women’s rights imPalined
by Paige Cram
Published: September 3, 2008
In the past few days, I’ve learned all I need to know about Sarah Palin:
“She can go straight from the breast pump to the microphone.”
“Right before the interview, she ducked into a side room to change little Trig and then came right back to go on air.”
“She’s just a regular next door neighbor. A wonderful wife and mother of five.”
“I never set out to run for this office… I was just your average hockey mom who got involved in the PTA.”
Well that’s all I need to know. I’m sold. Obviously, as a woman I can relate to her homemaking skills and incredible talents as a mother. And, obviously, all I want as a woman voter is someone I can relate to.
At least that’s what the Republicans seem to think.
I’ll leave the pros and cons of nominating Sarah Palin as vice president out of this. What I’d really like to discuss is the absolute insult of a marketing strategy that’s being used to present her to the world.
First of all, do the powers-that-be in the Republican party honestly believe that women are stupid? That we won’t notice the vast differences in the politics and experience between this woman and someone as extraordinary as Hillary Clinton? Or do they themselves not even see the difference? I’m not sure which would be worse.
Secondly, why is it that they seem to think that as long as she’s convincing as a coffee-making, baby-producing, loving wife that women voters won’t care about anything else? Are those really the things that define her as a woman, and more importantly, as a political candidate? And if so, can the rest of us 21st century women really even relate to that?
I mean, come on! Palin, the campaign, and the entire media are so busy talking about her sweet, adorable family that I actually had to do Internet research to find out where she went to school and what her degree is in (University of Idaho, Journalism).
And to add insult to injury, she stole Hillary’s line about the cracks in the glass ceiling, and promised her (women) listeners that together, we can shatter that ceiling yet!
Right. Shatter the glass ceiling so you can revoke a woman’s right to choose. I’m with you, Sarah!
I’d like to know what particular brand of crazy hash the McCain campaign is smoking because I sure would like to try some the next time I have a big decision to make.
I’m not saying the nomination is necessarily a mistake. I think it’s great that another woman has reached a major party ticket. But the gross mishandling of her nomination is inherently insulting to the very group of people they are trying to reach.
They are peddling her as an “average American,” a typical family woman, someone who played high school sports but still ran for beauty queen, married her childhood sweetheart and unintentionally stumbled her way into the governor’s mansion. And their unspoken assumption that that is what will impress women voters is a slap to the face of the past 88 years of forward progress.
First of all, if she really is so average, if her family is the most extraordinary thing about her, then what are we supposed to be voting for? Just because we’re women doesn’t mean we need our politicians watered down.
Secondly, this is one of the highest offices in the country. Who said we wanted someone average? I want my president (and vice president) to be able to run the country, not just be able to hunt and fish and raise a family.
Thirdly, if they’re going to make such a big deal about her family, maybe we should start discussing the fact that her husband works for the oil industry.
The nomination of a woman for vice president doesn’t excuse the Republican party of the blatantly sexist behavior and comments I’ve witnessed this last weekend. They can’t claim themselves to be the new party for feminists until they start giving smart and accomplished women the respect they deserve. And Sarah Palin won’t win over any women until she starts demanding that respect. By allowing the party to play up her homemaking qualities, she’s implicit in the minimizing of her own accomplishments. I sincerely doubt that her experience as a hockey mom had anything to do with how she became one of only eight women governors in the entire county.
Then again, I’m just a woman. What do I know about politics?
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September 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Yeah that brings up a good point. I’m not at all surprised that McCain picked a woman for VP. The fact that republicans would stoop to that level just to try and steal some female votes is not shocker at all.
The fact is though there were a number of other Female Republicans he could have chosen that would have been far more qualified and deserving of the nomination then Palin. But it’s almost like he just picked her because she’s a younger more attractive home maker type woman because she actually had credentials.
Almost like she’s just supposed to make the 72 year old man look better by standing next to him. I really think she was a horrible choice for VP especially when you consider that as old as John McCain is there is a very realistic chance she could end up having to take over the big chair, and the fact of the matter is she’s not ready at all.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
just remember:
gov palin got more votes from the small city of wasilla, ak than joe biden got running for president of the united states
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Thanks for the comment Nicholas but that’s not what I’m writing about.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Paige, loved this article.
“…why is it that they seem to think that as long as she’s convincing as a coffee-making, baby-producing, loving wife that women voters won’t care about anything else? Are those really the things that define her as a woman, and more importantly, as a political candidate?”
