Many women will be on the edge of their seats tomorrow watching Sarah Palin participate in her first and only vice presidential debate of the election season. Some will tune in to root for the first woman on the Republican Party presidential ticket. Others (like me) will tune in because they are wondering if Palin will continue her erratic performance on the campaign trail and whether her intellectual deficits will set women's rights back 30 years.
No doubt about it, whether for or against the Republican ticket women everywhere are fascinated by the moose-hunter from Alaska with an unwed teen daughter, special-needs child and dog-sled driving husband. Whatever criticisms women may have about Palin's ideology (she doesn't believe in a woman's right to choose), no one can question that she represents a non-traditional role-model. Role-model?!? Yes, role model. Think about it: Palin got into politics after becoming active in her community. She was elected Mayor and then governor of her state on her own record and not through a politician husband (like Hillary Clinton).
That being said, what are we to make of Palin's ideology? It doesn't fit the traditional feminist profile of pro-choice, equal pay for equal work, etc. Does Palin's conservative perspective on these issues mean that she isn't a feminist? If this working mother of five can't legitimately claim the feminist label, then what is she? Perhaps she is an independent woman who believes that she doesn't have to be placed into an ideological box in order to express her womanhood. If this is the case, then Palin is expressing a post-feminist understanding of womanhood in which women are free to be, think, and believe what they want--even if it undercuts traditional feminist values considered important for the advancement of all women.
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3 comments:
I don't agree that Gov Palin is a feminist. To me, a feminist is for women's rights and a woman's right to choose. She was elected mayor and then governor and, because of her machiavellian leadership, she was noticed by the Republican party. And now we have to pray that this "menace to society" will not be a "heartbeat from the presidency" in the near future.
The post-feminist perspective is an interesting one, considering that her core-constituency is one that has never subscribed to general feminist ideologies in no way, shape, fashion or form.
Considering her most recent debacles, it should be interesting to observe her antics on this, the largest stage of her career.
You know, I'm glad to hear what you say Maya. Sarah Palin is a feminist. She did not ride the coat tails of her husband. She rose to power on her own merits. Wasn't the movement about women's lib? She is liberated...so much so, that she liberated herself from femenist values.
The problem is, that this thinking also forces us to think about whether we - as Black people - must have a responsibility to the Black Community, or should we also free ourselves as well?
Reparations also forces us to think about these things. Ultimately, to obtain reparations we must achieve liberty. And, although fought for in the collective, American Liberty was ultimately earned for the benefit of the individual - and individuals.
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