leadership announced that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will kick off the three day conference where women from around the country will discuss things like oppression, misogyny, and which posterboard works best for weekly Donald Trump protests.
And feminists couldn’t be happier.
Haha, nooooo, of course not. They actually lost their minds on social media in an afternoon-long temper tantrum, taking organizers to task for having not just any man — but the man who cost Hillary Clinton the election — take an honored role at what was billed as a female-only conference.
So… there were no women available … to open the womens convention…? https://t.co/m1QDj2KX4N
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) October 12, 2017
126 million women in America and you couldn’t find one to open a feminist convention? Wow I guess we really need feminism. https://t.co/H1CpiHAdBb
— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) October 12, 2017
Pretty amazing. How did the WomensMarch not find any woman for this gig? Unfollowing https://t.co/vJJhB99KUa
— Neera Tanden(@neeratanden) October 12, 2017
Just realized the motto for the #WomensConvention is “reclaiming our time”… and then presumably “so we can turn it over to an elderly man”
— JenAshleyWright (@JenAshleyWright) October 12, 2017
The Women’s March tried to do damage control, issuing a statement claiming that the opening speeches would actually be a “collective effort,” and that Bernie Sanders’ remarks would be merely perfunctory, an honor given to the one man they’ll allow in their presence.
The #WomensConvention will open Friday morning with remarks from a number of inspiring women leaders. Please read and share our statement. pic.twitter.com/OlFX5Zi8Q2
— Women’s March (@womensmarch) October 12, 2017
They also said that most of the women they contacted, including former Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, just couldn’t find it in their schedules to attend a conference in Detroit for a sum total of four hours.
In other words, they were desperate, and Bernie Sanders was available. Rep. Maxine Waters, the de facto leader of the “Resistance” movement, will provide the conference’s keynote address, to give the gathering a sense of seriousness and purpose.
The statement did little to stem the hysterics. Feminists continued to bemoan the choice of Bernie Sanders, contending that Sanders was “anti-woman” for suggesting the Democratic Party couldn’t purge all pro-life politicians from their ranks, and criticized “establishment” Planned Parenthood’s stranglehold on the Dem party platform.
Appalled that the man who dismissed #plannedparenthood as establishment & bashed #identitypolitics is speaking at the #WomensConvention.
— Amy Canfield (@AmyCanfield1) October 12, 2017
Or how about this?
We remember.#WomensConvention https://t.co/HXQ5Rjtxdx
— Amene (@Ange_Amene) October 12, 2017
Feminists also accused the Women’s March of enabling the “Bernie Bros” — the men who, they claim, harassed Hillary Clinton supporters online.
The #WomensConvention might as well be called the “Make Progressive Bros Feel Fine About Being Misogynistic Pricks to HRC Convention.”
— Ashton (@ashtonpittman) October 12, 2017
They’ll be angrier to know that the Women’s March is charging upwards of $300 for the three-day conference, and that doesn’t include room and board.