Did Sarah Palin damage the feminist movement in American politics?

[armyowalgreens]

My answer is a solid yes. I think more people will be weary of a female candidate in the future because of Palin.

I'm not saying it's right. But it seems like it could be another consequence of Sarah Palin.

What do you guys think?

[realisticphish]

1. Interesting

I would venture to say that it didn't hurt it in terms of the people who already were fine with female political candidates.

And it didn't change anything with misogynists.

The question is whether it changed the attitudes of the fence sitters. That would be an interesting poll :shrug:

[omega minimo]

2. "More people" as in bigots?

Why would that be the consequence based on one individual?

[xchrom]

3. feminists have dealt with worse than palin. nt

[rwheeler31]

4. Palin is a mess,

She will not hurt women.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

5. Nope. I don't consider any right wingnut to be a feminist.

I consider right wingnut females to be either prostitutes or idiots. I can't fathom a woman supporting an anti-woman ideology, even if it does make her rich as hell because she gets paid for talking sh*t.

[armyowalgreens]

7. I don't believe I ever called Palin a feminist.

In fact, I suggested quite the opposite.

[bliss_eternal]

18. (sigh)

dude, take an english class or something. if you create a poll asking if someone "damaged" something, it infers they were in some way related to the thing they "damaged."

duh.

:eyes: if you don't know the meaning behind stuff you ask, don't waste people's time w/stuff like this. it's really irritating.

[armyowalgreens]

23. Seriously? Come on now...

This is getting ridiculous.

Palin identified herself as a feminist when in reality she was a pseudo feminist. But it really doesn't matter whether or not people identified her as a member of the feminist movement. It matters how her actions affected the feminist movement.

You don't seem like a very nice person. I'd suggest you change the way you talk to people in the future.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

20. true nt

[MollieBradford]

30. huh?

what anti women ideology does she support?
And your idea of feminism seems to reduce women to nothing but Uteri. Why is that? Why don't all women deserve to be defended and given power over their lives?

[tekisui]

33. what anti women ideology does she support?

A woman's right to choose, for one. There are others, but that is enough.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

34. Many. For starters, the one that preaches to girls about abstinence,

the one that tries to pass laws to control women's bodies, and many more. She's a hypocrite. She doesn't live what she preaches. And she's not a feminist. She's just a lizard.

[Maru Kitteh]

42. Say-ruh pimps her children like a madam in a Thai brothel.

And BTW: Why do all of you disable your profiles? Did they have a thread about it over there or something?

It's going to be so much fun watching your clay idol gnaw her own stiletto-heeled foot off, desperately clawing and scratching to work her way out the trap of her own making. What a fucking idiot she is, and what a miserable bunch of lily-white mouth-breathing fools she has following her.

Maybe she'll make it official, start a cult and set herself and her zombies out on an ice flow to go meet Jesus in the aurora borealis.

[Buzz Clik]

6. Even though Sarah Palin was the anti-feminist, she did damage because...

... she makes it more difficult to take women seriously as presidential candidates.

[Bill McBlueState]

48. how so?

She made it more difficult to take Sarah Palin seriously as a presidential candidate, but I haven't seen any evidence that people are extrapolating from Sarah Palin to all women.

[Salviati]

8. No, but she did damage the idiot movement...

Which is good, we can't afford another shrub in office.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Somehow I just don't connect feminism with Palin in my mind

Palin's problem and her failure wasn't because she was a woman. I don't think that when a woman candidate comes to mind in the future, Sarah Palin's image will resonate. I don't think she's ruined it for women candidates of the future as much as she's ruined it for right wing ideologues. Palin was sent packing because she was an uneducated, unprepared, idiotic extremist, not because she was a woman. In that same campaign season, Hillary Clinton gave a very good account of herself and nearly won the Democratic candidacy. I think in four years to eight years, Hillary Clinton will be remembered as having been a positive model for feminism, while Palin will be largely forgotten.

