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I wanted to quickly highlight a post by Cara over at The Curvature that put exactly into words what I’ve been struggling to explain when it comes to Sarah Palin:

Via Sociological Images — a truly great blog I discovered recently — comes this story about a Sarah Palin lookalike contest held at Vegas strip club (oh, sorry, “gentleman’s club”).  Lots of bikinis, sexualized use of guns and sexism abound.  You can view more photographs of the event here.

The saddest thing is that it’s not the most offensive display of sexualized misogyny that has been directed a Palin.  The sex doll came close, but I’d say that award goes “Nailin’ Paylin,” the Larry Flint pornographic film starring yet another Palin lookalike, the existence of which all of us should have seen coming.

There are two problems with both the porn film and this strip club contest, and neither one of them is about porn and stripping in general.  The first issue is consent.  Sarah Palin did not consent to having her image used in this way.  Portraying her sexually like this without her consent is a violation — and contrary to what many people apparently think, existing as a woman in public is not the same as consenting to use of your body as public property.  This isn’t satire or parody; it’s just sexist and degrading.

Which brings us to the next issue.  The entire reason that anyone gets to hide behind the parody and “all in good fun” arguments is precisely because portraying Sarah Palin sexually is intended to be mocking towards her.  It’s taking a powerful woman and working to make her non-threatening by turning her into a sexual object.  And it’s the very opposite side of the coin as calling Hillary Clinton ugly and denying her sexuality.  Both reinforce the ideas that women exist to sexually pleasure men, and that sexuality is the only power we have (or should be allowed).  Whether revoking or affirming that “power,” the result is an attempt to render the woman inferior and powerless.

Click here to read the whole thing.

A bit of good news before the bad - I chose Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine as my staff pick at the book store but we can’t get any more copies at the moment because it’s sold out!! It is in the process of being reprinted. This made me so happy to hear!! I haven’t seen it get on the bestseller list as a paperback yet. (I may be wrong about that though.)

But now, a number of things I’ve come across recently that I’ve wanted to call attention to -
 
Army Unit to Deploy in October for Domestic Operations - Hat tip to dark daughta for calling my attention to this. Police state, anyone?

Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.

 
That the nomination of Obama is the result of rampant fraud. Hat tip to Dr. Socks at Reclusive Leftist on this, who has also been challenging my line of thinking concerning Palin. (That’s not to say I’m suddenly supporting a McCain/Palin ticket - but it’s certainly helping me to sort out how internalized misogyny may be skewing my views towards her.)
 
I don’t know what to think about this, but I’m feeling incredibly dismayed. From Lynette Long’s CaucusAnalysis, dedicated to studying the possibility of fraud:

As I write this, the Democratic Party is poised to formally nominate Barack Obama as its candidate for President of the United States.

It’s the triumph of fraud.

I’ve spent the past two months immersed in data from the 2008 Democratic caucuses. After studying the procedures and results from all fourteen caucus states, interviewing dozens of witnesses, and reviewing hundreds of personal stories, my conclusion is that the Obama campaign willfully and intentionally defrauded the American public by systematically undermining the caucus process.

 
I’m surprised about how little people I talked to today know about this one - that the McCain campaign got the style of tonight’s VP debate changed.

From the New York Times:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.

——

McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin’s debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain’s positions, rather than spending time talking about her experience or playing defense

I really need to remember when I visit web sites that are liberal but not expressly feminist that I’m going to see the same heaping misogyny and sexism I do everywhere else. It’s kind of like one of the great mysteries of life - who to hold more in contempt. Conservative men, for saying outright sexist things and supporting anti-woman policies but are at least honest about it? Or liberal men, who may pretend to have some sort of grasp on women’s rights/the issues/feminism but then say and do outright sexist things - defending themselves with “That wasn’t sexist! I love women, I have a mother! AND ROE V. WADE IS IN DANGER, LOOK! (Despite the fact I just used it as a bargaining chip in an effort to endear me to conservative voters everywhere!)”

Most of the time, liberal men win the day. And they sure did when I came across this a few days ago! Huffington Post columnist Michael Seitzman wrote a “humor” column on Sarah Palin awhile back. In it he states:

And, three, she really is kinda hot. Basically, I want to have sex with her on my Barack Obama sheets while my wife reads aloud from the Constitution. (My wife is cool with this if I promise to “first wipe off Palin’s tranny makeup.” I married well.)

Note the “tranny makeup” slur too!

Apparently, some people expressed their ire over his sexism so the next day he writes a column “Sexist? Not so fast.” The typical non-apology after a man makes a sexist remark and is confronted about it. His main argument is - I didn’t mention her gender!!! And that means I wasn’t sexist!! (Because there isn’t a consistent pattern in our culture, a continuum, that reduces women to objects solely for sexual gratification or anything.)

