Sarah Palin is Not a Feminist and She Agrees!

Sorted under 2008 election, politics on October 31, 2008

Just two months ago, when Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican vice presidential candidate, I wrote a post voicing my outrage over Palin calling herself and being called a feminist. To this day, that post is the most popular post on Menstrual Poetry, receiving more comments than any other post on this website, mostly from McCain and Palin supporters telling me that indeed Palin is a feminist and how dare I say that she isn’t just because she possesses stronger anti-woman policies than even most male Republicans.

Recently, much to my satisfaction and most likely to the dissatisfaction of some Palin supporters (like the LA president of NOW, for one) Palin has recently had a change of heart on her whole “I’m a feminist” stance.

So what’s behind her change of heart on feminism? Perhaps it’s because of the disapproval of actual feminists. Perhaps she realized that it’s a hell of a lot easier to claim she’s a feminist than to actually believe in what feminists fight daily for. While I doubt Palin will comment on her flip flop, I think we can all think of a few reasons why it’s really a great thing that she is choosing to not label herself as anything. For a woman with strong, anti-woman policies to label herself as a feminist is an insult; not only to feminists, but to all women, everywhere.

Good going, Palin! Never insult us by claiming you are one of us again, got it? Good.



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  • She really is nutters and should be nowhere near The White House. It would be detrimental to the US and the world if her and McCain became president. They need to be stopped which looking now it will be landslide.
  • Ok if you hate this woman as much as me (My Girlfriend is definitely a feminist and has been ranting about this for a long time so I am showing this post to her!) then you will love this video.... Not that I advocate violence to women in anyway..... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ&featu...

    I am hoping and praying so badly that tomorrow works out the way I need it to!!!
  • I agree with SlamBlogger. They had so many interviews that it is more likely they have forgotten what they were asked before. Even their own views seems to be changing every time.
  • Here is the thing, I don't believe that until recently Palin has had a lot of control over her image or how she was presented to the media. When McCain choose her for a running mate he imagined a silent sidekick who would just play out the script that he had written. I firmly believe that it was his idea for her to label herself a feminist in a desire to pick up the HRC supporters. I believe that Palin played along with this because she was uncomfortable being on such a large stage at first.
    As time went on and she realized that they were going to blame her if McCain lost this election, she decided that it was time to save herself. It is not at all accidental that as soon as she started speaking out for herself, that she dropped the feminist label. She finally decided to be herself and win or lose favor based on her own merits. This is probably the most feminist thing that Palin has ever done in her lifetime. It has of course come at a cost because the campaign that she was brought in to save has now labeled her a Diva,and a whacko. Perhaps this experience with misogyny will turn Palin into a real feminist, stranger things have been known to happen.
  • Erica
    I wanted to share this with you.
    http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?v...
    Pay special attention at 2:22

    Jon puts a spin on not only the fact that Palin flip flops on her title of a feminist but condones the idea of labeling in a political campaign and (this is why I love Jon Stewart) gets it thrown back into her face. *cue the name and occupation labels*

    And just to make sure no one missed it the first time they wrap it up in the "Moment of Zen"
    http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?v...

    I showed the clips from each of these interviews in my Feminist Art class for our conscience raising on women in politics. I think most of them hadn't seen this yet so we had plenty to talk about. It was a good exercise to determine what exactly she does and says that makes us so quick to dismiss her abilities and ideas.

    Thanks for this blog!! :D
  • This woman is a complete joke. Hopefully we won't hear from her much after Tuesday.
  • Once a politician starts thinking about getting elected and not wanting to piss anyone off, they backpeddle like there was no tomorrow. Some people would call that hypocrisy...myself included.

    And, OT a little, check out McCain's no-tie look. Maybe that works for Joe the Plumber shmoozing the cameras about a football game, but I expect a little more effort from a man who wants to be my President.
  • Meh, politicians flip flop daily. They have so many interviews, and speeches, and this and that. Basically, they probably don't remember how they answered the question previously, assuming they even remember being asked the question before. At any given moment, they're trying to give the most appropriate answer when put on the spot. When you only have a few seconds to come up with a good answer, you can guarantee that the answer is going to change each time it's asked, even if only in a small way. That's politics.
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