I think also that an important factor is that the anti-feminists, the asshole right wing extremist party made up Palin's base of support. The ones who are most likely to support the feminist movement, the Democrats, did not dislike Palin because she was a woman. They disliked her ideas and her lack of education on any issue. The only ones who are likely to be turned off by a female candidate are the right wing nuts, who might blame Palin for losing. In any case, those are the people who never supported feminism to begin with.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

36. She isn't a feminist. She support anti-feminist ideology, so how is that feminist, right?

That's what I keep telling people who say she's a feminist.

It's like Phyllis Schlafly, who kept promoting women staying home and being submissive to their husbands, and housewives. Meanwhile, OLD PHYLLIS was doing the talk circuit, publishing, and living the wild feminist life.

That's not being a feminist. That's being a (pardon my French) turd.

[bliss_eternal]

10. i'd have to consider her a feminist...

...for her to "damage the movement", and i don't consider her one.

just a reincarnation of phyllis s. :eyes:

[armyowalgreens]

11. That isn't true. The feminist movement has to deal with anti-feminists

that get in their way. And Palin could have influenced the anti-feminist movement and strengthened it.


Palin doesn't have to be a feminist in order to damage the movement.

[bliss_eternal]

14. why are you posing a question...

you already have an answer for? :eyes:

generally, polls are to gauge how "others" feel about an issue.
if the people taking polls already have "an opinion", and are going to criticize or disagree with those sharing their opinion, what is the point...exactly? besides wasting my time and energy. :eyes:

given your prior comments in threads about women and choice, forgive me if i don't consider you an "expert" on feminism. :spray:

[armyowalgreens]

19. You seem to think that only feminists can damage the feminist movement...

Which is weird. If only feminists can damage the movement, who are they fighting against?

It's an illogical position to hold.

My poll had nothing to do with whether Palin was a feminist or not. So my answer to your question is not an answer to my OP. But nice try.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

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[TheBigotBasher]

12. She did not

but her faux feminists like Amy Siskind and the PUMA movement are doing everything they possibly can to destroy legitimate feminist groups.

[JI7]

13. this is fucked up, people would easily have voted for Hillary over McCain

and would do so in the future also. even without Palin on the ticket and 2 men on the republican ticket.

[PDJane]

15. yes, she did.

But she had the help of Michelle Bachmann and others.

[slackmaster]

16. Other

K&U

This is a stupid poll. Sarah Palin is irrelevant.

:kick:

[baldguy]

17. Faux-feminism

She might oppose reproductive rights, have policies that punish rape victims instead of their attackers, oppose pay parity, programs that help women get education & training for better jobs, and of course deny the need for any sort of welfare or public assistance - -

But she's a WOMAN! SEE! So she must be a "feminist"!

Now, why can't you be a feminist like her? Conservative feminists are the only real feminists!

[Sarah Ibarruri]

40. That's exactly what right wing women do: promote fake feminism

The fake feminism being promoted by right wingerism in this country is not feminism at all, even tho the women promoting it might be feminists in theory by virtue of being independent. It's like a Jewish person being in favor of Nazis, or a slave being in favor of plantation owners and slavery laws. It's not feminism at all, it's just anti-feminism being spread by these women in exchange for $$$$.

[Ewellian]

22. No.

Why would anyone be wary of voting for a female candidate because Palin was unqualified? She doesn't represent all women. That's like me saying I would never vote for another male for president because George W Bush was such a disaster.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. I think Americans will think twice about putting another chimpanzee in office

[PSzymeczek]

26. I don't believe she's a true feminist.

You betcha.

[rwheeler31]

27. Well like or hate her they try real hard to keep her in the news.

I see a nobody but some guys seem to like her.

[RandySF]

28. No

Hillary's primary voters, especially women, did not fall for McCain's ply of choosing Palin. As a matter of fact, it may have made many LESS likely to vote for McCain.

