Answer: D.
All of the above.
So I have recently received a virtual "Shut Up, Bitch!" card from a commenter who thinks I, as a female, should shut up about Sarah Palin, as she, too is a female.
And that my asking if Mrs. Palin is running for Vice-President or Vice-Prom Queen is sexist. Or something. (Though when during the primary, I frequently asked whether Barack Obama was running for Prom King I received no similar criticism, as I recall).
Somehow I should be shutting up about Palin because -- what? All of a sudden we don't want to be picking on a gurrrl? But we've been picking on gurrls 4-ever! NOW, you want we should stop? I feel sure that that is just what Karl Rove had in mind with this pick! Using reverse sexism as a Teflon-ing ploy. (He's such a clever dude, is he not?)
Anyhow, to this sub-section of gentle readers: if you think the choice of Sarah Palin as Trophy VEEP is not a hideous insult to all women (and men), then, you know, like, go for it.
w00t!
Via the New York Times, "Drawing Women's Attention, Maybe Not Allegiance, interviews with some pro-Palinists, and plenty of women who, like me, think this pick a shameless pandering insult.
Via The Sydney Morning Herald, Palin A Better Shot Than Cheney
Sarah Palin
Trophy VEEP
McCain/Palin
18 comments:
I would never tell you to shut up. I've read your blog for too long and come to respect your opinions.
Women are going to be divided on the Palin selection, that's just the way it's going to be.
I'm certainly not going to tell anybody what to think, but for myself, I like Palin. She is not just another pretty face, she is a woman with some depth behind her. She resigned in protest as the Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission charging fellow Alaskan Republican leaders with lack of ethics. She has ploughed her way thru the corruption in Alaska, and left a trail of bodies in her wake.
I'm not asking anybody to vote for her. If you want a real progressive, someone who has always fought for what she believed in, vote Mckinney. But I am asking people to take a second look at Palin and not dismiss her as simply a Republican trophy bimbo. A token fembot or whatever it is she appears to be at first glance.
Are the Dems mad because their party won't be the first ones to put a woman in the White House. Boo hoo, cry me a river! They could've had a woman on the ticket, but Obama has to much hatred or fear of Hillary to make her VP. Palin is a good choice for McCain. She has more executive experience than Obama,Biden or McCain. Sorry, but i think the Republicans are gonna walk away with this one.
Well, you know, I'm not doing actual reasoned discourse, here, I'm just writing propaganda.
In this spirit do I frame Palin as a Trophy VEEP. (Which I actually think she is, btw).
The clip I included below was very airhead. As was what her opponents said about running against her (also included below)
I've since seen another one at Tennessee Guerrilla Women that is not so airhead.
We shall see. The upside is that sexism is going to be a hot topic for weeks to come. And so it should be.
But -- McKinney, McCain. I was leaning toward McKinney, now I'm leaning the other way, against McCain/Palin. I'm just not that into Dominionists.
She may indeed have depth, but she's a hard-core social conservative which is never good news for women, or indeed citizens. And people like Palin who cherrypick feminism are open to the criticism it garners them...tough crap if she's a woman.
Palin is about as feminist as Rush Limbaugh.
I think it is very progressive and mature to delete comments you disgaree with. Bold, open way to run your blog--but hey, it is your blog, so I respect that you want only comments that uphold your simple view of McCain's pick. I won't be back--no worries.
I didn't address your name calling on Obama because frankly, I wasn't aware of it. If all you do is name call, well, I wasted my time. Astute commentary, I must say. I believe feminists should speak out on sexism, even when the target is a woman we may or may not agree with.
It does sadden me that some women, ironically, are not giving her a fair shake.
As an avid political junkie who spends way too much time on rcp and other news soucres and blogs, I can say that Palin’s name has been floated for months.
I have a hard time using the word "feminist" to describe someone who is anti-choice, including cases of rape and incest. But that's just me. (Well, it was noted in an earlier post here as well, but....)
And then there's the ethics investigation she's currently involved in. So I'm not sure one can say that she's all that moral or, for that matter, well-balanced.
