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Why Do Feminists Hate Palin?
Frum Forum ^ | June 1, 2010 | Alex Knepper

Posted on 06/01/2010 3:33:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Mytheos Holt doesn’t know the half of Jessica Valenti. Having identified her merely as a “Washington Post writer”’ Mr. Holt proceeds to take apart Ms. Valenti’s attack on Sarah Palin’s “conservative feminism.” But there’s more to it than that. Valenti, the author of multiple books on Generation Y Feminism, is a fairly radical feminist, still clinging to shopworn bromides about patriarchy, institutional sexism, and the ever-looming threat of misogyny. She’s wrong about the history of feminism. And she couldn’t be more off-base when it comes to Sarah Palin.

When I criticized feminist date-rape propaganda two months ago, I was criticized by the feminist blog world — including one of Valenti’s own blogs, “Yes Means Yes” — for not realizing that there were “feminisms,” and not merely “feminism.” Since Valenti claims that Palin opposes “real feminism,” whatever that is, can we finally dispose of this meaningless line? To borrow a line from Simone de Beauvoir on psychoanalysis: when one criticizes the letter of the doctrine, it’s insisted that one must actually just embrace the spirit of the argument, but once one embraces the spirit of the argument, they just want to bind you to the letter of the doctrine! (Of course, Valenti speaks out of both sides of her mouth, since later she claims that there is no true feminism and that it’s actually a highly intellectually diverse movement. So I’m not sure what to argue with.)

I can’t say that I’m a fan of Sarah Palin, but if she doesn’t embody everything that feminism ought to stand for, then what we have on our hands is a manipulative language game. She “has it all”: a college degree, a family, a high-profile career, and a history of taking on powerful, entrenched men in established institutions — and winning. The presidential race of 2008 exposed feminist ideology for the charade that it is. What a riot that Hillary Clinton, who rose to power on her cheating husband’s coattails, was hailed as a feminist hero — while Sarah Palin, a self-made woman, was spat upon!

Of course, feminism originated as a classical liberal movement. Despite an organized effort by radical feminists to bury the true legacy of Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, these women had far more in common with Sarah Palin than with, say, Gloria Steinem — or Jessica Valenti, for that matter. Wollstonecraft and Stanton, especially, were adamant about the primacy of Enlightenment values. Radical feminists pay these women lip service as forerunners but dismiss their actual arguments as quaint or archaic. Stanton, in the famous Seneca Falls Declaration of 1844, purposely borrowed words from the Declaration of Independence. Like her counterpart Frederick Douglass in the early civil rights movement, Stanton did not dismiss the Founding Fathers as part of a ‘hegemonic power discourse’ intent on ’subjugating women and people of color.’ She believed that America had to move forward because it was not being true to its own standards. The cure for women’s ills was in more Enlightenment values, not a revolutionary program against them.

Valenti cites Betty Friedan as a founding mother of the modern feminism that Sarah Palin is somewhat dismissive of, but Friedan has been somewhat dismissive of recent feminism, as well, saying that it’s gotten too victim-oriented. Susan Faludi decried her as having sold out to the patriarchy, and Friedan’s pro-porn views put her at odds with the now-dominant feminism of Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon, whose anti-pornography standpoint has found admirers in conservative women like Tammy Bruce, as well as much of the religious right. Sarah Palin would probably find a lot to like in Dworkin’s Pornography: Men Possessing Women.

Sarah Palin is typically feminist insofar as she complains about (generally non-existent) “glass ceilings” and “media sexism.” She nauseatingly hails Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton as people who helped blaze the trail for her. And she has long been a member of Feminists for Life. But she is not drunk on fashionable nonsense such as the kind that came from, say, Kate Millett. She does not believe that feminism must be a “structural analysis of a world that oppresses women, an ideology based on the notion that patriarchy exists and that it needs to end.” When you hear Foucault-esque jargon like “structural analysis [of power relations]” you know you’re dealing with an airhead.

Valenti’s feminism is uncommonly silly, actually. She is the author of a hilariously bad book called He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, purporting to expose “double-standards” against women. Among the worst is the contention that while “she’s a cougar, he’s dating a younger woman.” Really? I’m twenty years old and I can’t even say that I think that Justin Bieber is cute without being called a pedophile by some people. Since when have men gotten away with being into younger people? Another: “He’s an activist, she’s a pain in the ass.” Most people think they’re all pains in the ass, actually. “He’s hot and heady, she’s brainy or boobilicious.” Really? I think that most guys out there can attest to the jock/nerd dichotomy. “He’s drunk, she’s a victim.” Hey! Now there’s a real double-standard. That might make for a good article.

Feminism as we once knew it is dead. And, as the classical feminist Valenti criticizes, Christina Hoff Sommers, is apt to point out: that’s a good thing. It means that its work is basically done. Now, the focus should shift back to the eternal question facing us all — men and women — the latter no longer merely the ’second sex’: what does it mean to be a fulfilled member of one’s sex? Sarah Palin’s answer is as worthy of debate as Valenti’s. Let’s have this discussion. It’s one well worth having.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; feminazis; feminism; hillary; palin; palinfreeperping; pds; sarahpalin; waronsarah
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The Money Quote:

"I can’t say that I’m a fan of Sarah Palin, but if she doesn’t embody everything that feminism ought to stand for, then what we have on our hands is a manipulative language game. She “has it all”: a college degree, a family, a high-profile career, and a history of taking on powerful, entrenched men in established institutions — and winning. The presidential race of 2008 exposed feminist ideology for the charade that it is. What a riot that Hillary Clinton, who rose to power on her cheating husband’s coattails, was hailed as a feminist hero — while Sarah Palin, a self-made woman, was spat upon!"

