The American Spectator : Fierce, Anti-Feminist, and In Your Face

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Fierce, Anti-Feminist, and In Your Face

By Robert Stacy McCain on 4.4.11 @ 6:09AM

Does Sarah Palin owe anything to the "Women's Movement"?

We could probably blame it all on Shelly Mandell. It was at a Sarah Palin campaign rally on October 4, 2008, that Mandell -- president of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) -- endorsed the Republican and proclaimed to a cheering crowd: "America, this is what a feminist looks like!"

Mandell's speech at the rally in Carson, California, produced an immediate and decisive backlash. The president of the California state NOW organization disavowed Mandell's endorsement, saying that it was "apparently intended to mislead the public" because NOW had in fact endorsed the Democratic ticket. "John McCain and Sarah Palin oppose many of the rights and freedoms we have fought for throughout NOW's 42 years," California NOW president Patty Bellasalma said in an official statement, "and we will not be pushed back to the days of back-alley abortions, forced pregnancies, and pay discrimination without remedy." Bellasalma's rebuke to Mandell encapsulated what most conservatives would consider a workable definition of "feminist" -- a liberal woman who habitually votes for Democrats.

Such a definition obviously excludes Sarah Palin from the ranks of feminists. However, the declarations of NOW officials -- including the national organization's president, Kim Gandy, who denounced Palin as "a woman who opposes women's rights" -- have not prevented some of Palin's admirers from insisting that the former Alaska governor is in some sense a feminist. Last month, Canadian columnist Barbara Kay stirred the pot with a pro-Palin column that opened with this historical summary: "The feminist revolution began as a necessary reform movement, but unfortunately evolved into a Marxism-imbued, revolutionary one. Second-wave feminism's focus soon shifted from women's equal rights (which are limited to those defined by law) to women's interests (which are limitless), as perceived through a victim's lens." Regardless of Kay's larger intent -- praising Palin as a pro-life "Mama Grizzly" -- her thumbnail history of the "feminist revolution" is exactly backwards. Rather than beginning with sensible reformers, the so-called "second-wave" feminism of the 1960s was from its very outset rooted in the very Marxism to which Kay incorrectly says it "unfortunately evolved."

If modern feminism has a Founding Mother, it would be the late Betty Friedan, whose 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is widely regarded as the movement's charter and who, in 1966, co-founded NOW. For decades, Friedan portrayed herself as a typical housewife who in 1959 had stumbled onto a troubling discovery. "Gradually I came to realize that the problem that has no name was shared by countless women in America," Friedan wrote of the "quiet desperation" experienced by her fellow women whose suburban lifestyle she condemned as a "comfortable concentration camp."

The author who claimed American women were suffering from oppression analogous to the Holocaust was hardly a typical housewife herself. Friedan was in fact a former member of the Young Communist League who under her maiden name Betty Goldstein had worked for the Federated Press (a news service that "employed many Communist editors and correspondents," as Time magazine noted in 1956) and for the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, one of 11 communist-dominated unions ejected from the CIO in 1949-50. Friedan's Stalinist past, which spanned more than a decade, was carefully concealed for more than three decades until it was revealed in a sympathetic 1998 biography written by a professor at her alma mater, Smith College.

Despite her own hidden radical history, Friedan's brand of feminism was too establishment-oriented for younger activists of the 1960s New Left, who adapted the protest tactics and revolutionary rhetoric of the anti-Vietnam War movement for what they called "women's liberation." It was these younger radicals who famously protested the 1968 Miss America pageant (although contrary to legend they did not burn their brassieres, if only because the police permit for their protest prohibited fires on the boardwalk in Atlantic City, N.J.). One of the founding organizations of the women's liberation movement, New York Radical Women, declared in a 1968 statement of its principles: "We regard our feelings as our most important source of political understanding. We see the key to our liberation in our collective wisdom and our collective strength." One of the movement's leaders, Ti-Grace Atkinson, declared to a Life magazine reporter in 1969: "Marriage means rape and lifelong slavery.… We reject marriage both in theory and in practice.… Love has to be destroyed. It's an illusion.… It may be that sex is a neurotic manifestation of oppression. It's like a mass psychosis." Also in 1969, New York magazine published an article that connected feminism to the cutting edge of what Tom Wolfe subsequently labeled "radical chic." That 2,200-word article, entitled "After Black Power, Women's Liberation," was written by Gloria Steinem.

