FADE IN:
Cue cascading images of Sarah Palin with John McCain.
Cut to image of Palin with rifle.
Cut to image of the women's club from I Love Lucy, featuring Lucy, Ethel and the gang.
Gunshots ring out. The screen goes black momentarily.
Cut to images of Sarah Palin raising her fist triumphantly at the convention.
Cut to image of Sarah Palin with a rifle. Slowly fade from color to black and white.
Cut to image of pop singer Pink, comic Margaret Cho and actor Matt Damon.
Cut to black. The text on the screen reads, "Paid for by DUMB 2008."
FADE OUT.
Cue cascading images of Sarah Palin with John McCain.
VOICEOVER:
(to soothing music) Republicans made history by nominating a woman for vice president. What they don't want you to know?
Cut to image of Palin with rifle.
VOICEOVER:
(to horror music) Sarah Palin...
Cut to image of the women's club from I Love Lucy, featuring Lucy, Ethel and the gang.
VOICEOVER:
Hates. Women.
Gunshots ring out. The screen goes black momentarily.
Cut to images of Sarah Palin raising her fist triumphantly at the convention.
VOICEOVER:
She's no feminist. Sarah Palin doesn't support a woman's right to choose. Sarah Palin hates equal rights for women. Sarah Palin hates rape victims.
Cut to image of Sarah Palin with a rifle. Slowly fade from color to black and white.
VOICEOVER:
Don't support Sarah Palin. She doesn't support you.
Cut to image of pop singer Pink, comic Margaret Cho and actor Matt Damon.
PINK, MARGARET CHO AND MATT DAMON:
We're Democrats Unimpressed by Misogynistic Broads, and we approve this message.
Cut to black. The text on the screen reads, "Paid for by DUMB 2008."
FADE OUT.
* * * *
At the risk of coming off like Jerry Seinfeld, what's the deal with the Sarah-Palin-hates-women stuff? This is getting ridiculous. Some say Palin will set the feminist movement back 30 years. Some say 40. Too many people are in agreement that Palin is an anti-feminist woman hater. Their claims rely on a faulty arguments and a convenient case of selective amnesia.
Her critics point first to her position on abortion. Palin is of the rare pro-lifers brave enough to come out against abortion even in cases of incest and rape. It's a logically consistent stance. It doesn't make any sense for the origin of a fetus to determine whether the fetus has the right to life. And a mere pro-life position doesn't make someone anti-feminist. We've no reason to believe Palin--or anyone else, for that matter--wouldn't feel the same way if men were the ones carrying babies.
Next they note her support of a law in her town of Wasilla, Alaska, that required sexual assault victims to pay for their own $1,000 rape kit, used to gather evidence. But based on her record, it was probably a misguided attempt to cut government spending. (Unfortunately for Palin, we are far from living in a society with such a high degree of freedom and personal responsibility that people hold themselves accountable for the protection of their own rights.)
Finally, Palin's critics attack her failure to support legislation demanding men and women get paid the same for the same work. But this isn't an anti-feminist position. In fact, it's not even surprising. A Republican opposes restrictions against businesses in the name of economic freedom. Valid or not, this is par for the course and says nothing about her feelings toward feminism.
Self-professed feminists attacking Palin have forgotten what the feminist movement was all about: women being allowed to do and accepted doing anything that men do. Palin doesn't hate women--she is the quintessential feminist: She has led a career breaking through gender roles and knocking down barriers. She was a sports broadcaster. She hunts. (She's grown up to be a veritable tom-man!) She led a town for six years, defeated two male former governors and now she stands poised to be the first female vice president of the United States.
Attack Palin all you want for her windfall profits tax on oil companies in Alaska, her flip flop on the Bridge to Nowhere or her lofty requests for federal earmarks, but don't attempt to dim one of the most brightly shining examples of feminsm to hit the national stage.
Her critics point first to her position on abortion. Palin is of the rare pro-lifers brave enough to come out against abortion even in cases of incest and rape. It's a logically consistent stance. It doesn't make any sense for the origin of a fetus to determine whether the fetus has the right to life. And a mere pro-life position doesn't make someone anti-feminist. We've no reason to believe Palin--or anyone else, for that matter--wouldn't feel the same way if men were the ones carrying babies.
Next they note her support of a law in her town of Wasilla, Alaska, that required sexual assault victims to pay for their own $1,000 rape kit, used to gather evidence. But based on her record, it was probably a misguided attempt to cut government spending. (Unfortunately for Palin, we are far from living in a society with such a high degree of freedom and personal responsibility that people hold themselves accountable for the protection of their own rights.)
Finally, Palin's critics attack her failure to support legislation demanding men and women get paid the same for the same work. But this isn't an anti-feminist position. In fact, it's not even surprising. A Republican opposes restrictions against businesses in the name of economic freedom. Valid or not, this is par for the course and says nothing about her feelings toward feminism.
Self-professed feminists attacking Palin have forgotten what the feminist movement was all about: women being allowed to do and accepted doing anything that men do. Palin doesn't hate women--she is the quintessential feminist: She has led a career breaking through gender roles and knocking down barriers. She was a sports broadcaster. She hunts. (She's grown up to be a veritable tom-man!) She led a town for six years, defeated two male former governors and now she stands poised to be the first female vice president of the United States.
Attack Palin all you want for her windfall profits tax on oil companies in Alaska, her flip flop on the Bridge to Nowhere or her lofty requests for federal earmarks, but don't attempt to dim one of the most brightly shining examples of feminsm to hit the national stage.
Leave a comment