another political blog.
These are my premises:
1) i am a liberal
2) i like sarah palin
again, just in case that's undigestable, in other words:
I am a liberal and I like Sarah Palin.
She is authentic. She has personality. She is witty as hell (case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h0xOjsOqdk). She isn't afraid to speak forcefully and with conviction to a roomful of higher degreed men. There are a bunch of things I like about her. Yes, I think she's a fierce feminist. To me, feminism is not the ideology of a particular party. It is about women, not party lines. In no way should 'feminist' equate with 'Democrat.' By doing so we severely cripple the scope, reach, and potential of the feminist movement.
Websters defines feminist as "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes." It is a very dangerous place when we assume that the only women pioneering that theory are liberals. That is essentially saying that Republican women are vying for the opposite, or are satisfied with the status quo? Are satisfied with being paid less, being outnumbered 3, 4 times by men in their workplace? Not only is that a completely ignorant and unfair assertion, it is discriminatory and takes us all significantly further back in our progress. Furthermore, Sarah Palin is by no means an example of a submissive woman settling for the status quo. Whether you are happy or not with her selection as a VP candidate (which i personally very much am NOT), she DID, on her OWN, go from mayor to the first female Governor of her state, all whilst rearing five children and having an approval rating over 80%, the highest in the nation. This was not handed to her by a famous last name or a wealthy family. She worked for that.
The evidence that liberal feminist women have been citing to support their conviction that Palin is not a feminist all stem from her political views. While I completely disagree with her views relating to abortion, stem cell research, the environment, and more -- her reasons are personal, just like our views are, and she has indicated that she will not push legislation to make them shared by the rest of the US. So we demean her with our ignorant tear-down tactics over an issue that really ultimately will only be decided (and has been decided) by the court system, not by the executive branch.
What really pushed me to post this was a quote from Pink, a pop star for those of you not interested in the latest Billboard chart, who dare i say is not any authority on politics: Pink says about Palin, "This woman hates women. She is not a feminist. She is not the woman that's going to come behind Hillary Clinton and do anything that Hillary Clinton would've been capable of ... I can't imagine overturning Roe vs. Wade. She's not of this time. The woman terrifies me."
No, she's not going to do anything Hillary Clinton would've done. She stands for totally different things. I don't think she's going to try to do what Hillary would've. But, she HATES WOMEN? That is utterly and completely ignorant and outrageous.
Pink's not the only one, while I respect and love all of my feminist friends opinions, I've heard them gripe similarly about Palin. I hope this encourages women (and men) to think twice about what feminism really is. We liberals should not be trampling on women who stood up for what they believed in and blazed a trail no other woman in their state's history has; instead we should gripe she was picked -- with all her inexperience -- to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. While we don't agree with her as a VP, we don't hate her as a woman and don't believe she hates us likewise. Dare I say, if none of this had happened, and she emerged as a figurehead leading a large nonprofit for example, we would all love her. Women are hating her BECAUSE she was vetted. Why can't we hate the people who chose her, yet respectfully agree she might possibly be good at another position in this world? I honestly feel bad for her. Of course she has to defend her record and answer tough questions -- it's not an option for her to back out of a race with so much at stake. We should cast our votes and get on with it. Argue against her with weapons of educated politics not cheap accusations.
I am sick and tired of women tearing down other women.
End of rant.
In other news, Obama/Biden 2008.
Very best,
Suz
No, she's not going to do anything Hillary Clinton would've done. She stands for totally different things. I don't think she's going to try to do what Hillary would've. But, she HATES WOMEN? That is utterly and completely ignorant and outrageous.
Pink's not the only one, while I respect and love all of my feminist friends opinions, I've heard them gripe similarly about Palin. I hope this encourages women (and men) to think twice about what feminism really is. We liberals should not be trampling on women who stood up for what they believed in and blazed a trail no other woman in their state's history has; instead we should gripe she was picked -- with all her inexperience -- to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. While we don't agree with her as a VP, we don't hate her as a woman and don't believe she hates us likewise. Dare I say, if none of this had happened, and she emerged as a figurehead leading a large nonprofit for example, we would all love her. Women are hating her BECAUSE she was vetted. Why can't we hate the people who chose her, yet respectfully agree she might possibly be good at another position in this world? I honestly feel bad for her. Of course she has to defend her record and answer tough questions -- it's not an option for her to back out of a race with so much at stake. We should cast our votes and get on with it. Argue against her with weapons of educated politics not cheap accusations.
I am sick and tired of women tearing down other women.
End of rant.
In other news, Obama/Biden 2008.
Very best,
Suz
Posts
2 comments:
We elect representatives based on their personal beliefs. Also, the executive branch appoints justices so her beliefs are relevant in that sense as well. With respect to the vitriol, I believe comes more from stoking class warfare than anything else. I'm sure she a nice, smart lady, I just fundamentally disagree with her. :)
I agree that it is absurd that these self-appointed "feminists" rip women apart that do not subscribe to their far left agenda. I don't think she was a good pick for VP, I don't agree with of her stands on a lot of issues, and I'm not going to vote for her (or her side kick) but I admire her and am impressed with what she has accomplished.
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