This is not about the politics of this election. I’m not concerned with Palin’s political slant because I don’t believe she’ll ever hold an office where her staunch anti-woman imprinting will impact my life. Rather, this reflects my fury over her doormat willingness to further demean the cause of sexual equality by playing puppet. I am deeply distraught by her passive conduct.
Sarah is not her own woman. Not anymore. She is invented. Prepped. Plucked – no, over-plucked, and plucky. Here is a woman, poorly hastily engineered, then dispatched to masquerade as a woman in a position of power. Custom designed to pacify and gain support from women seeking female representation. Yet this woman, judiciously subordinated, is strictly forbidden to grant an interview. Oh, she speaks out all right. Waging a juicy little smear campaign with the spirit of an original Mean Girl. But she isn’t speaking for herself. Instead, she is standing by her man – a highly prized misogynistic value if there ever was one. She viciously fights his battles (just as I would - and have) for my own man. But what is she saying about her? And what is she saying about all women when she willfully acquiesces to such blatant exploitation?
Sarah Palin is hanging by a carefully orchestrated set of strings. Permitted to display her dominant, aggressive and masculine tendencies while carting a baby at her breast. A not-so-subtle reminder to her band of the faithful that she presents no danger, unlike women of genuine strength. But she doesn’t fool me. Her subservience and lack of demonstrable affection for other women illuminates her rejection of our equivalent value. And that frightens me.
If keeping women at bay was part of the grand McCain design, then it was a stroke of genius to prop up a girl like Sarah – someone incapable of articulating a clear idea of her own. Because if she has any, and I suspect she may – I am still waiting to hear them.
I want to hear Sarah. Unplugged.
Parked...