WashPo Buys the Palin-as-Feminist Hype

Big time.
Last month, Jessica gave us the lowdown on how the mainstream media has been feeding the whole Palin-as-Feminist rhetoric that’s been going around, and Ann reminded us earlier this week about why Palin’s attempt at feminist talk is completely empty of meaning. But apparently, the Washington Post disagrees. Lois Romano writes:

Palin’s candidacy has sent a jolt through traditional liberal women’s organizations as she tries to redefine feminism, suggesting that the old movement has become detached from the hockey moms Palin champions. The mother of five and former beauty queen is the antithesis of the bra-burning militant libbers of the ’60s, and she is adamantly antiabortion. Yet Palin has grabbed the feminist label vigorously and has been hailed as one by the thousands of supportive women who wave their lipstick tubes at her rallies.

The author also contends that the “unexpected recognition of a conservative as a role model for women has forced some traditional feminists to reconsider the movement’s mission,” specifically referencing to her stance on abortion multiple times, as if Palin being anti-choice is the only issue that distinguishes her from feminists. Forget about charging residents in Wasilla for rape kits and her general apathy for rape victims, her lack of support for the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the fact that she’s against emergency contraception , her history of cutting funding for young, low-income mothers – you get the gist.
What’s the most infuriating is that Romano pretty much labels her as this subversive revolutionary working against a puritanical movement:

Palin proclaimed that feminism is no longer synonymous with liberalism but something that could be shared and celebrated by all women.

You mean no longer synonymous with the “bra-burning militant libbers of the ’60s”? And speaking of, she quotes a Clinton-supporter-turned-McCain-supporter who says that, “Sarah Palin rocks all the stereotypes of feminism and can only enhance progress for women.”
Somehow this writer managed to reinforce feminist stereotypes while deeming Palin as proof that feminists can be so much more than just stereotypes. You know, they can be airbrushed sexymoms with hot legs.
Sigh.