Sarah Palin: Redefining Feminism
If the current pace continues, Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue is on track to become perhaps the best-selling nonfiction book ever. The extraordinary, record-breaking rollout and the throngs of fans who await Sarah at every stop of her nationwide bus tour is rivaled only by the endless succession of liberal talking heads who are willing to put aside years of carefully cultivated gender sensitivity in an attempt to finish off a job they had hoped they had taken care of last year – or at least in the last two months of granting Levi Johnston full access to the most coveted media outlets.
When Tina Brown laughs and defends Newsweek’s indefensible cover photo of the former governor in running shorts to Matt Lauer on The Today Show, and Naomi Wolfe on Larry King calls Palin “Evita” and a “Geisha” and accuses the fiercely independent Alaskan Governor of being the “muse” and “telegenic figurehead” of a Cheney/Rove/Haliburton cabal, you know there’s more fear than loathing in the liberal and feminist ranks.
So what exactly is the liberal feminist establishment afraid of? Back in the fall of 2008, many conservatives theorized that it all came down to abortion. That a baby-wielding, pro-life VP candidate would re-ignite a debate feminists prefer to believe is settled and that the very sight of baby Trig on the hip of the beautiful and confident Sarah Palin on the night of her pitch-perfect speech at the Republican National Convention caused an unsettling degree of national guilt and unwanted introspection for a society that aborts close to 90% of all babies diagnosed with Downs Syndrome. But I believe that the seething and obsession with all things Palin is bigger and deeper than even abortion.
What is really at the heart of the unrelenting vitriol and paranoia came to light rather innocuously in the celebrity style, soft-focus Oprah interview. In fact, the offending comment was so casually and organically delivered, that as far as I can tell, the chattering class, normally so quick to pounce on the slightest hint of mommy-war fodder, especially from someone as reviled by the left as Sarah Palin, did not picked up on the comment. Near the end of the interview, in a gracious moment of praise and admiration for her host, Sarah recalled the days when she watched the Oprah Show more regularly, “back when I was a stay-at-home mom in the 90s”. That’s right, back when I was a stay-at-home-mom. When have we ever heard those words come out of the mouth of a female politician, much less one who is a possible contender for the highest office in the land?
In that one innocent phrase, Sarah did more than endear herself to Oprah or to stay-at-home-moms across the country; together with her husband Todd, Sarah Palin, is radically, and perhaps irrevocably redefining feminism. Sarah’s biography is the very public proof of what many women have already confirmed in their own lives: that success and female empowerment are not necessarily incompatible with early marriage, unplanned pregnancies, stay-at-home motherhood, or a large family.
In comparison, to Sarah’s modern “take it as it comes” approach to life, feminist notions of success are rather rigid. They encourage, if not demand, that young women leave their stem families to pursue east-coast elite educations, urban experiences (goodbye pot roasts and Moose stew), six-figure salaries, and a respectable limit when it comes to children (less trouble, smaller carbon footprint!). Sarah’s family life, as colorful as it is, is an affirmation of the virtues of an all-American small town life; of big, close-knit Christian families and proximity to a supportive extended family. Sarah’s success is proof that conservatism and traditional family values are not incompatible with a modern woman’s dreams and ambitions and that with the blessing of a good partner like Todd, it may even be a superior, much more satisfying path to achieving it.
This is frightening enough to the Naomi Wolfes and Sally Quinn’s of the world, but that Wolfe’s third wave feminism would be followed up by a more potent and relevant fourth wave ushered in by a conservative pro-life, pro-gun, state-college educated, born-again evangelical Christian, former beauty-queen and stay-at-home Republican mom is quite simply more than they can stand.
Certainly one thing the feminist establishment never anticipated was Todd Palin. The new evolved husband was not supposed to be a blue-collar, snowmobiling commercial fisherman. He was supposed to be an ivy educated, New York Times-reading liberal. Their great hope was Bill Clinton, but he let them down. However, his stellar abortion rights creds granted him a pass after Monica and the feminists set the stage for him to redeem himself during Hillary’s long-awaited presidential campaign. But poor Bill couldn’t help upstaging Hillary and his narcissistic rantings cost her dearly in a razor thin primary. The “First Dude” of the most macho state in our union, on the other hand, coolly stands in the background supporting his successful wife without a trace of resentment or envy.
What women relate to in Sarah is precisely what separates her from old-guard feminist politicians like Hillary and Diane Feinstein – her easy, maternal style. Can you imagine Hillary bouncing a baby on her hip after accepting the VP nomination? Sarah embraces motherhood and authentic femininity with an unapologetic style that gives them their rightful power. It is something feminists have long rejected and continue to resist at their own peril. It is the source of their growing irrelevance and disconnect with a generation of women who are far too savvy and liberated to blindly accept feminist mantras and blueprints for ‘success’.
I’m a 38 year-old Hispanic stay at-home mother of five expecting her sixth in April. I live in rural Wisconsin and I’m married to a Midwestern lumberjack competitor and District Attorney who is a true helpmate – he’s as comfortable changing diapers as he is in the courtroom or wielding an axe. I have a graduate education that I don’t consider “wasted” on my kids and family. I write and find creative ways to pursue my personal interests thanks to technology, a great husband and supportive parents who help me with the kids whenever I ask. I shop at Wal-Mart and go to Mass every week. I’m pro-life, love Reagan, attended tea parties this summer and vote Republican. If Sarah is redefining feminism, and female empowerment, then fourth wave feminism sure looks a lot more like my life and lot less like Gloria Steinem’s and Naomi Wolfe’s. And that, in a nutshell, is why they’re so afraid of Sarah Palin.
Rachel Campos-Duffy is a mother of six, author, blogger, and conservative pundit. Her book, “Stay Home, Stay Happy: 10 Secrets to Loving At-home Motherhood” can be found at Amazon and her website, http://www.rachelcamposduffy.com/.
Published online at The Americano
Republican Women of the North, Northern WI, rwotnorth@gmail.com
Interesting perspective, Rachel. Sarah Palin isn't such a novelty though - take a look at Nancy Pelosi's biography and you'll see she also has five children and worked her way up through politics to high office. Once upon a time she was stay at home mom, and now it's not uncommon to see her bounce her grandkids and grandnieces and nephews on her hip in public! I still hold that the point of feminism is that we have the right to choose what we women want to do without preconceived mandate. Sarah Palin strikes me as charming and scrappy, both endearing qualities for a leader and a female. But as a liberal leaning Democrat, I'm afraid of Sarah Palin not because she might be the fourth wave of feminism, but because she hasn't had enough foreign policy to make big decisions for our country, she represents too conservative a vantagepoint of domestic issues, and she tends to be a bit naive if you ask me. Btw, I saw the Oprah interview and I though it was laughable that she thought the Katie Couric interview was going to be about two working moms friendly banter. Hello?! Katie Couric is just as able to ask hard questions as any man - and certainly has in the past - but it was Sarah's altered expectations of the female reporter that ultimately shot her in the foot. If Sarah Palin is redfining feminism, I think it's a few steps back for the ladies, scrappy and charming or not.
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