Sarah Palin's Feminism

Republican vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin describes herself as a feminist. But what kind would that be, exactly? A plethora of feminist positions and identities emerged in the politics of the seventies. One suspects that Ms Palin (if that how she signs herself) might be uncomfortable in the company of most of them: marxist, radical separatist, eco and black feminists, amongst others.

That leaves liberal, which hardly seems to describe a Republican, but which in fact needs to be understood in relation to the other feminisms. Libfems, in a minimalist definition, want equal opportunities and they want the glass ceilings that inhibit their own ambitions dismantled (but not smashed). Otherwise they're not too unhappy with the status quo. So is Ms P. one of them? Not even. The battle for equality may be won on paper rather than being truly socially and culturally ingrained, but the former mayor of Wasilla isn't fighting that battle. Feminists have already fought it for her. As the feminist author Jessica Valenti described in The Guardian this week, Palin's gender activism runs in the opposition direction: anti-abortion; anti-sex education; and cutter of funds for services for teenage mothers.

Feminism may not be a unified movement, but the one core idea that is broadly shared is the right to choose, and womens' right to make decisions about their own bodies, whether that's to be a mother or a sex worker. Sarah Palin's position does not tally. Many will say that her feminism is no feminism at all.

Primordial feminism

But there are precedents for Palin's feminism - in the nineteenth century. Early feminists were broadly of two kinds. There were radical thinkers and activists for social change. Then there was the women's temperance movement. These primordial proto-feminists aimed to conserve the family, protecting it from the damage done by the demon drink, rapping the knuckles of the drunken fathers who neglected their duties as providers, protectors and heads of house. Their interest in moral hygiene extended to public health and sanitation and the scourge of prostitution.

Conserving the family is Sarah Palin's bag, as the 'troopergate' allegations that she used her public office in a vendetta against her former brother-in-law suggest. Jessica Valenti sums up the essence of her image as the 'hockey mom'. But Palin lacks even the pioneering guts of the puritanical early feminists. And she has embraced her co-option by the Republican campaign and its transparent strategy to get the votes of the disaffected Hillary supporters (recognising this has nothing to do with which party one might support). Forget the stuff about Sarah Palin's appeal as an anti-cronyist outsider and her fiscal discipline. She's been chosen for her gender.

References

Jessica Valenti. The F-card won't wash. The Guardian, 12 September 2008. www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/12/sarahpalin.feminism