As much as I would like to simply ignore the many stories coming across my screen ad nauseum about Sarah Palin, enough is enough, and I am being called to provide my two cents.  It appears that Mayor Palin has more skeletons in her closet than Eminem, and the interwebs are doing a great job airing her dirty laundry, with the mainstream media coming in a close second (US Weekly has also jumped on the bandwagon).  It seems McCain’s ’straight talk express’ has come to a screeching halt, as their efforts now focus on damage control and making Palin the victim.  A word to the wise for future candidates, you may want to Google you veep before thrusting them into the media interrogation lens.

One topic rising to the forefront in Palin-mania 2008 is the role her gender plays in all of the negative press she has been receiving.  Some feel that because of her gender she is being treated particularly negatively in the media, and that this marginalization is somehow related to the institutionalized suppression of women; I just do not buy it.  In fact, I think the reverse is true.  I think the Republicans are using Palin’s gender to their advantage,using her femininity to stake their claim as the party that really cares about women’s rights, working to further convolute the issues surrounding her qualifications as VP.

First let us look at some historical facts.  The Republicans are 24 years late in their ‘ground breaking’ decision to select a woman candidate in a presidential election, yet they will try to paint a picture in which the Democrats are a bunch of sexists trying to smear Palin simply because she is a woman.  News Flash - the glass ceiling for US women’s involvement in presidential elections was broken in 1984 when Democratic Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro made her way onto the presidential ticket.  If the Republicans really cared about equality in government you would think that it would not have taken them a quarter-century to reach the same mark the Dems did in the early 80’s.

Second, doesn’t it seem to be a bit of an oxymoron that the Republicans are crying sexism on Palin’s behalf when they actually, as a group, are against a woman’s right to choose?!  How could anyone claim to be a supporter of women’s rights and not grant a women the ability to make their own decisions regarding their body?  The only thing I can surmise here is that maybe the Republican women have figured out some method of teleportation, through which all of the empowered Republican women are now able to choose their destinies and effectively select their way out of becoming a victim of rape or incest; sort of like a choose your own adventure novel.

Third, McCain’s selection of Palin is nothing more than a calculated plot designed to invoke feelings of faux-feminism among Hillary supporters displaced by her failure to secure the Democratic nomination.  McCain’s handlers are using her femininity to play on what they assume to be the inherent weakness in all women by assuming that these women did not really care about Hillary’s politics, but that they only supported her because of her gender.  Therefore, by picking Palin, McCain (and the entire Republican party) make the assumption that women are too stupid and/or lazy to actually invest time in studying the issues, and will simply go with the choice that best matches their genitalia.

These women, who hopped on the Palin train before she even opened her mouth, are now seeing all of the negative information coming to light regarding Palin and have chosen to internalize it (with coaxing from the Reps) as a form of oppression of women.  Who looks like the hero now to these women?  John McCain does, because he stood up and chose a woman running mate despite all of the negative, sexist comments from the Democrats.  How will this play out in the debates?  Once again, this will help McCain because (like it or not) Biden will inevitably tone it down a bit when debating with Palin, and once again, her gender becomes an advantage.

Personally, I could care less if Palin was a woman, man, transsexual, chupacabre, or dog, she is still incompetent.  I do not think she is being treated unfairly by the media because she is a woman, and I think the feminism debate is quite tired in 2008.  As much as people want to continue to hold on to and blame separations between the genders for the way Palin is being treated, the truth of the matter is, everything being brought up from her past that has reflected negatively on her has nothing to do with her gender.

Fact about Palin independent of gender:

• Palin and Earmark Spending - McCain consistently praises Palin for her support of ending abusive earmark spending, but in fact she this year she has confronted the, “state of Alaska [and] has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million in next year’s federal budget”.
• Palin’s Love for the Country - Palin was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, an Alaskan state’s rights party whose agenda includes pushing for a vote that would allow Alaska to secede from the United States.  Their motto?  “Alaska First — Alaska Always.”
• Palin’s Book Banning Agenda - So much for freedom of speech…  Palin has been accused of approaching Wasilla’s town librarian regarding the banning of books that she deemed to contain inappropriate language.
• Palin Cuts Funding for Teen Moms While Preaching Abstinence Only Education - How compassionate.  Palin opposes programs that educate girls on how not to get pregnant, lobbies against their right to decide whether to have a child, and then kills social programs that exist to cushion the impact of those policies. She then has the gall to trot out her own pregnant daughter as a symbol for “family values.”  I would agree that her daughter’s extra curricular activities and child rearing choices are none of my business, much in the same way it should not be Palin’s business when other women get pregnant and CHOOSE to have an abortion.
• Palin’s God is a Spiteful God - For most of her life Sarah Palin attended the Wasilla Assembly of God, a glorious place of worship that professes damnation for critics of the president, Democrats and other irredeemable sinners, while painting a picture of the war resulting from 9/11 as a struggle over Christianity, with Jesus executing his role as leader.
• Palin Cannot Even Run a Car Wash - During her reign as part owner of Anchorage Car Wash LLC, the car was was served papers for an “involuntary dissolution” because of its failure to file a biennial report and pay state licensing fees.
• Palin’s Foreign Policy Experience - Her world travel and negotiations experience include travel to Germany and Kuwait, along with a refueling layover in Ireland during which she purchased a sweater and a beer mug.

While I would not bet my life that the facts mentioned above are true, for the most part they are from well-known web resources, most of which are world renowned for their journalism and accuracy.  What I will bet my life on is the fact that the talking points mentioned above regarding Palin’s qualifications, have nothing to do with her sex.  Palin is being portrayed as weak and inexperienced in the media because that is what her history shows, not because of what she has between her legs.  Palin herself will acknowledge the ability of women to effectively break through the ‘old boys network’, and has proven that she is able to balances the challenges of balancing motherhood and a professional position, which just works to further disprove any supposition of sexism.

The gender wage gap was the lowest it has ever been in 2007, and from my perspective, a woman in 2008 has the same opportunities as a man, if she chooses to pursue them, which might mean putting of some dreams in exchange for others.  There is not some overtly oppressive, sexist force out there working against Palin.  It is Palin’s history working against Palin, nothing else.  Don’t you think its more important for our children to grow up under leaders that allow them the right to decide over their own bodies, the right to decide which books they want to read, and the right to live in a healthy environment, rather than blindly sticking to some sort of gender-equality initiative to ensure the next VP wears a skirt?

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September 3rd, 2008 | Freelance Writing, News, Literature, Realpolitik

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