From the Old Left Stalinism of Friedan's hidden past to the New Left militancy of women's liberation, then, 1960s "second-wave" feminism was firmly rooted in a familiar left-wing politics of grievance. The movement's history is thus at odds with Barbara Kay's assertion that feminism "unfortunately evolved" toward a "Marxism-imbued" radicalism. Yet the meaning of feminism remains very much in dispute, as Mandell's controversial October 2008 attempt to anoint Sarah Palin as a feminist standard-bearer made clear.

Webster's bland dictionary definition of feminism as "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes" or "organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests" is unhelpful in settling such a dispute. For Kim Gandy and other official feminist spokeswomen, legalized abortion is the sine qua non of women's rights, whereas Palin's conservative supporters generally view abortion as a profound wrong. Many of these pro-life Mama Grizzlies, however, still wish to describe Palin as a "feminist" not so much because of the word's definition (either by Webster's or by NOW), but rather because of the informal connotations it has acquired over the years. To be a "feminist" in this informal sense of the word is to be an intelligent, independent, outspoken, and politically active woman.

Such a non-partisan and non-ideological understanding of what it means to be a feminist quite naturally enrages the left-wing women who claim proprietorship over the label. It also draws dignified protests from an intelligent, independent, outspoken and politically active woman named Phyllis Schlafly. One of the most influential women in American political history, Schlafly led the successful movement to prevent ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, much to the dismay of Friedan, Steinem and other feminists who had supported the ERA. At age 86, Schlafly is still making news and has recently published her 22nd book, The Flipside of Feminism, co-authored with her niece, Susan Venker. And as Mrs. Venker made clear in an interview last month, her aunt has no interest in advancing Friedan and Steinem's left-wing movement: "When I originally went to Phyllis to ask her if she'd be interested in doing this project, she had one stipulation -- that the book completely condemn feminism. If it were to be any other way, she wasn't interested."

As Michelle Malkin once observed, "If Phyllis Schlafly were a liberal, she'd already have buildings and holidays named after her.… But because she is an unapologetic and outspoken conservative, she is demonized instead of lionized." Sarah Palin has certainly experienced her share of the hateful demonization that liberal feminists reserve for conservative women. It is their rejection of the Left's grievance-mongering, their refusal to credit their own successes to an identity-politics movement, which makes conservative women an especial target of feminist leaders. Schlafly cheerfully mocks their collectivist sensibilities.

"Feminists frequently ask me, am I not grateful for all the opportunities that feminism has created for me," she said in a video interview to promote the new book. "That's ridiculous, because I made my way long before the feminist movement got started.… And then I published my first book, A Choice Not an Echo, in 1964 and sold 3 million copies right out of my garage. I didn't need the feminists to do that." No, she didn't need them -- and they'll never forgive her for it, either. Nor are the feminists ever likely to forgive Sarah Palin, who probably needs them even less than Schlafly did.

About the Author

Robert Stacy McCain is co-author (with Lynn Vincent) of Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party (Nelson Current). He blogs at The Other McCain.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (121) | Leave a comment

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 4.4.11 @ 6:53AM

The entire movement for women's rights is just another collectivist movement in the sense the government can't give one group special rights without taking that right from someone else.

That also seems to escape Sarah Palin. Maybe she was in a giddy mood. Perhaps she was trying to show some political savvy in the wake of Geraldine Ferraro's death.

Here are but a few comments Sarah Palin made in interviews in reference to Geraldine Ferraro:

“Across the political spectrum, all of us have the utmost respect for Geraldine Ferraro. She understood what she had to bust through to get to where she was….she was under great scrutiny…and was attacked as she rose. She handled it all with grace and dignity,” Gov. Palin said.

When asked if Gov. Palin considered Ferraro a role model for young women to follow, she said, “absolutely.” Gov. Palin had called her daughter Bristol to discuss Ferraro. Ferraro believed in work ethic and Gov. Palin noted that Ferraro was Providentially born on Women’s Equality Day."

