Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin
From the L.A. Times
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
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Do they honestly believe that she has an appeal to the women of the Democratic Party?
Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.
I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.
***
Do they honestly believe that she has an appeal to the women of the Democratic Party?
posted by The Viscount LaCarte at 6:21 AM
7 Comments:
Here's an interesting rebuttal to Steinem's piece:
Gloria Steinem, in her September 4th editorial in the Los Angeles Times, came out strongly against Governor Palin claiming the only thing women have in common with Palin is an X chromosome. I respectfully disagree. Governor Palin knows what it is like to be a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister - things the two men on the Democratic ticket can never fully understand. She knows what it is like to grow up invisible in an incredibly sexist society, to be stared at, groped, and sexually harassed. She knows what it is like to be smaller in stature than men and physically vulnerable. She knows what it’s like to worry that you are pregnant when you don’t want to be or that you are not pregnant when you want to be. Sarah Palin knows what it is to experience the joys and sorrows of motherhood, to nurse a baby while holding down a job, to leave for work in the morning with a toddler tugging at your pant leg, or to have your children calling you at work to diffuse squabbles or ask for help with homework. She knows that once you get to work you have to speak twice as loud and twice as often to be heard and work twice a hard to go half as far. She knows what it is to be a member of the second sex.
The X Factor by Lynette Long
Interesting that the rebuttal stays away from the actual issues of the election. If all you want is a woman on the ticket then I guess Palin qualifies.
In Palin's America, a woman's right to choose will be obliterated. Not satisfied with merely overturning Roe V. Wade - she wants to ban abortions nationally in all cases. I don't share that chromosome with Hillary Clinton like Palin does, but I do have daughters and a wife, and I don't want the government forcing women to bring an unwanted pregnancy to term, including ones that are the result of a rape.
Incidentally, I also know what it's like to leave for work in the morning with a toddler tugging at your pant leg, or to have your children calling you at work to diffuse squabbles or ask for help with homework.
I think the so-called glass ceiling that exists for women in this country has become an issue in this election. It's been 24 years since a woman has been on a national ticket.
Let's suppose your worse suspicions are not only true, but don't go far enough. Let's suppose the men in the Democratic Party conspired to defeat Hillary and even tampered with the voting machines to ensure victory for Obama. With all of the issues facing America today, is sexism at the top of the list, above the war in Iraq, Global Warming, Gas Prices, Alternative Energy Sources, Education, Health Care, Corporate Greed and on and on and on? Even if your answer is "yes", will putting McCain in the Whitehouse actually reduce the amount of sexism in this country? If your answer is "yes" would it be worth it knowing that all of those other issues will be sacrificed?
My answer to all those questions are categorically "no."
Hey Al, how are ya? Hope you're doing good.
I was a Hillary supporter that *never* understood the people who would vote for her only because she's a woman.
I consider myself a feminist. But, a different sort than a lot of feminists I read on the Internet.
She knows what it is like to grow up invisible in an incredibly sexist society, to be stared at, groped, and sexually harassed.
I have never ever felt invisible. Never minded being stared at. And I've never been groped. I have been sexually harrassed in the workplace. But, it's my own, unique story that I was able to handle on my own. It didn't get out of hand. So, I'm probably lucky there. If I wouldn't have been so lucky, I might have some scores to settle, but I don't.
I tend to ignore the idiots I have to deal with. And I certainly don't care more about what they think than what I think. And I encourage all the girls in my life -- like my nieces -- to be confident, strong people so that they don't end up caring what some guy thinks more than what they think of themselves.
But, back to Hillary. I was really disappointed that she didn't get the nomination. Because I thought she'd be the toughest against the GOP smear machine. She's had a ton of experience with that. That girl's a fighter and I figured she'd come out swinging.
I'm warming up to Obama day by day. I hope he and Biden start throwing punches at these two kooks their up against.
After the eight years we have suffered under Bush and Cheney, for a liberal woman to vote for McCain simply because Hillary lost the primary is MIND BOGGLING TO ME. Mind boggling.
Hi Blue! Yeah, hangin' in there. Actually in OH as we speak, but I'm nowhere near Bluetown. If I ever am I'll give you enough warning so you BK and The Skimmer have ample time to hide.
I think I feel a new post brewing...
Oh my God, if you're ever anywhere close -- give me a heads up.
Can't wait to read your new post.
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