“I was the first American Citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame. In a just and free society it would be foolish.” -Shirley Chisholm

The patriarchal anxiety of our culture used to attack feminism by labeling it the anti-Christ. It attacked the feminist conversation by scaring competent women with threats of “biblical moral roles” and the possibility of isolation from male community (and more specifically, isolation from their husbands, brothers, and fathers). The religious right crixified Gloria Steinem and her less famous counterparts for speaking out again the corruption of male-centric hegemony. And as far as I have known, this community has not shifted their perspective on gender and power. Men are still entitled to “lead” and women are still “blessed with the gift of submission”.
Of course, this is not to deny that there has been movement within the evangelical community. There is a greater acceptance of female autonomy, and more and more churches have progressed to giving women a voice in theology. But the battle has not been won. And, I am concerned, that the Palin Plot, has created a larger regression in evangelical feminism than has been seen since the likes of Falwell.
It seems to me that the rhetoric of feminism is being hijacked for the sake of misogyny. To call Sarah Palin a feminist is naive, and frankly, ignorant. Palin’s candidacy does not represent women in power, it represents women being used to promote the agenda of powerful conservative

“Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement and remuneration based on ability.” -Sandra Day O’Connor

A woman being elected to the Vice Presidency could be a possible leap for women, if it wasn’t in fact a strategy to maintain the status-quo of uber-conservative politics. I am completely in awe of the way that people are being blindsighted by Sarah Palin’s gender without understanding the oppressive gender constructs of her political positioning. Sarah Palin is being used as a pawn, and that is not feminist progress, it is oppression.
I guess I just can’t deny that the move to place Palin as the VP was based on seduction, and not based on bringing the female perspective to the table. Unfortunately for Palin, she has little understanding of the way that her gender is being hijacked for the “agender” (get it? ok, that was a stretch I know) of the conservative right religion.
IF Sarah Palin was being brought into politics for her competency, for her experience, for her fresh perspective (again, let me emphasize, she does not hold a new perspective, she merely succumbs and submits to the same statutes that Bush followed….this is SCARY…she is mostly a male consciousness in female chromosome), then it would be a leap for women. Then it would prove that a woman’s perpective is valued and can compete within the political market.
Unfortunatly, none of the IF’s are accurate. There is no experience, there is no feminine voice, there is no competency in anything new or progressive. There is only the status quo being embodied in a woman who finds false power by appeasing conservative gender conceptions.
So I guess what I want to say, is don’t be fooled by the wolf in sheep’s clothing. Although Palin is a female, she is unequivocally not a feminist.

Here are a few of my rudimentary definitions of feminist progress….

Feminism is the mutal exchange of dignity and respect between both genders.

Feminism is the electing of power according to skill level, character, and potential.

Feminism is the celebration of that which is male and female without assimilating the two to each other.

Feminism is the offering of unique voices without the oppression of the dominant voice.

Feminism is the combination of both strength and tenderness.

Feminism is the possibility of a world that includes all peoples, all genders, and all races to participate in the process of creation.