Re: Sarah Palin and the Feminists: What went Wrong
Squashed, thanks for your response. However, we remain unconvinced. Your argument, albeit eloquent, essentially carries the same talking points we’ve repeatedly heard before. In fact, your argument further convinces us that feminism remains an exclusionary movement that seeks to advance some women with a very specific set of beliefs. Because of its ideological nature, feminism will inevitably leave out women who may have different ideologies, but who are equally as strong and independent as any feminist looking to have that ‘fair shot’ as Robot-Heart explained.
Both Squashed and Robot-Heart agree that just because someone is a woman doesn’t mean she’ll get defended by feminists. We’re a bit confused by this. Aren’t all women entitled to their ‘fair shot’ regardless of their ideology? And right here lies our problem with this brand of exclusionary feminism. It not only ignores women who happen to disagree with so-called feminist views, but many feminists go out of their way to smear and viciously attack those women. There is no need to go into detail of all the disgusting and sexist attacks that were thrown at Palin during the campaign. But we would like to point out that barely any of those self-described feminists came to Palin’s rescue. Whether you agree with her politics or not, some of the attacks were horrendously shameful. From the endless barrage of sexist attacks, to that famous t-shirt with the “Sarah Palin is a C#$%” slogan that so many people proudly wore, to that smear campaign claiming Trig wasn’t her son, and to that ridiculous claim from so many that she couldn’t properly run for Office because she was a mother. “You silly woman you, what are you doing with both a career and kids! That’s a man’s job!” The whole thing was just opprobrious, and regardless of your political/ideological position, one must admit she was treated as such solely because she was a woman… a Republican woman at that. Had this been a Democrat woman getting the same treatment, the feminist gods would have been evoked with all their furor and might.
We here at AF do not claim political affiliation. We are neither Republican, Democrat, liberal nor conservative. We were equally displeased with Hillary Clinton’s treatment during the Democratic primaries. Feminists, however, did come to her rescue many a-times as she would’ve surely helped advance the feminist partisan agenda. The Palin issue is simply an example, in a sea of many, where feminism proves to fall short from the justice it claims to stand by.
