Why Sarah Palin is a Big Step Backward for Women

Governor Sarah Palin, despite her career accomplishments, in my view, represents the biggest step backward for women in this country in the twentieth century. Since acquiring the right to vote through the nineteenth amendment, women have steadily gained ground in economic, athletic, political, social, and legislative environments previously not only dominated by men but also completely controlled in structure and content by them. In these arenas, women have clearly marked paths in our both our legislative and social politics that have been transformative. Sarah Palin's candidacy mars this steady progression towards an egalitarian society by moving us back to where our gender alone was needed to advance our interests. She is an attempt at affirmative action by the GOP in the hopes of persuading women, who in many cases would not benefit from John McCain's policies, particularly economically, to vote for the ticket on account of her gender. Her strength as a reformer and maverick seem questionable as many of her "merits" prove to be, in many cases misleading, misstated or even fabricated. And as her claims of reformist politics are debunked all we are left with is a young, attractive rookie Governor from Alaska who earned runner-up in a beauty pageant. She is quick-witted if untruthful and engaging even if abrasive and most importantly it seems, she is a woman. This kind of gender-based promotion is exactly what feminism has fought against since earning the right to vote. Women don't want to be rewarded for being women; they want recognition for meritorious work; a job hard-earned and well-done.

When the "demerits" are compiled about Sarah Palin including her being FOR the bridge to nowhere and earmarks for her state BEFORE being against them. Of course the unbelievable epilogue to this story is that Palin chose to keep the federal money even after Congress canceled the project, which is now being used to build a road to where the bridge was supposed to have been. She is also against abortion in any cases including rape, incest, and health of the mother while proudly commenting on her own seventeen-year-old daughter's "choice" to keep her unplanned child. FInally, her term as mayor of Wasilla left millions of dollars of debt, a severe cut in funding for disabled children's programs despite her own child having down's syndrome, and an attempt to ban several widely read classical works of literature from the library claiming they were "inappropriate reading material." There is of course the concern about her church, the Assembly of God in Wasilla, whose preacher has stated in her presence in a sermon, "You will be punished by God if you vote against George Bush." Currently, she is the subject of a legislative investigation by a bipartisan commission that she along with the McCain campaign are trying to obstruct and obfuscate. These are the so-called "merits" of Sarah Palin, everything she has stated to the public is rife with half-truths, innuendos, and many cases, outright lies.

So a vote for Palin is the institution of affirmative action for women, ironically, by the GOP. We don't want help. Women want to be judged on merit and hard work and be hired for a job because we are the best candidate for that position. Sarah Palin is inexperienced, under-qualified, unethical, not knowledgeable about foreign or domestic affairs, and carries several extremist social positions that would destroy the progress women have made in acquiring the ability to make informed decisions about their bodies and their sexual health. A vote for Palin is the biggest step backward our gender could ever make. I want to move forward and vote for the candidate that actually included reform measures specifically geared towards women’s health and equal pay as part of the party platform. This is a party that gave nearly half its support to Hillary Clinton for president. As a strong, experienced, smart, and moderate candidate who happened to be a woman, Senator Clinton lost on the merits of her platform, not her gender, This is why as a woman and as an American my vote and everyone who cares about the advancement of women goes to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I’m not saying they are perfect but they care which is more than I can say for the GOP ticket. As women you must not "vote in" a candidate as way to attain a gender-based promotio. Such a vote would endanger us as women's ability to maintain their integrity, to be judged equally with men on merit, and ultimately, progress towards an egalitarian society. Therefore, the only "real" feminist vote in this election must be against John McCain and Sarah Palin.