Did anyone see Palin’s speech at the RNC tonight? She spent like ten to fifteen minutes introducing and talking about her family instead of the issues. I think that in itself totally proves Paige’s point.
September 4th, 2008 at 5:18 am
Paige, nicely done. I especially like the the idea that they’re making such a big deal about her family — she can handle 5 kids and the state of Alaska; she’s good at balancing, and we wouldn’t be asking these questions of a man, she’s a hockey MOM, and a MOM of a solider, yada, yada, yada — yet, we’re not supposed to bring the families into the discussion, and it’s about her policies and not her personal life. I it’s not about her being a woman, why do they keep reminding us she’s a woman? They try to have it both ways, and, like you, as a woman, I’m insulted. I think I’m going to have to adopt Samantha Bee’s “vagina-American” since the GOP thinks “women” are stupid.
September 4th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Paige,
I mean this as no personal attack, I’m just guessing that you are a single woman with no children currently pursuing a career. I think that’s wonderful. In your crusading for women’s rights I would encourage you not to leave behind or minimize those women who also value motherhood and being a loving wife. Your brand of feminism seems to me to be very self-serving if it only empowers the women who think and value the way you do. Instead, a truly broad approach to feminism I believe empowers women to fill all the roles in our society from the highest political office to the most ordinary housewife. Don’t forget that there are millions of women out there very much like Sarah Palin trying to love their husbands, raise their children, and still maintain a career. These are the women that the Republicans are trying to appeal to.
In fact, these ordinary Americans are the people that each party’s candidate is trying to court by showing how he “identifies with the common man.” You are willfully deceiving yourself if you think that the appeal to the common man is just a Republican tactic. It’s why Joe Biden’s convention introduction was all about the difficulty of his first wife’s death and his admirable commitment to being a father and not just a Senator. It’s why Obama’s introduction emphasized his birth to a single mother and rise from relative poverty and obscurity. It’s why he referenced that life before taking the Republicans to task over their “celebrity” attacks when he said, “I don’t know what kind of life they think celebrities live, but that’s my life.” And it’s why McCain continually references his heroic experiences as a POW in Vietnam and why both Vice Presidential candidates have children in the military.
I could go on and on, but the point is that their all trying to have it both ways: show that they identify with the common people, but also that they possess the extraordinary wisdom and experience to lead. Nevermind that McCain has seven houses or that Obama gets paid millions for his book deal. For my money, the first politician I’ve seen during this race that actually seems like she really knows what it’s like to be an “average” American is Sarah Palin. However, she certainly seems to possess more intelligence and leadership skills than your average Joe. Whether those are enough to articulate and execute a vision for this country only time will tell. Just don’t forget in your railing against the Republican “marketing scheme” that there are millions of women that aren’t like you. They, and all women, deserve to be empowered, too.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Huh… I think you did a fine job of not making a personal attack. Well done.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Dave,
this morning I was in a hurry to get ready for work. Thanks for putting into words the things I wanted to say as well. This past weekend, I travelled from DC to a small(er) town in South Carolina, and by and large the women to whom Sarah Palin will appeal are the women I spent time with in Spartanburg, not the ones here in ‘The Most Powerful City in the World.”
Russ
September 4th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Cameron,
I think the time she spent introducing her family to the nation was calculated and well spent. With all of the attention given to her daughter in the last few days, some of it rather insensitive to say the least, this was an opportunity to put a face to the names, to showe the folks at home that the kids are real people, with real feelings to go along with their problems. For the moment, it may have no effect on the media, but it will have a profound effect on the ‘folks’.
As Peggy Noonan said in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal: “…because she is conservative…and because conservatives can smell this sort of thing — who is really one of them and who is not — and will fight to the death for one of their beleaguered own….”; city-dwellers would do well to remember that the most dangerous place to be in the woods is between a mother and her cubs. Worse if ‘Mom’ has the ‘Village’ with her.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:07 am
I don’t normally get into responding to people’s comments, but I very much do see that as a personal attack. You’ve made assumptions about my personal life and based on those assumptions, you’ve decided that I am a specific type of person and inferred additional meaning into my comments than was originally intended. It doesn’t get more personal than that.
If I am in fact pursuing a career, it doesn’t mean I don’t value motherhood, that I don’t someday hope to be mom, or that I’m not capable of loving someone and making relationships a major part of my life. All women who work are women who are seeking balance in their lives, not just ones who are married and have children, so I don’t see that I’m excluding any woman from my argument.