[lumberjack_jeff]

29. No.... and yes.

No, it's a big demonstration that men are women are equal in their capacity to be idiots.
But yes, it demonstrates that women aren't inherently superior.

So, I guess it depends on which definition of feminism you use.

It won't make me stop supporting Chris Gregoire, Hillary Clinton or Patty Murray. Nor will it change my mind that Maria Cantwell needs to find a new gig.

So if you simply mean it makes it harder for conscientious and hardworking women to obtain elective office, I say no.

[pampango]

31. My wife was a fervent Hillary supporter. While she's always been a Democrat,

she was so disappointed that Hillary did not get the nomination that, when Palin was introduced and before much was known about her, she gave Palin some support for a day or two. As more came out about her background and she spoke for herself on the national stage, my wife became Palin's biggest detractor, spending hours surfing every negative story about her.

I don't know if Palin really damaged the feminist movement, but I know that the next female candidate won't get such quick support from my wife, but rather "reserved" support until more is known about her. Maybe that's the way it should be. I don't know if that represents real "damage" to the feminist movement but, at least in our house, more of a maturing process. My wife (and I) still wants a female president really, really badly, but has a few upfront caveats now that weren't foremost in her mind in early 2008.

[Vinca]

32. Absolutely and I was just thinking about this yesterday.

It's not the fact she's a dim bulb beauty queen, it's the fact she quit. That screams "women are weak and can't take it." I'm sure the fundies love weak women, but I find it disgusting.

[livetohike]

35. Yes. Her performance during her one and only debate with Joe

Biden was despicable, demeaning and a slap in the face to all serious women in politics and elsewhere. She did everything except expose a boob.

[EFerrari]

37. Sarah Palin is a walking ad for feminism and a reminder to check

your hand brake.

[reflection]

38. I don't think most people would equate Palin

with a traditional feminist. Mostly she was trading on her looks, which is not what feminism is about. I'd say Palin damaged Palin, McCain, and the GOP in general, but not feminism.

[DevonRex]

39. Hell no. She's the best example of what happens when women don't

pursue their hopes and dreams to the fullest. She's the poster child of a woman who uses sexuality to get ahead rather than education and accomplishment. She's stupid and she's a quitter.

We should USE her to say "This is what happens when you allow conservatives to dictate what a woman is and should be."

[seabeyond]

41. she used sex instead have brains... and failed. thank the lord. amen. n/t

[Maru Kitteh]

43. LOOK! You caught one! ----->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6151560&mesg_id=6152733

[Bluerthanblue]

44. In my view- Sarah Palin damaged women in general.

By playing on her femininity when it was to her advantage, and being outraged when people mentioned anything having to do with her being female.

You can be a smart, effective, knowledgeable person, AND be a woman. You can be placed in a position of authority and control and calmly and rationally make decisions that are appropriate, AND be a woman. You can make mistakes, and have your family's personal struggles aired in public, AND be a woman- but when you then whine and complain that you are unfairly treated solely because you are a woman, you prove yourself a fool.

in this woman's opinion.

[redqueen]

45. I think she most definitely did, yes.

By so callously bringing her looks into it, and using overt sexuality to get ahead, I don't know that there's any way to say she had anything other than a negative effect.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

46. Feminism in the UK survived Thatcher just fine.

The basic idea of feminism is gender equality. God-awful female candidates to go with the god-awful male ones reinforces that, it doesn't undermine it.

[CBHagman]

47. Other. The feminist movement goes on...

...but it's A) an insult to hard-working women everywhere that John McCain picked Sarah Palin as a running mate when she was so obviously out of her depth and B) Sarah Palin's shown her true colors by running away and blaming everyone else.

[justiceischeap]

49. IMHO, the Christian Fundamentalist movement has done that

It seems more and more women are reverting to letting the man tell them what to do based on Biblical teachings. That only paved the way for Palin. I think what she did do, was make Republican women look bad.