1 posted on 06/01/2010 3:33:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is surprising from Frum.


2 posted on 06/01/2010 3:36:08 PM PDT by Retired Greyhound
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why do they hate her? Because she is smart, has a career, has a large family, pro-life, loving husband and she looks good doing it all.


3 posted on 06/01/2010 3:37:51 PM PDT by svcw (Habakkuk 2:3)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Let me give it a try: She’s hot, has kids, is happily married, and is successful.

THE END.


4 posted on 06/01/2010 3:38:30 PM PDT by CommieCutter (Obamanomics :Privatize Gains, Socialize Losses.)
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To: Retired Greyhound

BTW, I’m guessing Alex is a female, based on the Justin Beiber reference.


5 posted on 06/01/2010 3:38:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Don't care if he was born in a manger on July 4th! A "Natural Born" citizen requires two US parents!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Because Sarah Palin defuses one of the central tenets of dialectical feminism, that gains for women have to come at the expense of men. Just like Clarence Thomas gave the lie to dialectical racism.


6 posted on 06/01/2010 3:40:53 PM PDT by IronJack (=)
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To: svcw
Why do they hate her? Because she is smart, has a career, has a large family, pro-life, loving husband and she looks good doing it all.

They hate her beccause she has all that, and got it by working for it instead of just raising a stink about being "entitled" to it.

7 posted on 06/01/2010 3:43:08 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: 2ndDivisionVet
The presidential race of 2008 exposed feminist ideology for the charade that it is. What a riot that Hillary Clinton, who rose to power on her cheating husband’s coattails, was hailed as a feminist hero — while Sarah Palin, a self-made woman, was spat upon

Most of us here have always recognized that feminism was leftism in disguise. Nearly all feminists were VERY far to the left of the mainstream. Yes the feminists were and are a joke, but don't underestimate the damage they have done and will continue to do.

What kills me about most feminists is that they profess to be strong and independent. But the truth is that if you took away their Vanity Fair subscription and Bloomingdale's charge cards most of them would go insane. How many feminists could make a moose stew? No the feminists today are mostly a bunch of weaklings. There aren't many Amelia Earharts among them. They are mostly jokes.
9 posted on 06/01/2010 3:44:43 PM PDT by truthguy (Good intentions are not enough!)
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To: BabaOreally

Feminism has met its goals and just needs to go away. We are going to college and graduate school, we can own property in our own name, and we can vote. That’s about all most women wanted, and in light of that past 5,000 years, that right there is a lot. Personally, I am grateful.


10 posted on 06/01/2010 3:49:14 PM PDT by esquirette ("Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee." ~ Augustine)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why do they hate her?

Because of the Marxism that has seeped into feminist ideology that states that there is no difference between a man and a woman, that they are equal. She exudes feminism and her husband seems to be a perfect male. They love themselves and each other.

Feminists loath the way that God designed woman, and are jealous of men. They are reminded constantly of the fact that their whole ideology is a fraud and goes against natural law whenever they see Sarah Palin, esp. with her family. Must make them all puke.


11 posted on 06/01/2010 3:49:44 PM PDT by savagesusie
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Although I don’t think Sarah is Presidential (yet?), she certainly is causing the divisions that Glen Beck speaks about. But, as he points out, the division is beginning to take the shape of God-fearing vs. anti-God.

Tammy Bruce is not a conservative. She is a lesbian who is attempting to break down the barriers between those who believe the US is principally a Judeo-Christian based nation and those who think low taxes are all that this is about. She is a liberal in disguise.


12 posted on 06/01/2010 3:51:04 PM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Almost all feminists are leftists (Note that some Right leaning women may declare themselves feminists, but it is of a different stripe), therefore, they are against Palin.


13 posted on 06/01/2010 3:52:34 PM PDT by Deagle
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To: CommieCutter
She’s hot, has kids, is happily married, and is successful

LOL. Well done. I'll add doesn't abort to that list.

14 posted on 06/01/2010 3:53:40 PM PDT by Lakeshark (Thank a member of the US armed forces for their sacrifice)
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To: Dutchboy88

To 12 - Then why would Tammy Bruce fervently support Palin running for president? By your analysis of Bruce she would seek out a potential candidate who did not espouse pro-life/pro-family ideals.


15 posted on 06/01/2010 4:00:17 PM PDT by jla
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Article word count: 948. Ugh.

Answer: “because she’s conservative and beautiful.”

Next, please.


16 posted on 06/01/2010 4:01:57 PM PDT by inkfarmer
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

.
Bump!


17 posted on 06/01/2010 4:07:46 PM PDT by Touch Not the Cat (Where is the light? Wonder if it's weeping somewhere...)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Doctrinaire feminists hate Palin because she let her child live.


18 posted on 06/01/2010 4:08:37 PM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: jla

Openly homosexual women are not pro-family in any stretch of the imagination. Bruce is like Woody Harelson backing Joe Arpaio based on his drug enforcement policies. This is useless. Conservatives mean something more than lip service to positions...it means we back them up with lifestyles that match our words.


19 posted on 06/01/2010 4:11:14 PM PDT by Dutchboy88
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
It's simple. In fact, it's one of Rush's "Undeniable Truths of Life":

“Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.”

20 posted on 06/01/2010 4:13:59 PM PDT by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
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