Palin Preview

Thanks to Kostas for sending me this article:

The Palin Media-Sexism Debate: A Preview

From here, it looks like a spot-on prediction of the next few months. People are going to say sexist stupid things, and it's going to be spun in a dozen different ways. The stupid sexist things have already started, by the way.

I just want to answer a couple of questions the author raises in the piece:

Question: is it still a sexist question when women are the ones asking it? Extra credit: given that Todd Palin is on leave from work, isn't it also sexist against stay at home dads?)

(1) Yes. It's called internalized sexism. And no, it doesn't mean that women are worse/more sexist than men, or that sexism doesn't exist, or that feminism is dead.

(2) No. It means that sexism is also bad for men, by enforcing strict binary gender roles that punish men as well as women. It's sexism against women that states that only women can care for their children and belong at home, but that overflows into an assumption that men cannot be primary caregivers. Like racism, sexism hurts everybody, but that doesn't mean everybody is equally oppressed by it.


I do want to say this: many women are not happy with Palin being selected as VP. Many women, particularly Clinton supporters, feel that it is a patronizing ploy that assumes they will vote for anything with ovaries. Palin stands firmly against many Clinton supporters and against many feminists on a number of issues -- reproductive rights and gay rights in particular.

However, feminists will still decry any and all sexist attacks on her, any demeaning criticism based on her family choices or appearance. Because that's how feminism works.