Now, you have to consider that only the left is usually concerned about whether someone is a woman or man or a "victim of their race." The left is the group who pounds on this notion that because a woman was a candidate it was somehow something of a breakthrough.

But here was Sarah Palin commenting on this notion and endorsing it in the strongest terms.

If I vote for a candidate I doubt if one of the top ten reasons was "she was a woman" or I would further add that no candidate will list in their top ten reasons, "Vote for me because I'm a woman."

In fact, is it not possible that the public rejected the Mondale-Ferraro ticket because so many reporters and so many from the left kept harping on the fact she was a woman?

A certain form of insanity has gripped our society where the government now decides who are the winners and losers based on race and gender.

It's one of the prime reasons why so many jobs continue to flee overseas to avoid a Wal-Mart situation where a group of over paid hags get together and sue "because they are not getting promotions they deserve based on their gender."

F.A. Hayek predicted this exact scenario when he stated that factions would be fighting to curry favor with the government, and the recipients of sexual favors through the government fight to hold onto those false notions, even alleged conservatives.

In essence, feminism is just another form of socialism, and those who embrace it, socialists.

All of the great advances in our society occurred when individuals were allowed to follow through on their individuality. The greatest irony of socialism is the lack of faith in the individual, hence the "women's movement."

When Palin notes someone as a pioneer in a movement, what she is really noting is that she buys into the feminist model, and in that sense she's no Schlafly.

Sheila| 4.4.11 @ 10:45AM

Good comment. Palin's rote lip service to feminism totally turns me off - I'm ardently anti-feminist. Women never really should have gotten the vote - they're generally too emotional and irrational and have feminized this nation more rapidly towards its death. (And yes, I would gladly give up my right to vote if the franchise could again be restricted to White male property owners.) Decline and fall.

Slingshot| 4.4.11 @ 1:22PM

I agree. I study politics assiduously and, after careful study, pick a candidate to vote for based on his adherence to the Constitution and his record of support for it.

And then my vote is canceled out by my mother's, who votes for his opposition because "he has a nice smile," or "I like the sound of his voice (what the voice says is irrelevant), or she rejects my choice because "his eyes are not quite right," or "he has a smirk." Women's built-in insecurities also lead them to substitute government for husbands and to vote overwhelmingly for the big-government nanny state.

Ann Coulter has also famously said that she'd give up her vote if other women would, because women's votes do so much damage to the Republic. She notes, correctly, that the Democratic Party, which is destroying our country, could not exist without the votes of women.

In short, the feminization of our country is its downfall. And some wise women, like Sheila and Coulter, recognize it.

But, the genie is out of the bottle now.

ACynic| 4.4.11 @ 5:21PM

Sorry to bust your bubble, but I know several guys who vote a certain way and when questioned about their choices, it is totally obvious they are absolutely clueless. Yes , also my mother-in-law is this way as well.
Being clueless or stupid is gender neutral; just look at all the union goons demonstrating in Wisconsin - at least half were guys. Most blue-collar union members are men; they consistently vote for union leaders who are thugs, crooks and whose policies help destroy industries and jobs.
Marx, Hitler, Stalin, Kim Jong, Castro , etc., - all men. FDR, Wilson, Carter, Obama - all men.
I need not go on.

BackToBasics| 4.4.11 @ 9:41PM

I rememeber exit polling has showing that in all the elections I have followed closely, since 1976, that Republicans get the plurality of men's votes. Does this exit polling extrapolate to the same results if all votes are included. I do not know. But it would surprise me if it were not true.

Nunya| 4.4.11 @ 2:15PM

Sheila, I agree with the exception of "White" property owners. Any male who owned property should be allowed to vote.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 2:18PM

Ahh, you're White Nationalism shines through again, Sheila. But many here don't mind it, do they?
As long as you're for "fiscal Conservatives" like Ron Paul with their anti-war and anti-Israel agendas.

Clint/Tim* would be mighty proud of you.

But God isn't.

Clint| 4.4.11 @ 7:31PM

You're A Slandering Liar Screwball Israel Firster Apocalyptic Crank Lady Victor-Margie.

