A Rift Among The Sisterhood Surfaces As Many Feminists Show Support For Obama

At a Washington reception last month for a well-known national women's organization, the chair of the board asked Maureen McFadden, a communications executive with the organization, which candidate she'd voted for in the recent primary. McFadden, hoping to avoid an awkward moment, answered that she'd voted by absentee ballot. The board chair pressed ahead, "Did you vote for a boy or a girl?"

"I paused for a long time," says McFadden. "Then I told her I voted for a boy - I wasn't going to lie." McFadden, who has worked on women's issues for twenty years, says the room went silent and the board chair chastised her. "It was clear that I had betrayed feminism by voting for Barack Obama. It became obvious - if you didn't vote for Hillary Clinton, you were less than a feminist and only marginally a woman."

It's no secret that Clinton's candidacy has caused waves in feminist circles.