Will Feminists Rally Around Sarah Palin?

Sarah Palin, is a out of control diva, who is power, money, and influence hungry, and treats, her family, advisers, handlers, like inferiors, who would be the last person in this world, you would want to talk, and negotiate, with foreign powers are allies, or to put her in position to push, or give orders to push the button.

We also don't seem to see male politicians dragging their special needs children along on the campaign trail as a testament to their reproductive choices.

Certainly the Vanity Fair piece incorporated some double standards, but even though it was written by a man, I wouldn't go so far as to call it misogynous. If Palin is OK with using sex to sell herself, she only sets herself up for commensurate blowback.

Had the piece been written by a woman, Palin wouldn't have called the piece "limp and impotent", but you can bet her apologists would label the author "jealous and katty". I'm sorry, but I just can't find any sympathy for the most regressive female in American politics since Phyllis Schlafly.

I'm sorry, but I just can't find any sympathy for the most regressive female in American politics since Phyllis Schlafly.

Oh, nor can I. I'm just sick of seeing her name and the word "feminist/s" in the same sentence. I was just trying to point out that I would rather have seen the Vanity Fair journalist take the high road and criticize her for her using her sex and sexuality as a political tool than stoop nearly to HER level by calling her a Bad Mother. Palin sets herself up to be the "victim" of sexist comments in the same manner the author of the Vanity Fair article set himself up for her "limp and impotent" remark, by dragging what should be personal out into the public. If the exact same had been written by a woman, no doubt Palin would have accused the author of being "jealous and catty" herself, if not worse.

I don't recall Gross saying Palin is a Bad Mother per se, but I agree with the conclusion of the Newsweek article:

It can only be a good thing for everyone if we hear a lot less about these kids, thrust under intense, often unpleasant and, doubtless, hurtful, theater lights while they are still growing. And as for their mother—let’s stick to a desperately needed scrutiny of her inflammatory politics and steer clear of this kind of rubbish.

I don't recall Gross saying Palin is a Bad Mother per se

No, not in so many words. But what other male politician gets so much attention paid (as it was repeatedly, and negatively, in the article) to where his children are and who, if anybody, is minding them? The assumption is that Palin, unlike other male politicians whose wives (it's understood) are taking care of their children, is doing something wrong by being anywhere other than at home with them. By the same token, male politicians (and no other female politicians that I can think of) don't drag their children along and make them a "feature" of their speaking engagements as some sort of proof that they're toeing the party line and being as engaged as they think their constituency thinks they should be as a parent.

I don't want to hear any more about Palin's parenting or her push-up bras, but as long as she continues to use them for her own agenda, I suppose we will. Like you, I'd rather see her politics addressed. But I also think that her deliberate use of her children and her Wonderbras should be part of the critical discussion of her politics rather than a criticism of her personal choices.

Much the same, I don't really care to hear whether XYZ male politician is gay so long as he's not out there actively scuppering the rights of other gays. In which case, the hypocrisy of that ought to be exposed, rather than the simple fact of his gayness which, like Palin's choices regarding he children or foundation garments, really shouldn't be anybody else's business.

But as long as she continues to shove them in our face, she shouldn't expect to be allowed to cry "victim" if they're used against her, even though, IMO, journalists et al should be better than that and not criticize her down at the same level to which she's reduced herself and, unfortunately and by the extension due to her extreme popularity, other women. Because of this, as a feminist, I won't "rally around" her just because she's a woman any more than I'd rally around Phyllis Schafly.

...journalists et al should be better than that and not criticize her down at the same level to which she's reduced herself and, unfortunately and by the extension due to her extreme popularity, other women.

It should also be noted that the Newsweek critique was written by a young woman--and, as a woman who has won a gender discrimination case, I think she is over-reacting. Palin is an embarrassment to her gender and more offensive to me in that respect than anything negative the Vanity Fair article may imply regarding women in general.

I think she is over-reacting.

Over-reacting to what? I'm curious, because I thought her summary - that we should devote more attention to Palin's (or any other politician's) politics - was the main point.

Palin is an embarrassment to her gender and more offensive to me in that respect than anything negative the Vanity Fair article may imply regarding women in general.

And also? Palin doesn't speak for me as a woman enough to embarrass or offend me just because I have a vagina any more than I think anybody with a penis should be embarrassed or offended for themselves and their entire gender just because Glen Beck is a male. Both are self-serving, illiterate gas-bags and should be treated as such until and unless they're prepared to engage in a mature, educated political discussion.

Palin doesn't speak for me as a woman enough to embarrass or offend me just because I have a vagina...

Exactly!--but it seems to me the woman who wrote the Newsweek critique took offense to the pointed criticism of the man who wrote the Vanity Fair article by injecting her own gender sensitivities. Granted, a female journalist would probably not have written anything similar about a male politician, but Palin herself is clearly as hypocritically sexist as they come. I'd go so far as to say she put the c-u-n in....cunning.

*self-deleted, posted in wrong area*