Miz Palin
September 10, 2009
Kidist Paulos Asrat reflects on Sarah Palin’s use of the title Ms. At her blog Camera Lucida, Miss Asrat writes:
But, why not Mrs. Palin? Why resort to the Ms. title which is more liberal than conservative, more feminist than traditional? Well, Ms. Palin is neither conservative nor traditional. In fact, she is a member of an organization titled “Feminists for Life” whose anti-abortion platform also supports single motherhood (including single mother college girls), and motherhood and careers, amongst other things. In keeping with that membership, Palin became the focus of a strange video called “I am Sarah Palin” taped by prominent “conservative” women of the non-MSM. For anyone versed with feminist history, this “slogan” strongly resembles the hard-core feminist song “I am woman, hear me roar,” with lyrics like this:
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Melissa writes:
I was so worried that I was alone in my discomfort with Ms. Palin! Before she was in the limelight, I was horrified when she returned to work 48 hours after delivering a baby with Down’s. When friends snapped up lipstick bumper stickers, I felt ill at ease with her working mother status. The hope of a conservative in the White House was overshadowed by the loss of the Palin children of their mother.
Laura writes:
I understand the sentiment that lies behind Palin’s popularity. She is anti-abortion in an age when even conservative politicians are wafflers. She comes from outside what Theodore Dalrymple calls the “shallow, dishonest, resentful, envious, snobbish, self-absorbed, trivial, philistine, and ultimately brutal” elite. She is pretty, energetic and charming. Clearly, she loves her family.
But, her candidacy represented a major defeat for traditionalism and specifically for traditional women. It decisively illustrated how deep feminism runs. Even conservatives in large numbers think of motherhood as a beautiful hobby, not a role society needs to uphold and protect. If Palin were elected president, middle class women would lose even more clout in defending their work as mothers and wives. In countless unspoken and direct ways, they would be told,“If Sarah can do it, you can too!”
As a mother, Palin failed spectacularly with Bristol and in any normal society this would decisively damage her political prospects. Bristol’s visibility has only encouraged single motherhood. The family has tried to obscure the seriousness of it with smiles and cheer. It’s phony and condescending.
Palin also lacks the necessary toughness and mental acuity for the presidency. She’s a national cheerleader and that has its place, but not in the White House.
Finally, the lipstick bumper sticker phenomenon reeks of Oprah-style feminism. This open celebration of feminine power is anti-male and is shocking among supposedly conservative women. It’s one more step toward the emasculation of America.
