Sarah Palin and the Feminists

(Disclaimer: I do political work full-time for the League of Young Voters. This is my own personal opinion of politics, not the League's. This is also pretty out of the realm of comix and art, but I figure rather than create a whole 'nother blog for my thoughts, I'll just go for it here.)

There has been much talk about Sarah Palin and her gender, just as much as there had been about Hilary Clinton and her gender. But there is something important to note here—these discussions, while to the naked eye are the same, are actually deeply, and inherently, different.

The common misconception amongst the “post-feminist” mainstream media is that Feminists simply want a woman in office. That, regardless of everything else that could make a worthy potential candidate, a female candidate is more important than the issues and ideologies that candidate may stand for.

This is a very misguided concept.

It is simply problematic to assume that simply being a woman brings with it the checklist Feminists want to see in a Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate. It is, essentially, the flipside of the argument Feminists and women-alike are constantly railing against—that being a woman means very specific “woman things,” that there are certain denotations to being a woman (concepts such as being weak, weepy, talkative if you are white; or crude and loud if you are black; or saucy if you are Latina—etc.). Simply being a woman and simply being a woman in office does not a Feminist choice make, for it applies the same logic that those who wish to box in the concept of woman for their own anti-feminist, sexist, misogynist uses.

Does being a woman mean that you are more likely to understand a need for childcare availability for working, single moms?

Does being a woman mean that you are more likely to protect women’s right to choose, and proper sex education for your teen daughter?

Does being a woman mean that you are more likely to vote in favor of higher and equal wages for all?

No. No. No.

Lets get something clear: you have to be more than “female” to get my vote. You have to have a pretty transparent platform based off of my Feminist principles—and in an ideal world, you’re also a woman. But the two aren’t intrinsically connected.