Oh goodness. I could only blink in awe at this utterly simplistic line of reasoning. I’m sorry, and we were talking about Sarah Palin….? I can almost forgive her for “you can see Russia from Alaska” after reading this. He has the nerve to say HE feels insulted that he’s expected to take her seriously and apparently this is justification for being a sexist pig. Not only does the media expect me to vote for Sarah Palin because she has a vagina, but I’m supposed to agree that he wasn’t spouting sexist tripe. I’m supposed to take his pat on the head and the entreaty to remember that there are “real” issues at stake here and “real” sexism to pay attention to.

And one of those things is a padlock on your uterus. Now let’s talk about sexism.

HE feels insulted?? Oh, the absurdity.

But hey, someone has a post on it way better than mine, and with awesome comments! I went over to Shakesville to report this to the “Sarah Palin Sexism Watch” series only to see with relief they had covered it already.

Watching the most recent Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin makes me sad. I do believe she is woefully unqualified, and it makes me cringe to see her doing badly. As much as I felt I could not fully support a Clinton candidacy (But then, will there ever be a candidate I can fully support? It was naive of me to think Obama would be any different on the issues I’m concerned about, or any Democrat for that matter.), I was never cheering for her loss as others were. The LAST thing I wanted to see was Clinton’s downfall due to how many were gleefully waiting for it. I feel like that’s gradually where my opinion is going in terms of Palin despite feeling that many of her policies are abhorrent and indeed a step back for women.

It seems that with the economic crisis, the Republican use of sexism as a tool to shut people up when talking about Sarah Palin has abated. And while I outlined the sexism I saw being leveled at Palin in a previous post and see more everyday (more to come, trust me) I was incredibly frustrated with the men and some women who began to use it in some cynical bid to women. The “gender and victim cards” of the Clinton campaign were all of a sudden welcomed talks of the sexism towards Palin! My stars! There are many issues that aren’t partisan. This is one.

So.. here is a run down I began in the midst of the furor after the Palin pick. It’s not great, but it’s been bugging me so I’m just going to post it already. It’s been holding up a backlog of other posts.

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…as it was to justify the Iraq war. Sadly we had some of the more prominent women’s organizations advocating the war along with male politicians who all of a sudden got this yen for freeing oppressed women from evil brown men! Yeah, ok. Iraqi women thank you for skyrocketing rates of rape, trafficking and prostitution and the destabilization of their families as you sit bandying about the idea of women’s rights being in the Iraqi constitution.

Now we get to see the hypocrisy in action all over again. I think I’ve been in a state of mild shock since Palin was announced as McCain’s VP pick. I admit that I was a little resentful about Carly Fiorina and other Republican women jumping to defend Palin off the bat, but I figured, at least SOMEONE is speaking up about sexism. At the same time, defending a woman from sexism isn’t about whether she’s part of the same political party as you are. I figured Fiorina’s statements would fade off and be forgotten in an “isn’t that quaint” way.

Not so. The Republicans have picked up the idea of sexism and RUN with it. People who were pegging Clinton with using “the gender card” a few weeks ago are discussing sexism on the evening news as if it’s SOMETHING THAT MATTERS TO THEM. I’m angry at this cynical ploy to draw in those of us who ACTUALLY CARE. Sean Hannity is now apparently an expert on what feminism is and declared Palin a feminist the other day. Why? Well, because she’s part of the group “Feminists for Life”! I mean, duh.

So, let’s get a few things out of the way. I think the “gender card/race card” stuff is UTTER BULLSHIT. It prevents actual dialog and REAL conversation about sexism and racism because people are so ready to pounce on anyone who points out injustice. It’s a way to maintain the status quo.

Now - what HAVE I seen sexist towards Sarah Palin? This idea runs rampant that as a mother of five children she could not handle the Vice Presidential position. If Todd Palin were the one up for VP, no one would be asking this question because children are never considered an integral part of a man’s identity. Yet she would be under scrutiny as his wife and would be expected to ACCOMMODATE his bid for VP in whatever way necessary - as a wife, she is considered to have no agency of her own but exists to prop up her husband’s ambitions. Todd Palin the husband and father is not someone who ever enters these conversations of whether as a mother of five, she can do it.

I’ve seen the typical sexism and misogyny coming from liberal men towards any woman they don’t like, a continuation of the hateful diatribe that was leveled towards Clinton and her supporters.

I see the misogyny in the blogs that have appeared to concentrate on her fuckability, because a woman can never be honored solely for her accomplishments and who she is as a person. She is first and foremost a semen receptacle, NEVER a human being. Really boys, I’m sure she’d be flattered you find her worthy. Perhaps the story isn’t WOMEN WILL VOTE FOR ANYONE WITH A VAGINA but rather MEN WILL VOTE FOR A CANDIDATE THEY THINK IS HOT. And let’s not forget they’ll slam a woman who has the nerve to be in the public eye when in their estimation, she’s NOT attractive - how dare she!

