Women: Stupid, Petty Traitors

[La Lioness Priyanka]

Women have always been stereotyped as coy, manipulative and yet stupid. These persistent stereotypes of women as unfaithful, lacking in loyalty and stupid have existed for centuries. A lot of these ideas of a womans inability to understand important concepts such as policies, politics etc were the basis of denying women equal rights. However with the defeat of Hillary Clinton and Mccains picking of Sarah Palin it is obvious that not much has changed.

Picking Palin assumes that women are incapable of separating one woman from another. McCain didn't pick a black man, he and his advisor's didn't think that black people would confuse the difference between Alan Keyes and Obama. No, no one thinks that would happen. However we women are so stupid as a group that clearly we cannot tell the difference between Sarah Palin and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

What the difference between a pro choice, pro gay rights candidate, an environmentalist vs an anti choice, anti gay rights, environment destroying candidate? They both have vagina's. That as far as we treacherous and stupid women can see.

We don't care about the quality of our candidates. We don't certainly understand the implications of picking one vs the other. Oh no! All we can understand in our infinite pettiness and stupidity is that we will support one vagina when the other has failed.

In fact we are too stupid to even understand that second seat is not shattering a glass ceiling. Second seat has been done before.

Of course so far I have only addressed how the Republican party views women as stupid and petty and vengeful.

Let us look at the Democratic party's response to Palin on the blogospheres. The liberal blogs could attack her on any number of issues. She is everything HRC was NOT. She is anti women, anti gay, anti environment etc but what do they pick? Her ability to mother.

Mostly whether a mother of a three day old child can be a good person if she wants to be Vice President of the United States of America. Apparently she cannot be a good mother. How dare she leave her infant? As far as anyone knows this infant has a father. However apparently this father is not expected to take care of his child, though through hundreds of years women have taken care of babies while their husbands have gone on to do ambitious things with their lives. This baby is going to die from neglect since it will left in its father's care between Sept-Nov. The outrage!!!!

She doesn't have to work, she chose to do this. Hence the immorality. Reinforcing the belief that only men have a right to ambition. We have a right only to supplement income. We should only work if there is no choice in the matter. Our ambitions are never to super cede our children. It doesn't matter if this does not hold true for men. Their ambitions do matter since their work is not considered supplemental.

I don't want to defend Sarah Palin, she stands for everything I don't. I think like Mccain and Bush and Cheney, she is pure evil. But I will support her right to work for ambition and not because she has to.

The twofold attack against the intelligence of women and our desire to control our fates this week have been very disheartening for this feminist.

[jberryhill]

1. The choice was engineered to inspire divisive dialog...

...and to that extent it worked.

[PeaceNikki]

2. Error: You can't recommend threads from this forum

x(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. retitling and posting in gd

:)

[Ellen Forradalom]

4. The hypocrisy on our side of the aisle

has been breathtaking.

I for one don't mind the obvious pander. Beats hell out of insults and threats. It's nice to get an engraved invitation instead of a big threatening unity stick in the mail. I'll check the "NO" box on the RSVP and send it back for the same reasons as you, but the point stands. On either side of the aisle, women apparently do not deserve the courtesy of a polite request for their votes.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[ismnotwasm]

6. I think it has to do with being burned

Over and over. Eventually you draw your line in the sand or crumble, perhaps.

Women have been in the lose-lose section of public opinion when ever "mothering" comes up.


That being said, I agree with you. There is nothing about this VP choice that is "feminist" except that she is profiting from the work and passion and suffering of thousands of nameless feminist women who fought and cried and died and changed the world inch by excruciating inch. Who made it possible for her to breeze on in with her ambitious, "maverick" self (She exemplifies the worst of our political system right now) Women Palin wouldn't give the time of day to. Women her religion would cosign to hell. Literally as they believe and have faith in it, hell. Women she wants to deny basic human rights to.