Get Bent, Joisey White Trash Bigot Broad.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 11:32AM

Get over Palin. SHE choose to run with the RINO McCain, supported him in his Senatorial run and is not the brightest bulb on the tree. She also seems to be living the unchristian lifestyle where momma brings home the bacon and the family lives large on the lake in Alaska. It is in fact fair to ask how she is taking care of her children running all over the country after QUITTING AS GOVERNOR AND WRITING HER "BOOKS". IF that sounds like a troglodyte so be it , we conservatives see the reality between men and women and we do not try to rationalize away differences such as women have a uterus and are physically weaker than men. And of course everyone knows the risk of having a down syndrome baby after the age of 40, doesn't she? SHE IS SIMPLY AN OPPORTUNIST AND WE NEED TO WAKE UP. We conservatives need true Constitutionally Limited Republic advocates not pop hero ladies who vacillate in their foundational views. BTW her comments on Ferraro were not only pandering but completely unfactual. Ferraro was just another democratic loser, shrill, arrogant, ineffectual and irrelevant. If Palin is elected President we would be lead by the worst kind of emotional vacillation, God forbid but she seems to be a glowing example of female emotionality which was probably enhanced by her relationship with McCain. :)

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.4.11 @ 12:45PM

When McCain called to ask her to run for V.P. she should have said no? Are you daft? Then she supported him for senate...one might call that loyalty! "QUITTING AS GOVERNOR" Sell that B.S. somewhere else, like the daily kos. The folks here know she was forced to resign because a pack of liberal puke a-holes took advantage of a loophole in state law and sued her out of office. Lastly, you accuse her of having a baby instead of abortion as a calculated political move? Pathetic and disgusting. Your criticism of Palin is weak. Go masquerade as a conservative somewhere else!

Strudwick Wickerwire| 4.4.11 @ 1:16PM

Now if only there could be a way to leave bruises after such a deserved beat-down!!!

Bravo, Bravo!!!

Demand Obuckethead's resignation, yesterday!!!

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:01PM

I never said have an abortion, you jumped to that conclusion yourself. But having a child can be prevented.

Every Governor I know has received their share of law suits and it did not deter them from staying in office.

Loyalty? To a fault and to a RINO.

She did not have to jump at the chance to run with McCain and any self respecting conservative could have and would have said no thank you.
The readers of this site are also aware of the fact that McCain is and has been 0ne of the most destructive RINOs in the party and the most self absorbed; it does not take a genius to figure that out.

She is in fact an opportunitst. Would she be the activist she is if not for the kind of money she is getting from her populism? No give me an old fashioned conservative who has bloodied their nose while in office. Regan never quit he was persistent and we need that kind of conservatism again - she aint it. The libs just castigate her because she is a GOP woman when if you really get to know her there are so many legitimate reasons not to prefer her.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 5:19PM

"Any self-respecting conservative.."

Depends on your definition of conservative.

You probably prefer Ron Paul for President.

Clint| 4.4.11 @ 7:37PM

Uh Oh!
(Faithful) Apocalyptic Crank Lady Israel Firster Eight Ball Victor-Margie Is In The Building.

Tell us about The Serial Traitor to Conservatism John McCain and McCain- Lieberman, McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Feingold, Gang of 14, Opposing Bush 2001 & 2003 Tax Cuts, Tarp.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.4.11 @ 6:01PM

"She did not have to jump at the chance to run with McCain and any self respecting conservative could have and would have said no thank you."

... If you really believe this, I'm sorry for you. Name three people in U.S. history that turned down a VP opportunity, good luck.

"Would she be the activist she is if not for the kind of money she is getting from her populism?"

Why wouldn't she? It's her activism that's made her popular, not the other way around.

You shout RINO RINO RINO then chastise her for complete B.S. ie: choosing to be a mother. If Palin is a RINO everybody is a RINO. How about backing up your completely opposite view with some facts? What, specifically, makes her a RINO?

"She is in fact an opportunitst."

Opportunist is a vague label you can apply to ANY politician. Who ignores opportunity? (Losers do.)

"Every Governor I know has received their share of law suits and it did not deter them from staying in office."

Total obfuscation and lies. Name ONE governor who faced half the number of lawsuits and was required by state law to pay for their own legal defense. I won't hold my breath.

