Dear Ms. Communicate,
All the Palin talk seems to be distracting from the election, the real threat of "voter irregularities", collapsing global economies, people losing their savings, jobs and homes and a $770 billion bail-out for Wall Street without any protection for consumers or regulations against predatory lending. I am almost beginning to think Palin was set up as a decoy to distract us. Shouldn't we all be focusing our disgust and relentless investigation into Bush and the Republican Party instead of mocking the first woman who has a chance of getting into the White House?
Signed,
Feminist and yes I have a sense of humour
Dear Feminist,
Perhaps we on the left have also fallen for the media hype around Palin, focusing on her looks and her family not unlike the unexamined sexist ways that the mainstream does. And in the context of the collapse of the deified capitalist institution, Wall Street, our collective superficiality is highlighted even more.
Regarding your question, I see no reason why we can’t do both, with my comments about the “mocking” being addressed above. I think the fallibilities and hypocrisies of the right should be displayed and discussed with anyone who will listen. As for Palin being a woman, nothing in her political background or ideological stances is related to anyone I would support in any way. Her being a woman, in this context, is irrelevant.
I will defend her, in general, against overt sexist attacks, and I will question the various subtly sexist ways that she can be portrayed by the left, but her possibly being the first woman in the White House has no political, symbolic or other meaning to me.
Ms. Communicate