I have this saved from IBlameThePatriarchy, and I usually use it for porn arguments, but alter it a bit and it applies to women like Palin in our political process;

"Whereas the rewards for surrender to male porn culture are not inconsiderable: social acceptance, male approval, little pseudo-privileges that accrue according to the degree of one’s conformity, and of course the enormous relief at not having to fight it anymore. The if-you-can’t-beatem-joinem gambit has enjoyed millennia of popularity for good reason. It gives the appearance of the shortest and easiest route to life’s rich pageant. Too bad that, once they get there, chicks are only eligible for the women’s auxiliary."

I've been researching Palin for several hours now. She rides on male approval in a male dominated culture, and she uses it, maybe it's the only thing she knows. (I'm not talking about her looks, I'm talking about patriarchy)She's not stupid, although she's probably has mental issues of one sort or the other I would guess. She's is also getting the standard media treatment women politicians get. Disgusting treatment. I doubt she cares much.

So far the opinion I've formed; What she ISN't is admirable in anyway. She would refute the word feminism on a dime "feminists for life" notwithstanding, if it furthered her personal ambition. She's is a deeply selfish woman who uses religion to delude herself she truly cares about anybody or anything. Family, kids, babies, whatever- are there to further her broken sense of self, there is no real connect there is my guess. "Issues" exist to make her look good. When I watched her church video with her listing Alaska's great natural assets as oil, natural gas and minerals, man I knew. She is also quite possibly a criminal. Just another RW nutcase who happens to be female.

Standing on the backs of great feminists and couldn't give a shit less.

[Chovexani]

7. Feminism: ur doin it wrong

I do not consider it sexist to talk about a woman's mothering choices when that woman wants to force every woman to have every baby it conceives without any help from society

Either it is sexist, or it isn't. Period. Using sexism as a valid tactic no matter how high-minded the reason, reinforces its power. It's holding up the system. It's not how feminism works.

But I'll let Shakesville speak for me. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-feminism-works.html

[Nikia]

8. See my reply here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3914354&mesg_id=3916240 I'd like to clarify that the abusive man was her second husband, not my father (not that it matters to my point).
We never question men's parenting choices or ask why they don't sacrafice themselves for their children. I am proud of my mother. Parenting is not just about self sacrafice but by being a role model and showing one's children how to be an individual and be all that one can.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

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[bliss_eternal]

13. You're certainly entitled to your opinion.

But you're not entitled to use that opinion as some sort of measuring stick for how "mothers should be."

I find it interesting that your opinion seems to lack a great deal of compassion, empathy or acknowledgment of the very real and unique challenges that face women today. Try to keep in mind that "your ideal" doesn't equate to "every woman's ideal." I thought feminism was about allowing women to decide for themselves...not dictating based on patriarchal standards (several of which are within your post).

[Book Lover]

9. I have written and rewritten my reply to you

It has been difficult, because though I only have one child, I am a woman who never planned on staying home and raising her child, but instead planned on going right back to work. Your post is hurtful and inaccurate. And one other thing: you say that "Babies need milk and holding and love from the body that they grew in." Adopted babies don't get that - you can't possibly mean that every adopted human being is as "never normal" as those lambs you compare them to.

[Tumbulu]

11. I am sorry that my post was hurtful.

Please accept my apologies.

I think that something about this Palin character has sent me over the edge and I think others have written better posts.

[bliss_eternal]

12. If you now regret your comments...

...you have the option of requesting that your post is deleted (by alerting on it, and asking for deletion per op). Otherwise, people will probably continue to respond to your comments--this is feminism (see the mission statement) and unfortunately your comments come across as a judgemental and sexist.

[Tumbulu]

15. Thanks, I did it. nt

[Book Lover]

14. Thank you

I appreciate your apology.

[Ellen Forradalom]

16. The kids seem to be fine.

They are not starved, illiterate, and covered with fleas. They appear happy and loved. The oldest girl is clearly not a virgin but I wasn't either at her age. I'm sure it's more than a little weird growing up with mom the high-powered right-wing control-freak politician but growing up in my house with a self-styled liberal yet totally sexist and racist alcoholic professor and artist father wasn't always a picnic either.

I find your disdainful concern very sexist and a good example of how women are each other's jailers.