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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’ve been in the process of writing a new post for the past few days, but I’m so overwhelmed with all I’m reading that I’ve having a bit of trouble focusing. This post will be deleted and replaced with something a little more extensive, but in the meantime, this is why I am so beyond disgusted with Republicans: