Lately there has been a lot of news about this new fangled “conservative feminism”. Guess who’s the poster girl for this? I’ll give you a few hints; she likes to hunt, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, and she couldn’t even stand to do her job for the full term. Haven’t guessed yet? It’s Sarah Palin.
Now, you may think I’m being harsh by bashing this form of feminism, but I personally believe it’s elitist (you know that word she often describes the Obama administration as). RHRealityCheck.org has described this feminism in a tongue and cheek article stating “The argument is that Abortion Is Bad For Women, because it thwarts women from their true desires---so deep and true that many women don’t even realize they have them---to bring every pregnancy to term, no matter how much they think they don’t want it.” Oh yeah! I’m a poor fifteen year old girl who got knocked up because I didn’t use any contraception; I’m really going to want that baby and drop out of school, get one or two minimum wage paying jobs and hope – no pray! – that your baby daddy will stick around and help you out … or get married to you in order to make you an “honest woman” (whatever that means).
It just baffles me that this whole notion of conservative feminism is becoming what Sarah Palin seems to hate – mainstream. The woman herself is apart of this “lame-stream media” as she has been heard to say at events. The only reason it’s lame, Sarah, is because you’re apart of it. But what do I know? I’m only a 22 year old liberal Californian who will not vote for the conservative women running in the upcoming election.
Feminism has always been a scary word for women (there was no bra-burning … can people stop saying that? Please?) and some journalists have even commended Palin for declaring herself as such. It’s no surprise that if you believe in equal rights for men and women, then you are a feminist. However, I firmly believe that women need access to birth control, including abortion clinics, in order to have equal rights. It’s not just about the work force or politics, it’s also about being physically capable of doing what we want. I will not let a pregnancy – at my age that is – hold me back from doing what I want to do.
“Fiorina and Palin's pitches reveal graphically how selfish their brand of feminism is.” Exactly. Linda Hirshman stated so much of this political feminist hubbub that I have been arguing in my head lately. She describes in her article Fiorina’s personal story and connection to abortion; apparently her husband’s mother was told by a doctor to have an abortion (even though it was illegal) and she ended up going through with the pregnancy which produced the love husband. So many stories like this – such as the Focus on the Family Super Bowl advertisement – are supposed to arouse women to keep their unwanted pregnancies. Who knows?! You could become the mother of the next president of the United States
In conclusion peeps, I find that choice is a big issue for feminists and one that women need access to. I’d rather not see women have to resort to coat hangers, going to other countries if absolutely necessary, or pulling a Revolutionary Road
Posts
"selfish" - there's a charged word. In public culture, "real women" aren't supposed to be "selfish" about major matters and most minor matters - they are only allowed to be "selfish" about spending money on beauty and fashion items. Even then, the female "indulgence" is really in service to men.
ReplyDeleteEvery human breathing acts or thinks about acting in their own "self-interest" part of the time. This is declared natural when men do it, but unnatural when women do it. In "mainstream" discussion and media, the phrase "self-interest" is used for men's actions the great majority of the time, while it is quite rare to see the phrase used for women's actions.