The point, sir, is that I very much believe in women being being able to fill all roles in society, including the highest offices. But only when we stop having to make excuses for ourselves will we be truly equal. I don’t believe that Sarah Palin is being treated the way a male candidate would be. And I don’t for one second believe that she became governor as accidentally as she describes. She will only be empowering the women “who aren’t like me” when she stops saying “I’m just a hockey mom who got lucky and stumbled into the governor’s office” which completely downplays her hard work and education.
When she’s able to stand up and take real credit for the work she has done without being concerned that people will accuse her of being “masculine” or “unemotional” or having no value for family life, then we’ll have shattered the glass ceiling.
September 4th, 2008 at 11:43 am
See, maybe she’s overplaying the “hockey mom” thing a little bit, but even so, I don’t think everything that calls to her life as a mother is a marketing scheme.
“And their unspoken assumption that that is what will impress women voters is a slap to the face of the past 88 years of forward progress.”
I don’t know - I hesitate to see things so black and white. I doubt that Palin being selected as a runningmate is solely based on “tricking” women into voting for McCain, that it is somehow a smoke and mirrors attempt at recreating a Hillary-esque figure. The only main thing she has in common with Hillary is she’s a woman. So?
Honestly, I think this whole idea that Republicans somehow think they can dupe the women of the country by selecting a woman veep is a strawman for Democrats.
September 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Dave,
I find it interesting that you called out Paige on if she was a mother or not or having a career, etc. I doubt if a male had wrote this article, he would be accused of not valuing motherhood or assumptions made that he was a “career man.” I have written more than one article on the Rebuttal dealing with sexism, yet no one has ever made assumptions that I don’t have kids, my career, or even assumptions about my “brand of feminism.”
That’s just the double standard that Palin’s playing into. While most candidates give a shout out to their family and move on, Palin went on and on about it, obviously promoting the a “marketing scheme” that’s basically saying: “Women of America, I’m a mother just like you so vote for me.” Now, that is just insulting to all women in genearal.
September 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Well, the issue at hand is about WOMEN’s rights, so of course a male wouldn’t have been challenged on being a “career man,” Cameron. But if you use the word “I” in an article and use yourself as a comparison, you can expect to be questioned personally.
And I don’t necessarily think that dave said she didn’t value motherhood - he was pointing out that at any moment what’s important to one woman can be completely different from another.
For myself, as a working man, it would give me reassurance to know if Barack or McCain had similarities to me - if they had grown up in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools. If they had had children while in college, and worked 60 hours a week to pursue a personal ambition. And I would expect them to call out to me as someone following a similar path in life to theirs if they had.
The key is not making that the SOLE basis of my vote.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Paige, just to follow up, when I said that I thought it was wonderful that you were a single woman with no children currently pursuing a career I sincerely meant it. I was in no way devaluing your current situation, nor would I ever suggest that you would never want to be a wife or mother. In fact, both of those things would have undermined the very argument I was trying to support. I was merely pointing out that the are differences between your circumstances and those of a large portion of this country’s female population. To dismiss Palin’s appeal to the “ordinary woman” because it placed emphasis on motherhood and family neglects the fact that many women (including, I presume, yourself) truly value those things. I’m not challenging anyone on being a “career woman,” instead I am arguing for a view of a woman’s role in society that is broad enough to include all of these things.
September 4th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Just one further thought…Paige, you said earlier that you “don’t believe Sarah Palin is being treated the way a male candidate would be.” I think you’re probably right. Do you think that Barack Obama is being treated the way a white candidate would be? I don’t believe so. Certainly not if you watched the convention coverage celebrate the first major party nomination of an African-American for president. And rightfully so. It’s quite a step forward for our nation. But no candidate should be forced to merge into the same mold as all the other rich white male bland-suit-wearing politicians if they are so clearly unique. Part of Sarah Palin’s appeal are the very things that differentiate her from the rest of the boy’s club. I don’t mind celebrating those things as long as she can really deliver when it comes to executing a healthy vision for our country.
September 21st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
I wonder….if the GOP selected/ nominate Sarah Palin for President……would she select McCain as V.P.?
Wonder why the GOP power brokers did not help get Sarah nominated?
Such talent….such leadership…
Rant by……..Bud….Beer…….