I just read this article about how NOT feminist Sarah Palin is. If you don't want to read the entire article, I understand...it was hard to understand some parts, because honestly, I'm not a feminism expert. Although, I do consider myself a feminist! Anyway, so, if you don't want to read it, I will just excerpt the one paragraph that I was like...YEA, who the heck does she think she is!! I highly recommend reading this article! I also recommend you read as many articles as you can that are linked in this article. Like the article where it discusses how apparently, Sarah Palin and her Chief of Police in Wasilla wanted to end a law which helped rape victims pay for their tests (rape kits). In other words, there is a law that says victims of rape DO NOT have to pay for the rape exams at the hospital. Palin, and her Police Chief wanted that to no longer be the case, and wanted all rape victims to pay, out of their own pockets, the $500-1,200 costs of their exams. Yuck! Anyway, check it out if you want.
Palin's femininity is one that is recognizable to most women: She's the kind of broad who speaks on behalf of other broads but appears not to like them very much. The kind of woman who, as Jessica Grose at Jezebel has eloquently noted, achieves her power by doing everything modern women believed they did not have to do: presenting herself as maternal and sexual, sucking up to men, evincing an absolute lack of native ambition, instead emphasizing her luck as the recipient of strong male support and approval. It works because these stances do not upset antiquated gender norms. So when the moment comes, when tolerance for and interest in female power have been forcibly expanded by Clinton, a woman more willing to throw elbows and defy gender expectations but who falls short of the goal, Palin is there, tapped as a supposedly perfect substitute by powerful men who appreciate her charms.
4 comments:
I'm disgusted about the rape kit. And I agree with your quote. She just plays the game. The more I hear about her the less I like her. So she has boobs and works a "real" job. Does that mean she's a feminist or that she will make a good VP? NOT. I really hate how many women are jumping on the McCain/Palin wagon just because she is a woman. Get educated people.
I was reading in the Washington Post yesterday how due to Palin's gender, and thus her new Hollywood status, Obama's lead in the polls has diminished greatly. Many people have questioned his choice for Biden, who has a long and legitimized political resume with many different facets. Some say that if Obama would have picked Clinton he would be a shoe-in for the presidency. I think that is really sad statement for our nation.
Biden has a pretty solid background. He has been involved in politics longer than Palin and he balances Obama well--even though to start with I was not a fan. I think by making statements that Obama will not win the election simply because of the gender of his running mate is a step back with feminism and more certainly our nation who promises us that 'all men are created equal.' How is hyper-focusing on a candidate's gender, and not their record, creating equality for all Americans? Just because she happens to have two X chromosomes does not mean that we should throw ourselves on a bandwagon that the GOP hoped for when announcing her. True feminism is going to ask for equality on the playing field. True feminism would not want extra media attention drawn towards her simply because she is a working mom and happens to be congenial. True feminism would want to look at the entity as a whole. To see how she and McCain measure up to Obama and Biden, based on their qualifications, not genders or ethnicities.
I understand that sometimes when you are 'applying for jobs' you will exaggerate some of your skills and talk yourself up to a point where you may be able to get a job that you really aren't qualified or ready for. However, being a VP is supposed to be a big thing. It is supposed to be a position filled with a person that can lead this nation towards improvement and furthering the unalienable rights that our Constitution promises for everyone. How can a person do this when she has no clue? In the same article from the Post they talked about how Palin's Hollywood status was sure to diminish sooner or later, and how Biden, who is out and about doing his job as VP candidate (ie., campaigning and questioning McCain's preparedness for President) was going to win votes in the long run. He is doing his job. McCain's people aren't even allowing Palin to go out campaigning on her own. She is traveling around with him. Sources say they don't think she can 'handle the pressure' on her own. WTF? What the heck is going to happen when McCain is busy with Afghanistan and she needs to step up and do it on her own? I think that if a VP candidate can not even do things on her own now, the American people need to realize how little confidence McCain's people have in their own choice for VP and vote accordingly. Feministic or not, she is a candidate for a very important job in this country. We should hold her up to those standards, the same as we would hold up other potential job candidates. Based on her political track record it seems like she is doing a great job living up to Republican ideals- cutting out the poor and doing whatever she wants to improve the conditions for herself and/or her friends' lives. Hopefully the Post was correct in stating that Obama and Biden, since they are campaigning separately, will reach 50% more of the American public and thus will be able to increase their knowledge. Hopefully we will see results after the Hollywood status of this VP candidate dies down, that the American people do care about their futures more than they care about the propaganda that has been shoved down our throats these past 2 weeks.
on another note...check this out. it compares media coverage of clinton and palin. i laughed!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQK1al91drs
I love that video! I've read a lot of those comparisons in different articles. I am, seriously, trying to get both sides of the story, but to me, the other side are just huge hypocrits...it's hard not to read this stuff over and over!! Thanks for the video, I can't wait to send it to more people!
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