Advertisement

The Sexism of the Palin Pick

Read Ann Friedman on the implicit sexism of the theory that Sarah Palin will have some massive appeal to women who, apparently, just have no opinions about the issues whatsoever. Then consider figures like Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe or Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutcheson or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice or Connecticut Governor Jody Rell all of whom are Republican women who are more conventionally qualified for higher office than Palin, but none of whom pass the “dogmatically right-wing” test to a sufficient degree. Which is fine, if you want to run to the right you run to the right. But expecting moderate-to-liberal women to sign on for something like that is silly — clearly the commitment here is to the cause of abortion criminalization and run-amok oil drilling rather than the advancement of women.

Advertisement