Sexism and Sarah Palin
When Sarah Palin was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate, I thought, "That's interesting." From the outset, I had a gnawing suspicion that she was selected because she was a woman and for that reason, I was insulted. At the same time, there was continuing fuss and bother over now President Elect Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate- I'll save those thoughts for another blog. Again, I was insulted. As a Spelman woman and die hard feminist, I was waiting for the discourse to change and help me understand why those two women were the best women for the positions.
During the race, Sarah Palin had the opportunity to introduce herself to the American public, express her views, and promote the Republican's platform. Sarah Palin was an excellent running mate for John McCain. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. But in the wake of the McCain Palin defeat, I feel discouraged for Sarah Palin. Let me be clear, I despised how she willingly and eagerly carried forth a message of fear the African American man, blind patriotism for a questionable war, and the retention of American hegemony. However, I find myself wondering whether all of the post defeat fuss and bother over trivial matters that have little to do with her capacity to lead would be occurring if she were a man.
Let's hear what you think.
posted by G-5 Sistah at
5:29 AM
2 Comments:
Not that I voted their ticket, but I also felt slightly sorry for Palin on 11/5 when all of the 'unnamed' McCain campers were releasing so many spiteful and trivial details, saying how much of a terror she was to work with for those few months. However just this morning I read her remarks to her local paper, and I am just amazed that even at this point she is pointing fingers and blaming everyone else for the failure of their ticket. She talked about how the ticket was too status quo for people to care about them and I just have to think to myself that when you are one half of the status quo then you have the power to try changing it. It is more respectable to try and fail than not try and complain about the failure. That tells me that this is an aspect of her character that perhaps the press picked up on and exploited.
I think the same things would have happened to her if she were a man. I recall Edwards' $400 haircut and all the press the candidates' designer suits were getting back when there were about 20 people in the primary field. In the last days of the campaign even McCain stressed how little he knew about her before she was selected. I don't think she was singled out as a woman just highlighted as someone with no credentials to support her selection... like you said, a woman for the sake of having a woman.
Hi Katrice,
Thanks for responding. This recent election brought out all the 'isms: racism, classism, sexism. The GOP picked a woman because they clearly believed any woman would do to save their ticket. As a result, they chose a woman who would be a "good girl" and carry their divisive message. The sad part of this is that Sarah Palin doesn't understand the sexism that was the catalyst for her national recognition.
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