Like I said, peddle your manure over at the KOS they can't tell the difference.

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 3:48PM

Lady, if you're a conservative, then I'm the Queen of England. Your incoherent rants against Gov. Palin sound more like Brooks and vtwin.
Your ignorance of the circumstances surrounding your litney of pet peeves against Gov.Palin ranks right up there with the moronic rants usually associated with the aforementioned Brooks and vtwin.
So, she's not only unChristian, she's not an advocate for limited Contitutional government, either, according to you.
I don't know what planet you've been living on, but these observations truly take the cake. You belong on the mother ship with Farrakan.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:23PM

Just stating the facts. It pays to understand the facts and not just follow as a sycophantic follower. Back in 1990 when some of us were stating the obvious that McCain was a RINO I heard the same response as I now hear when we call Palin the same and when we conservatives were saying watch out for the RINO George "W" we were also derided. We were right then and I hope we are wrong now. Study her history carefully before assuming I am some kind of Brooks ( that hurt :) as I detest that little squishy mind of his). Also unbeknownst to you I am male. The left is afraid of Palin because she is a populist and that scares them.

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 6:20PM

You and facts are complete strangers, sir. Please state your "facts" to demonstrate her "unChristian" life style. Is a working mother now the defination of "unChristian"?
"Every governor has received their share of lawsuits", really? I was an executive assistant to an Attorney General for 5 years, and I never saw one, other than as mentioned that the gov. must be named by statute. Can you name me one with more than one, and not pro forma litigation that names the governor by statute?
How many governors have had a barrage of trumped up ethics complaints filed against them by the dozens as did Gov. Palin? Including one because she wore a jacket to some dog sled race that had a commercial logo on it, like Nike.
You sir are no Republican and certainly no conservative. We can walk upright and make sense at the same time, which unfortunately for you, is beyond your abilities.

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 6:26PM

P.S. I forgot to mention that your sly backhanded comment that " a child can be prevented" is not so subtle code that she should have aborted Trig when she knew he had Down Syndrome. Is that how you truly feel?
You are sickening, and I'll have no further discussions with you.

darcy| 4.4.11 @ 7:07PM

I expect better from you, Anthony. I've been following your comments for some months now, and I find that I generally agree with you, sometimes enthusiastically.

But it appears here that mames has hit a raw nerve with you, and your striking out at her(?) remarks as you have done are beneath you.

Sarah Palin is a feminist. She could have declined McCain's invitation and stayed on as governor to hone her conservative credentials and gain much need leadership experience -- which is what a true conservative would have done (but then a true conservative would NOT be placing their political career above the needs of her family). Well it was a very bad choice on her part to lick the honey; McCain is the absolute worst of what is wrong with the Republican Party: statism by slow death as opposed to the fast method as engineered by the Democrat criminal politicians the country suffers under the weight of now. She gave away where her true heart's inclination when she allowed the McCain camp to swallow her up. (Now that ba#$t@&d is putting his enormous political clout to use in the AZ senate race to replace Jon Kyl, who is retiring.) If Sarah Palin had conservative gold running in her veins, she would have recognized J. M. as the progressive transnationalist/statist he is and told him: no thank you.

If women politicians want to be thought of as "conservative," they had better not be placing their career goals ahead of raising their children. At the very least, wait until the children are in college before you stampede to make a name for YOURSELF.

And I'm a woman, and I can say what I want on this issue -- being both a mother and a grandmother -- and I've had off and on careers to boot.

Helen's Ready| 4.4.11 @ 7:32PM

"I am Woman, hear me roar!"

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 9:15PM

Sorry to disappoint you darcy, but thanks for the compliments nonetheless. Now why would a sitting governor turn down a chance to run as V.P?
While I share your opinion of McCain, as you know, you damn Palin for doing something any man in her position would not have thought twice about.
Tell me, are you one of the Christie crowd that thinks he should run for president, or does he need to stay home and hone his skills? How about Mr. Rubio? Was Romneys stint as Mass gov.sufficient for you, for him to establish his leadership bona fides?
The good that this woman has accomplished for conservativism since her run has been enormous. She has taken on the LSM and Obozo almost single-handedly and has won each and every time. She has excited the base like none other, other than the great Ronald Reagan.
She gave a cogent assessment on the Middle East as Obozo was picking Ohio State over Duke before his weekend in Rio.
How so called conservatives don't see this is frankly, stunning to me.
This woman obviously touches many nerves in many different people, I take that as a sign this woman is a force to be reckoned with.
Great people create huge reactions.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.4.11 @ 6:26PM

Google "Palin Rino" and the number one hit comes up from the daily kos, who would have thought...