Sarah Palin HAS had to endure sexist attacks, and I’m not going to withdraw my support in that arena based on party lines DESPITE her firm belief in policies that will be detrimental to women if they go into effect. AND YET, the Republicans have used the idea of sexism to shut down ANY criticism of Palin, when two weeks ago they were crucifying Clinton for using THE GENDER CARD. This is utter nonsense. A month ago all these men standing up to valiantly defend Palin from “sexist” attacks weren’t batting an eye at the daily stream of misogyny.

I am floored that

• 1) The media is actually talking TO us for once, instead of lining up the typical role call of men to talk ABOUT us and
  2) THAT THEY EXPECT IT TO WORK. (One pair of ovaries is the same as any other, and we’ll be voting on that basis amirite?)

What dimension am I in?

McCain chooses a woman as his Vice Presidential candidate and now we have entreaties from them that the war on the glass ceiling doesn’t have to end with Hilary! Ahem. Drafting a woman to prop up your misogynist policies, when you pay attention to issues that affect women AT ALL, will not get me to vote for you. It’s a slap in the face. Nor can you pat yourself on the back for being so “progressive” as to choose a woman and proclaim that you can finally overcome the glass ceiling. I will believe this when women have TRULY REPRESENTATIVE numbers in government. The white hetero male monopoly on government will not be transformed into a place that all of a sudden welcomes women and minorities thanks to a woman Vice President, or EVEN a woman President. But yes, she really does expect us, as someone chosen by a man for a very specific purpose, to believe that she can “shatter the glass ceiling once and for all.”

And sending Huckabee - Mike Huckabee as an ambassador to tell women that there’s a PLACE for us with the Republicans is probably the MOST LAUGHABLE THING I have heard all week. This is a man who signed a 1998 FULL PAGE USA Today Ad advocating that a wife “submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ.”

This is the man who pardoned a rapist during his term as governor because he felt the man was put away for “political” reasons. This was despite NUMEROUS letters from the women(sluts) he had raped, including one of Clinton’s cousins(democrat sluts less deserving of justice). This rapist then went on to RAPE AND MURDER TWO MORE WOMEN. I wonder what kind of judgment your god has in store for you Huckabee. And yet, he has the gall to try and appeal to us (The article on this circus is here.):

“Sarah Palin is a pleasant surprise for those of us who had hoped that Senator McCain would pick a principled and authentic conservative pro-life leader,” former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said.

Huckabee also used the Palin pick to reach out to women.

“Governor Palin … will remind women that if they are not welcome on the Democrat’s ticket, they have a place with Republicans,” he said.

Pleasant surprise… so lukewarm! Kind of makes me snicker to think how he must feel about a woman being appointed over an oh so godly man like him. Lovely invitation but I won’t be accepting, as I’m not interested in fulfilling your vision of woman as faithful servant to husband and fetus incubator, only for you to want to trot me out when convenient. Don’t try to sell me on a candidate who thinks the antidote to sexism is “work harder, don’t say anything”. (PLEASE say this to the women working at Wal-Mart with a straight face.)

I really like the way Melissa McEwan put it at Shakesville:

You know, there are a lot of reasons I’m feeling pissed about John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin.

I’m pissed at the Dems because it feels like they let Clinton get beat to fuck against that glass ceiling until she was black and blue only for the fucking Republicans to make use of her sacrifice, while the Democrats gave us a total dipshit who made fun of his wife being educated in his acceptance speech.

And I’m pissed at the GOP who, chief among them John McCain, have made patently clear while going after Obama that the experience threshold for a national ticket is beyond what he has, and that said threshold is non-negotiable, but nonetheless chose someone who failed to pass that threshold, ergo heavily suggesting that Palin is merely a token.

And I’m pissed at everyone who’s using the nomination of a woman to a national ticket to unleash yet another torrent of misogyny, whether to demean or to “honor” her.

But mostly I’m pissed that John McCain and Karl Rove and the GOP shat all over a historic moment in our nation’s history and couldn’t give Obama one. goddamn. day. to be rightfully celebrated as a candidate of national historical significance. Everyone should be talking about that speech today. Everyone should be contemplating what it means to have that barrier broken, should be thinking about fucking bookends.

Edited to add: Some of this may be construed as an attack on Palin herself. Don’t mean to characterize her as a mindless borg, but I do think that the men of the Republican party are using her for a very specific purpose.

Other posts I really enjoyed on the matter:
McCain Chose Palin?! >> Karnythia at The Angry Black Woman
Colluder of the Week: Sara Palin >> Renee at Womanist Musings
Firedoglake: Sarah Palin Broke the Law to advocate the defeat of environmental initiatives.
Jump off the Bridge: My Problem with Palin