And there's also the question of whether or not Palin's child is actually hers. If this is true (and I only know what I've read), it looks like a terrible example of putting politics and appearance before ethics and reality.
In other words, there are plenty of reasons to dislike Palin. It's not just that she's less experienced than Kaine or Obama, it's that she has major flaws, both politically and personally.
...I would also like to add, before I go away with my unwelcome ideas, that having Jack Cafferty up as a supporting voice is weak. He referred to her as "Ms. Palin" and her nomination as "this little topic." I thought she was a Governor? In the primary, and actually after the primary, Cafferty struck me as horribly one sided and sexist.
I don't think Palin is the type of feminist I am, but as a feminist, I feel obligated to speak out when I see sexism. Period.
I recently took a job that was a big step up in my field (education), and I was told to apologize for and diminish my youth (being 30) and for being perceived as good looking. Men in the same position aren't asked to apologize for the same attributes. I tend to hear and see some of the same criticism of Gov. Palin.--
I don't think it would be as bad towards Kaine or Jindal, but that is just a guess.
That, and she's so far right that she's a danger to this country. Her views on the environment and education will make you sick.
-She advocated against mine safety/pollution control.
-She's against sex education.
-She wants creationism taught in schools.
-She thinks global warming is a myth.
Don't believe me? Here's a link:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/30/201818/606/27/580690
Oh, and I'm sure upset Clinton supporters will vote for a woman who called Clinton "a whiner".
By the way hubris, I've never accused you of attacking anyone based on gender, nor have I done so. Except for "sw" word, I'm sure I've never told you to shut up either. If I have, I'm sorry.
-She doesn't believe global warming is man made, but a result of our planet's natural fluctiations. She said many times that climate change will hurt Alaska badly.
-She does believe that both evolution and creation can be taught in school.
-She successfully put a windfall profit tax on the oil companies and sent that money back to the Alaskan families (which neo-cons have blasted her for, calling it re-distribution of wealth)
...Just for clarification. I know talking points are easier to refer to than facts.
I apologize for the deletion; I had responded in an unawake state this morning, deleted several of my reponses to your response, and in an attempt to copy yours to respond to it, lost it irretrievably. You are quite correct, and I apologize. I did try to address some of the issues you had mentioned in my post today,
Hubris,
There is a difference between telling someone that they are being sexist by denigrating an accomplished woman on the basis that she won a beauty contest and financed her education that way
VERSUS
interpreting that as meaning you should "shut up" and get behind someone because they are female, or a gurl, as you put it. BIG DIFFERENCE. World's apart.
On the other hand, I think McCain's picking Palin is odiously sexist.
And offensive.
And I'm not the only one.
(See today's NY Times article, which I will reference in the post above, as soon as life permits).
I don't care that she won a beauty contest. I did not know that when I wrote about Prom Queen.
I care that she has been chosen, not on the basis of her qualifications and experience, but on the basis of her gender, her youth, her looks, and her conservatism.
Conservatism as a basis for choice I understand.
The rest? The arm-candy part? It's like perky Katie Couric versus Helen Thomas.
It reinforces stereotypical gender biasm throwing old experienced women under the social worthlessness bus yet atin.
We don't need to pay attention to Palin's qualities, 'cause she's cute and people like her.
Trophy VEEP -- Vanna White. Just there to turn over the big cards and sell vowels.
Not ok with me. Just not.
*yet again.
no blood for hubris:
Well, it's a safe bet that you and I will never agree on the Hillary thing, but on this I'm certainly with you.
How does one talk about a woman like Palin whos is so obviously aware of her telegenic attributes (and just, apparently, as unaware of her "reality based" detriments) without noting her appearance and gender? I honestly don't know how that can be done. She, or the campaign, has brought the matter of her "beauty queen" staus up. She, or the campaign, has made her "motherhood" a character issue. They can't have it both ways.
Her executive experience is pretty thin.
And, if voting for someone like her is "progressive" put me down for the Neanderthal Party.
democommie
democommie
She's an uncomplicated reactionary. Easily the most conservative candidate the GOP has offered, she also crushes any chance of the party shedding the yoke of extremism. Thank you Palin. Your train wreck of a candidacy is comforting.
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