Sarah Palin Sexism Watch: Professor Wendy Doniger: Palin's biggest hypocrisy is her pretense that she's a woman

Friday, September 12, 2008

Professor Wendy Doniger: Palin's biggest hypocrisy is her pretense that she's a woman

Either go after her motherhood or womanhood. You don't get to do both at the same time, professor.

Her greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she is a woman. The Republican party's cynical calculation that because she has a womb and makes lots and lots of babies (and drives them to school! wow!) she speaks for the women of America, and will capture their hearts and their votes, has driven thousands of real women to take to their computers in outrage. She does not speak for women; she has no sympathy for the problems of other women, particularly working class women.

(Washington Post)

5 comments:

Amy said...: She does not speak for women; she has no sympathy for the problems of other women, particularly working class women.

Yeah - because feminists do, right?

Give me a FREAKIN' BREAK. If you don't think, look, or act like the bimbos on "Sex and the City", feminists don't give two sh*ts about you.

Since when have they become the party of pro-abstinence, pro-stay-at-home mothers, pro-family folk?; September 12, 2008 at 9:23 AM
Jadis said...: She has no sympathy for working class women?!?

Good God - is this idiot smoking crack? Sarah speaks for the average American woman a hell of a lot more than the feminist movement today!; September 12, 2008 at 10:12 AM
femB4dem said...: Amy, Jadis -- Don't paint all feminists with the same broad brush. Here's one who agrees with you, and there are many others of us who are simply aghast at this misogyny coming from the lips (more accurately, keyboards) of women who purport to be feminists. This Doniger article is jaw-droppingly horrific. I don't know how any professor, much less one of "Divinity," could put her name on this tripe. At least she could have used Factcheck.org or Snopes.com to cut the worst of the internet rumors out of her article. But then again, she's from Chicago, so what do you expect? The Obama Kool-Aid is particularly potent in that neck of the woods.; September 12, 2008 at 8:58 PM
Almost Paradise said...: The reason she doesn't speak for women is because she acts as if gender equality isn't an issue for her (as seen in the Charlie Gibson interview). She says she does it just like the governors before her did it. The reality is that the governors before her probably had wives who were the leaders of their families; those governors never gave a single thought to how long the baby slept today or if Johnny got on the bus on time. And although the women's movement has done wonderful things for us and men have expanded their roles in the care of our families, the bigger reality is that women still carry the majority of the burden even when they work fulltime. This gender pattern is so entrenched in our society that it has only been nudged forward, not flipped around. We don't have to be satisfied with this, but we don't help anyone by denying it. Are these sexist questions? You bet they are. Show me a first husband at home with the kids so his wife can dedicate her full attention to the intricacies of governing a nation and I won't worry about it. Until then, I'll continue to ponder these sexist questions.; September 12, 2008 at 10:20 PM
femB4dem said...: Um, almost paradise, meet Todd Palin:

Todd Palin made his living up to last year as an hourly – but well-paid – worker for BP, a London-based oil giant, earning more than $100,000 a year. He left in March 2007, he said, to work part-time for his union, the United Steelworkers Local 4959, to make more time for his family after Sarah was elected governor.

"I always see him around town with his kids taking care of business," says family friend Warren McCorkell. "He gets asked about how he feels about people fawning over his wife and he shrugs his shoulders and says, 'She's being Sarah and I'm being Mr. Mom.' "

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20223589,00.html; September 12, 2008 at 10:52 PM

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What is sexism?

All criticisms of Sarah Palin are not sexist. It would be sexist to expect that she would receive no criticism, or that she SHOULD receive no criticism, because she is a woman. I admit that some of the criticism of Palin may really be the result of ideological bias, or simply sloppy reporting, not sexism. Some of the questions are fair game in isolation (yes, of course, it's fair to talk about Palin's experience in general; it's that she's held to a higher standard than males in the race that's the issue).

