“She’s more a conservative man than she is a woman on women’s issues.”
That was the statement from a spokeswoman from the National Organization for Women about Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin.
When did the pro-abortion left get appointed sole decider of gender?
Given that Sarah Palin has given birth to five children, I’m going to go out on a limb and say, she’s all woman.
It is one thing to disagree with Sarah Palin about her views, but she is a woman none the less.
We can have different opinions, ladies.
If I didn’t know better, I would say NOW is trying to turn back the clock to the days when women were not allowed to have their own opinions.
Over at Feministing, which I only read when someone links to it because it makes me scream in frustration, Jessica takes issue at the word “feminism” being used at all to describe Sarah Palin. Only Jessica can define what feminism is and is not. And it is certainly not some so-called woman who opposes the sacred cow of abortion.
Someone should have told that to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, while she was out there fighting for our right to vote!
“When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit.”
To me, feminism was always about women being treated equally to men, having the same opportunities as men, and not facing artificial barriers that men did not, such as that glass ceiling. It was about being able to enter whatever field a woman wanted, regardless of whether or not it was traditionally a man’s field. It was about shattering those stereotypes, and all the others, too.
Sarah Palin is the embodiment of the feminism that I once knew, before it became a code word for abortion on demand and support of left-wing politics.
Sarah Palin is running for vice president of the United States and, if she wins, her husband will stay at home and raise the children. If she had a “D” next to her name, that would be the full-realization of the feminist dream of gender equality.
But instead, our modern-day feminists have decided that the sole determinant of one’s feminism – and womanhood, for that matter – is full support of abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy. If you dare to view all children, planned and unplanned, as worthy of life, it does not matter what you achieve, what barriers you cross, or how much you shake up the gender roles in your part of the world.
I guess it is no wonder that, no matter how liberated, conservative women rarely refer to themselves as feminists.
September 10th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
It’s the National Organization for Women. Not “of” Women.
September 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
I didn’t notice that when I read it over. Thanks, I fixed it.
September 10th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
My suspicion that it is not just about abortion rights, but also that she cut funding to programs that assist teenage mothers with housing, food and assistance while Governor and opposes any sort of planned parenthood or non-abstinence sex education. Similarly the fact that Palin made rape victims pay for their forensics kits while Mayor of Wasilla, a rather egregious practice.
I have never really understood the arguments I’ve heard for anti-choice coming from a female perspective. I can sympathize that it may not agree with your religious or moral values, but…pro-abortion is not a mandate to have one in all cases. The pro-choice movement is really about securing a choice for all women, so that they can decide what is best for them – right?
“…abortion on demand at any stage of pregnancy” I’ve never heard anyone state that abortions should take place outside of the first trimester, when the brain and central nervous system are developing (the scientific definition of “life”).
September 11th, 2008 at 5:27 am
When did the pro-abortion left get appointed sole decider of gender? Methinks you’re taking a rhetorical device a little to literally in an attempt to create an argument. (Myself thinks so too! And I agrees.)
This falls under the heading of “Lip stick on a pig” and the pathetic phoney public pronouncements of outrage emanating from the Palin/McCain campaign. (No, I’m not saying this sort of stuff belongs solely to the Anti-Dems: that was the freshest example in mind.)
The debate above, Charity, shouldn’t be about deciders of gender but about the agendas and goals being presented (or not) by the candidates. After even your NOW quote talks refers to Palin “on women’s issues”. What is it that the stumping Palin is presenting as her visions, and what is she willing to try to do in advancement of such goals?
We still don’t know any of that because Palin is safely ensconced in a question proof bubble designed to keep her just fuzzy enough to be acceptable to the fundamentalist religious “right” and not too scary to those not in that crowd.
Charity, among other things you’re a home schooler, devoted mom and intelligent person according to what I’ve read of your blogs and the one short conversation we’ve had. I don’t believe you’d accept this same type of debate twisting from your kids whether in an educational endeavor or cleaning up the room (well maybe a little, I know I allow SOME slack just so my daughter and I can focus on life and not disagreements).
I think you know better but are simply trying for “cute” on this one.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Rama, I am not trying to be cute. I have heard all of the attacks myself for daring to be a conservative woman. I have seen the way the feminist left has treated Sarah Palin, including the sexualization of her, which they would scream about if someone did that to a liberal woman. We are treated differently. It is a fact. Women are supposed to be liberal, or else they are just shilling for the patriarchy and their opinion is of no value.
This post is not about Sarah Palin. It is about the feminist left.
Palin will let her positions be known at the debate, or before. She is not hiding. I think you are to quick to claim a conspiracy.
And FYI, the radical religious right does not support women in politics when she has a family at home. A woman’s job is to be a homemaker. Look it up; there are plenty of critics of her from the fundamentalist side. I have seen links to a few myself on some of the homeschooling blogs I read.
September 12th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Leigh, my response to your comment is probably going to necessitate a full post.