Comments on: Sure, It Matters: More on Elena Kagan

By: Tweets that mention Sure, It Matters: More on Elena Kagan - The Pursuit of Harpyness -- Topsy.com

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:36:40 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Pursuit of Harpyness. Pursuit of Harpyness said: Sure, It Matters: More on Elena Kagan @ http://bit.ly/bX6Eig [...]

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:09:56 +0000

Ok, so I have to tell you all how pissed off I am about a thread on a friend’s fb. He made a joke about confusing Elana Kagan and Elia Kazan, the film director, which was mildly funny. But it provoked a number of comments about her looks. Really, people? Funny, I never saw anything like that for any male nominee. And these people probably consider themselves liberals. *grinds teeth*

By: Adara

Adara — Wed, 12 May 2010 06:41:01 +0000

Could y’all forward me an invitation to the vagina-havers convention? Much appreciated.

By: Tall-in-Heels

Tall-in-Heels — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:09:03 +0000

“To lie about your standpoint, to make some kind of claim to superior reason, strikes me as a white man’s move. Put differently, one of the most dangerous privileges white men have in this culture is the ability imagine their perspective as belonging to some abstract, platonic ideal of a ‘reasonable person.’”

Simply awesome.

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:11:09 +0000

I haven’t heard anything that gives me an opinion as to whether or not Kagan is actually a lesbian, but I worry that she is being called out as a lesbian because she does not conform to the patriarchal beauty standards to an “acceptable” degree. And that seems like a double shitty middle school level strategy for blocking her confirmation.

By: Mackey

Mackey — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:31:22 +0000

As a non-US based person, I find the way in which Kagan’s sexuality is THE issue rather disturbing.
PSoul, I agree with you about the possibility of Kagan being gay matters, having diversity on the bench should result in better judging all round.

In Australia we don’t have the same appointment process for judicial positions as the US, but I would have thought more considered responses about Kagan would be more forthcoming – not whether or not she dates someone with personal bits like hers, or not.

In Australia we had a High Court judge (he retired recently) who is homosexual – Justice Michael Kirby. Appointed to the HC in 1996, he previously sat on various judicial benches before the HC appointment, and in 1999 he came out – whisperings of his sexuality kept him out of other positions before his HC appointment.

Meanwhile Kirby had been with his partner for over 30 years.

Regardless of who Kagan dates/is in a relationship with, it should be up to her, in her own time or never, to let people know if she is or isn’t a lesbian. But it shouldn’t be the sole determinant of her capacity to sit on the Supreme Court.

By: RMJ

RMJ — Wed, 12 May 2010 00:21:26 +0000

Nice post! I really like the distinction you make in the second and third paragraphs!

By: charlemagneinsweats

charlemagneinsweats — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:43:16 +0000

Politically, I think her lesbianism would work to her advantage. No one with any relevance would seriously try to make her sexuality an issue and if they did I think they would quickly find that this country has come a long way. Also, it would create a rift between the anti-gay Republicans and the libertarian Republicans which would be fun to watch.

Maybe as a nation we are not ready to have gay people get married but neither, I strongly believe, do we support discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The White House should not have commented one way or the other on her sexuality–to deny it makes it seem like there is something shameful about being gay in the first place.

By: baraqiel

baraqiel — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:19:44 +0000

@bluebears – I feel like this:
“they HAD to [do X] otherwise the right wing would go crazy! Like they aren’t already?” characterizes the basic modus operandi of the Democratic party for the last decade at least.

By: bluebears

bluebears — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:01:35 +0000

Oh and of course I agree that diversity (in all forms) is desirable on the bench. Although I doubt Kagan would be the first homosexual to sit on the Court.