The Feminist Dissident: ‘Why are the public and media expected to treat Palin with kid gloves?’
"Sarah Palin should need no defending. She should be treated like any other male candidate. She claims to be a feminist and should be treated as one...
"Rushing to defend a female candidate from a perceived slight who could potentially become the leader of this county is demeaning...Why are the public and media expected to treat Palin with kid gloves? Will world leaders tiptoe around her?
The purpose of The Feminist Dissident is to give feminists a chance to speak directly to my audience, and my audience to debate the issues with them in a civil manner. To read previous entries, click here.
The Feminist Dissident column below is penned by Jean Arrellano, one of our resident liberal feminists. Jean accuses McCain-Palin of "feigned outrage" over "sexist" remarks against Palin--remarks which she says really weren't sexist at all.
If you are a feminist and are interested in submitting a blog post, please email me at glenn@glennsacks.com.
Sarah Palin should be treated like any other male candidate
By Jean Arrellano
Senator Barack Obama recently mocked Senator John McCain for using Obama’s change theme in a recent speech. He said:
John McCain says he’s about change too, and so I guess his whole angle is, ‘Watch out George Bush — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics — we’re really going to shake things up in Washington.'
That’s not change. That’s just calling something the same thing something different. You know you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. You know you can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change, it’s still going to stink after eight years. We’ve had enough of the same old thing.”
As soon as Republicans heard “lipstick on a pig”, they thought of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. They then feigned outrage over what they said was an incredibly sexist and misogynistic remark.
The phrase means “superficial or cosmetic changes, hoping that it will make the product more attractive." Obama was referring to Bush Administration policies.
Both Obama and McCain have each used the phrase before—Obama when describing General Petraeus’ tasks and McCain when describing Hillary Clinton’s health care policy.
But what if it was a Freudian slip? Palin several times did refer to herself as a “pitbull with lipstick,” and there are many stories of all the earmarks and pork barrel projects she requested and received. She’s also been called both “Bush with lipstick” and “Cheney with lipstick."
In any case, Sarah Palin should need no defending. She should be treated like any other male candidate. She claims to be a feminist and should be treated as one. In fact, she should be treated like Hillary Clinton has been and would be if she were in Palin’s position. Rushing to defend a female candidate from a perceived slight who could potentially become the leader of this county is demeaning and unnecessarily chivalrous. Why are the public and media expected to treat Palin with kid gloves? Will world leaders tiptoe around her?
Part of assuming a leadership role in one of the most powerful countries in the world means dealing with unkind words. Neither she nor others should use her gender or party as a reason to go easy on her. She is not running for prom queen, after all.
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