The Palin piling on is a complex cultural stew. In some cases, I suspect ideological and gender bias are working together. A reader has challenged me to define what I consider to be sexism. Broadly, I would define sexism in the political sphere as the following: When the woman is held to a higher and different standard than a similarly situated male, especially but not limited to issues that have no relevance to the race and that tend to diminish the woman's professional accomplishments by playing into gender stereotypes.

Specifically, here is a list of what I consider to be sexist behavior:

Coverage of a female politician that fixates on her physical appearance, pro or con. I admit that male politicians sometimes face this (Obama walking shirtless out of the Hawaiian surf got a lot of attention, and there was a lot of attention about John Edwards' shiny hair). And I think that some women have mixed feelings about this. After all, who doesn't want to be considered good looking? But, for many women, when they are in a professional setting, and supposedly professional media commentators place the focus back on their physical appearance, as a positive or a negative, it feels diminishing of their professional accomplishments. This works both ways, of course. Hillary Clinton has been viciously attacked by some on the right for supposedly not being good looking. That, too, is sexist, especially since unattractive male politicians are generally not held to this standard. If you think about it, good-looking male politicians also find their appearance the topic of discussion in many cases, but that's not true of unattractive male politicians. It's true in both cases for women. Simply put, appearance is not relevant to competence, so why are we talking about Palin's hair and looks?
Sexual-related comments about a female politician.
Blatant belittling of one's intelligence without evidence and in a manner not accorded to male opponents (i.e. saying the woman is stupid, needs a teleprompter, needs a lot of coaching, etc.)
Implying that the woman must not really believe her positions or must be under the intellectual sway of a more powerful male. (This happens in racism too. Consider how opponents argue that Clarence Thomas is a tool of intellectual white men like Antonin Scalia).
Double standards relating to motherhood; i.e., the female politician is asked questions about motherhood that her male counterparts aren't asked about fatherhood. (Why doesn't Palin stay home to take care of the kids? Hillary, why don't you want to stay home to bake cookies and hold teas?) The reverse is also true. It's also wrong for people to demean females who CHOOSE to stay home and raise their families. I personally believe that whether a woman chooses to be a housewife, a career woman, or, like Palin, a mixture of both, is her personal decision and debate about it really isn't relevant in a presidential election.
Slurs that are typically used to demean women but aren't applied to similarly aggressive men; i.e. when attributes that would be praised in a man are reduced to a negative in the woman (b-tch, nag, etc.). The Martha Stewart phenomenon. The tough woman is a b-tch, but the overly emotional woman is too weak to lead (women can't win sometimes!)
The woman is held to higher standards for intelligence/professional qualifications than a male opponent. (Palin is utterly unqualified, but Obama is then not?)
Diminishing of traditional female roles as being silly (the PTA, chortle, chortle, chortle. She was a housewife once, how pathetic, etc.). I don't know about you, but right now I am thinking about the woman, a housewife, who ran my child's Catholic Bible school this summer, and she was quite a force to be reckoned with. I'd love to pit her against Putin.
Emphasis on female roles traditionally seen as silly when discussing an accomplished, professional woman (she was a beauty queen 24 years ago!!!!!!)
Assuming incompetence. (she's a woman, so she won't be a strong leader, etc.)
The woman becomes defined by a single gender-related issue in a manner that males do not (consider how the abortion question is defining Palin, but doesn't define Obama or even McCain.)
Issues that aren't used against male opponents are magnified out of proportion against the woman. (Bristol-mania. I admit this one might be ideological bias more than sexism, but I do think it's caught up in Palin's cultural role as a "mother")
Invasion of the personal sphere and personalization/lifestyle focus of/on the candidate. In other words, covering the woman through the gauze of personality and lifestyle issues, rather than professional accomplishment. (Why are we talking about Palin's prenatal care and amniotic fluid again? It's creepy. Do we talk about Biden's sperm count? I admit that's a really creepy thought, and I do admit that Palin invited some of this by talking about her breastfeeding to People magazine. But still.)

Sarah Palin Sexism Watch

Friday, September 12, 2008

Professor Wendy Doniger: Palin's biggest hypocrisy is her pretense that she's a woman

5 comments:

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