By anne • 15 years ago

At the RNC: What is Women’s Choice?


Yesterday afternoon, a Republican friend of CODEPINK bequeathed upon Jodie Evans one ticket to Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech last night at the Republican National Convention. This small act of generosity and support for the group’s message — come on, if you invite CODEPINK somewhere they will eventually be escorted out — has inserted some sanity into the discussion of the McCain Palin ticket. “Sarah Palin is not a woman’s choice,” the phrase, is still echoing around the Xcel Center, the CNN Newsroom, the streets of St. Paul, and the breakfast tables of America.
Evans “dressed up” last night — temporarily covered up her pink outfit with black, put her trademark red hair in a bun on the top of her head, and went off to the event accompanied by another cofounder of the group, Medea Benjamin. (The day before, Benjamin had interrupted Phyllis Schafly appearance at a pro-life event hilariously called Life of the Party, and the mid-50s albeit not terribly tall blonde woman was referred to as “young,” by the press.) The two entered the hall shortly before Palin’s speech began, stripped off their outer layers, and revealed their message:
Women say no to war. Palin is not a woman’s choice. Women need a peace vice president.
Palin — beautiful, composed, mother of five — was momentarily distracted from her speech, which veiled her promise to turn the blind support of women voters into continued wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, heightened aggression with Pakistan and Iran, general support for the NRA, and a continued stripping away of our ever-dwindling reproductive rights. She presents a violent vision for our future, that will affect our lives on an international, national, and very individual, scope. Delivered in a pretty, palatable package.


‘Course, Evans and Benjamin make a pretty package of their own. (More photos here and here and here and here.) As we looked at the photos from the action last night, we joked that they looked like Activist Midge and Activist Skipper. Composed, strong, and flashing the peace sign even as their mouths are covered by Secret Service and they’re manhandled out the door.
It’s not the only action the group undertook yesterday that ended in clashes with officials. Four other seasoned activists with CODEPINK were arrested during a peaceful protest committing deliberate acts of civil disobedience. Nancy Mancias was among them, a brilliant, composed, fearless activist I admire. She’s been doing this work for a long time. I wasn’t aware that morning that the group of four had planned on the arrests, but — well, these are women that know where the line is.
I took a moment to chat with Mancias on the long ride back to CPHQ after our exhausting day yesterday. I asked her, “When did you decide to commit an act that, a few days earlier, had gotten four Veterans For Peace activists arrested in the exact same location?”
“After my nap,” she responded. Mancias is an olive-skinned woman with wild curly hair, often wearing a slip with the succinct message, “Love Not War.” She’s been a popular media target, photographed making puppets, shouting into megaphones, and waltzing along the street with her pretty pink peace parasol.
She’d decided to “cross the line” during her month-long stay in Minnesota, when she watched a city she lived in a decade ago slowly overtaken by corporate and conservative interests in the run-up to the RNC. But earlier yesterday in the same march, she’d had an opportunity for arrest–meaning, both media and police were closely watching her actions–but it “didn’t feel right.” The CODEPINK contingent traveled back to the convention center fence where the VFP activists had been arrested, and without voicing a plan, began tying ribbons to it, singing, and then skedaddling under it.
And although the arrest was efficient, the officers polite, and the four were processed and out the door again in time for dinner (unusually humane treatment here at the hands of the police–could it be that they’re deliberately targeting anarchists?), the four created a symbol: A clear, pinked-up visual message that certain individuals aren’t welcome in this republic.
And many of them are women.
As a postscript to the action of last night, however, there have been repercussions. The Republican’s small act of generosity was punished when s/he had all passes revoked for tonight’s event. (They are marked with the intended user’s name, presumably to respond to incidents like this.) S/he had 200 tickets for tonight, intended for a Republican youth group. So 200 young supporters are no longer able to participate either. It must cause us to question if this is a system that works for almost anyone involved.
But here, as Gloria Steinem writes this in this morning’s LA Times, is “the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing — the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party — are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president.”
It’s going to take some smart, headstrong activist models to remind us, though, that this is not enough: we also need strong international and domestic policies that support diplomacy and democracy. And we need to allow input on these from all arenas: be they anarchists or pink-clad ladies. Until these are images as accessible as those of our beauty-queen VP candidate, we won’t be able to claim access to choices for women.
Watch me tonight on Free Speech TV punditing the McCain acceptance speech — if you can call open-mouthed gaping “punditing.”

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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