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 7:31PM

I look like a femminist, except more sassy and stunningly beautiful in pink.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 7:56PM

Clint,
ID theft will put you in a striped outfit- so you can eat bread and water..

Lisa| 4.4.11 @ 11:47PM

"SHE IS SIMPLY AN OPPORTUNIST AND WE NEED TO WAKE UP."

And Obama isn't an opportunist? He ran for President because he is a selfless, humble soul who wants only to serve the people? LOL!

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 12:55PM

One might call her a rightwing feminist.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 1:03PM

"Get over Palin."

They wont pay attention, they deep down only care about their own families- that's why they call Obama a "muslim- marxist"; whites can say and do what they want however they think Obama is too uppity, they don't like his high lifestyle-- as if this POTUS ought to eat black eyed peas off paper plates.
It comes down to their thinking whites are prettier and ought to rule. So there is no hope sdave for science if there is real hope.

Karl Lucifer Marx| 4.4.11 @ 1:14PM

You sound just like Reverend Wright, which is what I've suspected.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 2:53PM

George Wallace died for your sins.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:11PM

I don't put myself in your camp. Obama is in fact a progressive Marxists. He is not to uppity he is too unAmerican. True conservatives could not care less if our conservative leaders are blue, black or purple as long as they support the Constitutionally Limited Republic. I am a white guy and would have preferred a CONSERVATIVE black man over this american hating jerk.

My discounting 0f Palin has nothing to do with racism. There are in fact serious (not the Brooks etc. ) conservatives that do not trust Palin for legitimate conservative reasons. Call it a family fight if you will but do not assume we are in your corner. Your corner isn't even in our room.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 5:22PM

"do not assume we are in your corner. Your corner isn't even in our room."

What corner would that be? Haight & Ashbury?

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:25PM

Whatever corner "Rev" Wrights "church" resides.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 5:27PM

No, really?

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 9:14PM

Sowell is too old and befuddled. I read his latest, and it is indicates he is a bit senescent.
But Palin has a chance in 2020: America's heartland is very corny.

Brook Alans| 4.4.11 @ 9:56PM

Thomas Sowell, whose words any idiot can read if they can locate a library, lacks intelligence and honesty, while I, Brook Alans, whose words can also be read if they peruse a few articles on AmSpec, am not only much more intelligent and honest than dumb old Tom Sowell, but am more intelligent and honest even than the anointed one, the Ayatollah Barry Hussein Obama himself.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 10:42PM

I get soooo angry when people refuse to accept Obama as their personal savior. It doesn't matter if he has accomplished anything or not, it's enough that he is there.

Alan Brooks| 4.5.11 @ 1:11AM

And those who do ID theft are even worse, they are too blinded by anger to admit it to themselves.

Alan Brooks| 4.5.11 @ 1:14AM

Thomas Sowell is getting too old and hidebound to even think of running for any office at all. Look at his photo and read his articles and books.

Brook Alans| 4.5.11 @ 12:16PM

Alan Brooks is too much of a stupid liar to even think he has an opinion worth even a moment of consideration. Look at any post in any article at AmSpec at random and read the post.

beebop| 4.4.11 @ 7:54PM

The entire movement for women's rights is just another collectivist movement in the sense the government can't give one group special rights without taking that right from someone else.

I think you neglect to consider that "rights" are collective and expand and grow. You also seem to overlook the possibility that all men were not necessarily created equal to shoulder all responsibilities that comprised the male role at the dawn of feminisim. There was nothing wrong with the concept.

martin j smith| 4.4.11 @ 8:20AM

What feminist movement. You mean the one that turns the other way with regard to Sharia Law, with regard to Obama's placating Muslim leaders who advocate abuse of women. That movement ? Ge the hell out of here. I have no respect for that movement .

