s.e. smith at This Ain’t Livin’ has an interesting post up about the latest spate of Palin-related mania in progressive circles, this time over her adoption of the word “feminist”:
Liberal feminists are asking why Sarah Palin, a conservative feminist, should be allowed to call herself a feminist. They also ask why so many people want to distance themselves from feminism. Well, I think the parallels I’ve outlined here answer that question pretty thoroughly, and perhaps will open a few eyes. People who are outraged by Sarah Palin’s rhetoric and demand to know how she’s feminist now have an inkling of how people in marginalised classes who don’t identify with feminism feel. Because, let me tell you, many of us are surprised to see you calling yourselves feminists too.
Is Sarah Palin a feminist? Well, I’m afraid that I am not holding the Orb of Office this week and thus am not allowed to issue a formal ruling on who is (and isn’t) feminist. But I view feminists a lot like ducks. If an animal walks up to me and says ‘hey, what’s up, I’m a duck,’ it’s a fucking duck, ok, people?
I completely understand what smith is saying, and why she’s saying it.
But while I’m not as married to the word “feminist” as I once was, I wonder if the appropriate response to Sarah Palin calling herself a feminist is not to just let her have the term and run away with it, but rather open a conversation about whether it’s fair to claim that mantle – or whether it’s fair to claim the mantle of progressive movements generally, à la Rand Paul and the civil rights movement – when one has only the barest of commitments to what those movements stood for. By “opening a conversation,” I do not of course mean, “write a fucking screed about how Sarah Palin fucking sucks,” but I do mean, “let’s talk about the ways in which conceiving of feminism as a project for the advancement of certain kinds of women to power, and then eschewing criticism when one is wielding power because “this is a grand step for women!” (Even when it involves stepping on other women’s heads.)
I mean, yes, there is a lot in feminism that is exclusionary and needs to be addressed. I feel like I’d rather be engaged in the project of challenging and building that than just throwing up my hands and saying, “I’m not the arbiter.” I’m not the arbiter! But I remain convinced that these sorts of conversations about “what it means to liberate women/be a feminist/support women’s rights” are fucking crucial.
But maybe that’s my privilege showing, I don’t know. I think it’s more that the longer I hang out in places where these conversations about feminism are being had, the less teleological I become about the whole thing. I don’t so much demand that feminism give me its final answer as I demand that it continue groping around in the dark, maybe fucking up a lot but possessing the self-awareness to realize that the fucking up involves valuable lessons without which the whole project of liberation becomes a lesser project.
Or, uh, something. God help me, I think I just called feminism a discourse.
The problem I has with Sarah Palin’s declaration of her feminism, is that she made it by referring to “liberal feminists,” “pro-Choice feminists,” “conservative feminists,” etc. In making such distinctions, she was trying to categorize feminists, not make them allies, causing division by igniting the argument “Who is a feminist?”
Like so many things, if someone has to tell you they are a feminist, they are probably not. Sarah Palin’s actions speak volumes compared to her words, and while she is an independent, tough-minded, political woman, she fails in thinking that somehow women are there to be pretty, motherly, and have no right to determine what they do with their own bodies. She is a pseudo-feminist at best.
Sure, Sarah Palin can call herself a feminist. But it would be like me calling myself a Christian evangelical when I don’t believe in Jesus Christ or evangelism.
Kate Harding pointed out in her post on this yesterday that “words mean things.” Feminism means something: the struggle for full social and political equality/empowerment for women (and that means, ALL women, including gay, non-white, non-American and non-Christian women, all of whom are either derided or invisible to Sarah Palin and her “feminists”).
While there are many different ways of arriving at that goal, if you’re actively working against it, I don’t think you’re a feminist.
PSoul, don’t think about her too long or yoru brain will break.
Right-wingers have a long history of co-opting language and inverting the meaning of words for their own purposes. This is just another example. When we let them take over words, we lose. Harding is so right-words do mean something, until people who know better allow their meanings to be stripped away.
The interesting question to me is why Palin has decided to co-opt a word that is generally seen as the gravest insult in right-wing circles. You’d think that if you identify as a feminist you wouldn’t be fooled by her, and if you’re a right winger, you wouldn’t want to be identified as a feminist. It would be pretty amusing if the end result of this little game was to destigmatize the term “feminist” among centrist women.
Btw, NN, I don’t consider her independent at all. There’s no such thing as an independent right winger-they all march in lockstep to the party line.
I’m a conservative woman, and thanks for writing this. I rarely agree with you, but you present some interesting thoughts. Up to this point, I’ve only seen people use the abortion litmus test, which I think marginalizes all women on both sides to a single issue. We can all agree that women of all political convictions are far more complex than that.
I’m not a fan of Palin saying that she’s a feminist because of larger implications of feminism.
I think BeckySharper has the best answer that I’ve seen. I don’t consider myself to be a conservative feminist because I disagree with the economic arguments of social and economic equality and the roots of those philosophies in socialism.
I’ve seen a lot of conservative women jump on the “conservative feminist” bandwagon, and I think that it demonstrates how little women on both the left and right understand the philosophy of the movement.
