Mama Grizzly

Cross-posted at http://eric-jost.blogspot.com/2010/07/mama-grizzly.html

Sarah Palin has released what looks suspiciously like a preemptive presidential campaign video.

The voiceover is taken from Palin’s recent speech in front of an anti-choice group; and aside from announcing her DC move-in date of November 2, 2012, it almost seems to be a response to the ongoing criticism that Palin has misappropriated the word "feminist."

Let me get the truth out of the way: Like her or hate her, Palin really has caused a million little cracks in the political glass ceiling. Hillary Clinton was never going to win over conservatives no matter how smart she was. Palin has found her niche and appealed to an audience that is notoriously and blatantly sexist. And while I think many of her die-hard male supporters would still like to revoke a woman’s right to vote, Palin has engaged a segment of the population (i.e. tea partiers) who previously stayed home on election day (and I imagine many will continue to stay home on election days despite their occasional outcries).

Much of the "is she or isn’t she" debate seems to rest on Palin’s staunchly anti-choice position. While many people are anti-choice, for most the issue isn’t really something to get worked up over as many probably feel it will never affect them. But Palin isn’t just anti-choice, she is really anti-choice. And not only does she want to take away a woman’s right to get an abortion, she wants to remove any exemptions (such as the rape and incest clauses), as well as any contraception and sexual health knowledge the might allow people to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

Palin’s belief that women don’t have a right to control their bodies is only the tip of the iceberg. As Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she notoriously enacted a resolution to make rape victims pay for their own police-administered rape evidence kits. She is also outright hateful towards the LGBTQ community (despite her claim as Vice President nominee that she "tolerates" them) and supports incredibly racist immigration policy, such as Arizona’s recent law. She also has been extremely critical of Obama’s handling of the BP oil spill, but continues to support extensive offshore drilling and is against any move towards clean energy.

To me, being a feminist (or even just a human being) means not only supporting women’s rights, but not infringing on the rights of others. Her faux-presidential campaign video hails the "mom awakening" and the taking back of America, but how can she be this strong feminist when her entire platform is based on the continued disenfranchising of at least 50% of the US population? "Restoring American Values" is really code for "Installing Palin Morality." And how is that any better or worse than a Democratic leader who is supposedly pushing the country towards a socialist regime?

Although it is only two-minutes long, Palin’s pseudo-campaign video was light on facts and high on ambiguous emotions. Like most of her appearances, she spoke in circles without expressing a firm opinion. But the images of angry protesters and Palin lovers did nothing to convince me that their glorious leader is what Gloria Steinem pictured when she dreamed of a female president. And it makes me scared of what a Palin administration might mean for those of us who don’t agree with her ideology.