I support equality for women and the betterment of women through education and jobs around the world, but I do disagree at how feminists argue we should get there. I think there’s a gap between equality and feminism. Much of it is economic.
Do we raise taxes and redistribute wealth or provide incentives to create jobs, lower taxes and invest in private programs? That’s the debate we should be having.
So much of the Sarah Palin debate has focused on abortion and political labels. It just shows how little both sides understand about the definition or goals of feminism.
FYI, s.e. smith is nonbinary gender, and prefers the pronoun “ou”. You can read more about that here:
http://meloukhia.net/2009/10/ou-2.html
I also posted on this today, though I took a different tack:
http://deeplyproblematic.blogspot.com/2010/05/sarah-palin-is-feminist-actually.html
Can one be a real feminist and simultaneously be for the cirminalization of abortion?
@charlemagne: Personally, I don’t think so, although I do think you can be a feminist and believe abortion is wrong. If you were a feminist who felt that way and wanted to reduce the number of abortions not by criminalization but by fighting rape culture, advocating for better contraception, better sex ed, better support for women and children, and doing things that are actually beneficial to women, I think you could make a case for being feminist and anti-abortion.
But being pro-criminalization? No, becasue that only hurts women (and, potentially, our male allies).
I have realized in the context of Sarah Palin that because I am a feminist, I accept that it is neither my job nor my right to police the choices of other women, including what they call themselves. I will continue to be against Sarah Palin’s policies and I will continue to tell everyone who will listen why, but how can we tell Palin that she cannot call herself a feminist; that she has no right to do so? Who am I to tell another person what rights they have? I am against her ideas that she can regulate my rights, as a matter of fact.
My feminism has room for everyone, even those who do not have room for me, and I am actually pleased that feminism is to a point once again in the cultural mindset where conservative women like Palin feel comfortable claiming it without censure.
I feel like everyone would be quite alright just telling Palin, “Nope, you’re not a feminist. Here’s all the evidence: …” if we didn’t spend so much time in our heads and in our lives telling other women “No, I promise, you ARE a feminist, even if you’ve never identified with the word!” It feels contradictory, even if it’s not.
But Palin isn’t a feminist. What she is is a woman. And any time a person tries to explain to me what makes her a feminist (female politician, working mom … um, I think that’s it), what they’re really saying is “She’s a woman, and if you don’t embrace her then you don’t really want to make things better for women, because she’s a woman, you see! Which is a load of crap. She charged rape survivors to pay for their own police investigations; opposes reproductive autonomy; walked away from her job as governor (where she ostensibly could’ve done real good for women, not that she would have) to make more money on teevee; and spends the vast majority of her time either actively trying to bring about the right-wing Dream Race War or taking money from, giving speeches for, chumming around with, and lionizing those who are trying to bring it about. Words have meaning. Actions define character. In no sense is Palin a feminist. Fin.
@xenu01: how can we tell Palin that she cannot call herself a feminist; that she has no right to do so
She has the right to do so. She has the right to call herself whatever she wants. That doesn’t mean she’s correct.
I also believe Sarah Palin has the right to call herself a liberal, a Buddhist or a space alien if she chooses, but that doesn’t actually make her one.
To me the point is less thumbs-up or thumbs-down, she is or isn’t a feminist, and more: feminism isn’t a “lifestyle,” and one might want to actively combat it being reduced to such.
Also, Adrienne: I’m not sure that my argument here is what you think it is. I’m actually fairly certain that women who don’t believe other women deserve to make their own choices about their bodies are gonna run up against obstacles if they claim themselves to be feminists?
[...] to all sorts of blog posts about whether Sarah Palin is a feminist, should you be so inclined: Pilgrim Soul, Kate [...]
I think that conversation would be a good one for all the rest of us who call ourselves feminist – or don’t. What does it mean, what SHOULD it mean? Do we really live our lives like we should? Or do we secretly think we are better, or more right, etc. I know I fall into those traps – I think everyone does at some point or another. Usually I catch myself, but would I know if I didn’t? Paying attention is important, if for no other reason than to say ‘yes, we’ve thought about this, and this is what it means’.
I’m being simplistic, or reductionist, or something, but… I think of a feminist as person who wants (strives for maybe) full equality for women including control and freedom over all reproductive aspects of their lives.
I notice two things: other people share that definition, and (possibly different) people misapply labels, all kinds of labels, all the time.
So if someone says, “I am a conservative feminist”, I have certain doubts. Because I don’t see how one can want to “conserve” much of the status quo, and still expect full equality for women.
Which boils down to this reduction: Sarah Palin and others may say they’re feminists, but I might say I’m the pope. I think it’s useful to point out the inconsistencies. I’m not with s.e. smith on this one, I’m more with PS.
Kate
I stopped calling myself a feminist recently — my entire relationship to the movement(s) consists of posting sarcastic blog comments. I don’t even blog about feminism myself (or about anything, recently) and I don’t want to cheapen the term by applying it to someone as uninvolved as myself.
[...] to all sorts of blog posts about whether Sarah Palin is a feminist, should you be so inclined: Pilgrim Soul, Kate Harding. Categories: Matters Political Tags: barack obama, linkery, nouning, our [...]