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 1:10PM

"with regard to Obama's placating Muslim leaders"

He has no choice. America is not going to be #1 forever; this isn't 1945- we don't rule as we did then. Krushchev was mistaken: Communism wont bury us, foreign capitalism will.

Toxic| 4.4.11 @ 1:39PM

Alan, we could remain #1 forever, however we elect too many people who think like you and enact policies that cause great harm to the economic engine that drives the country.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 7:33PM

I choose to live as a slave, freedom requires choices and decisions I am incapable of making, I welcome america's new islamic overlords.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 7:59PM

"I choose to live as a slave, freedom requires choices and decisions I am incapable of making, I welcome america's new islamic overlords."

Clint,
ID theft will get you with muslim cellmates.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.4.11 @ 6:40PM

""with regard to Obama's placating Muslim leaders"

"He has no choice. ""

Come on Alan, get real. He has no choice but to go along with Muslim leaders who advocate cutting out a girls clitoris to ensure she doesn't enjoy sex, as that's wrong according to their 6th century "religion." He has no choice even if women are routinely raped, beaten and killed? You say some dumb things AB but this really takes the cake.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 9:10PM

You know very well he has to compromise now; we wasted 8 years with Bush and it is catching up to us.
And BTW, Palin wont be president for a long long time.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 10:45PM

I love Obama he can do no wrong. As a Homosexual I could care less about clitoris removal.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.5.11 @ 1:13AM

Your rationale is that we've had a "bad" President for 8 years so now we have to support abuse and murder. Good thinkin' bud.

Alan Brooks| 4.5.11 @ 1:18AM

Clint, ID theft is a form of web terrorism. You are no better than those guys who threatened the Danish cartoonist.

Alan Brooks| 4.5.11 @ 1:20AM

"LiveFreeorDie?" you are from NH? that explains it-- the libertopian state of New Hampshire!

Mimi| 4.4.11 @ 8:28AM

Look, There are strong GOOD women among us and there are "LIBBY'S". Sad but TRUE the Libs are dying out due to their OWN ...choices!!!
I see Sarah as a strong , good women.....NO LIBBY there!!!!!

mames| 4.4.11 @ 11:36AM

No libby there? She is a RINO and once a RINO always a RINO. You cannot explain away her support for McCain not to mention her opportunistic run with that loser. She is in fact like all RINOs at least somewhat a libby. Ya, you bet cha she is.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.4.11 @ 12:47PM

RINO? No. Only in your feeble mind.

LJM| 4.4.11 @ 1:17PM

Palin a RINO? You must be a libby, because you emote rather than think.

Mimi| 4.4.11 @ 4:43PM

Mames didn't you leave for the day? ...You need to go lick your wounds....Sarah is NO Rhino...nope , nada. Go try to get a seat at her rally near your house...There pronably all sold OUT !..She's the best crowd getter in the PACK!
Her Conservative creds are PURE...She has worked harder than anyone to get good candidates elected and yes to improve her knowkedge base by going to Israel. Give her a break! She'll know when and if she's READY to run!!! She should surely get your RESPECT!!!

Frisbee| 4.4.11 @ 9:45PM

She was the best thing about McCain Palin. She probably ran to restore hope to the Repubs. Anyway, she'd be a good president.

Louis Jenkins| 4.4.11 @ 8:29AM

Palin is an individual. She is not a feminist but does occassionally take satisfaction in her being a woman. "Momma Griz" and all that. I believe that has partially allowed her to rise in the political spectrum, but as a conservative, you must stand on your own two feet and not allow a "movement" to be your support. It's a rough life standing near the top, and Palin has that ability. Faith in the individual is what Palin is all about.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 2:21PM

Amen, Louis Jenkins.

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 8:48AM

Ms. Kay has it exactly right. The '60s Women's Movement, so called, was nothing more than Marxism disguised as feminism.
Their hypocrisy was/ is breathtaking and has been a joke for many of us for decades. Unfortunately, the human harm these elitist leftists have done to our culture is no joke. The carnage is unspeakable, all in the name of "me, first, last, always".
As for Gov. Palin, she is the left's worse nightmare, and her very lifestyle makes a mockery of the NOW gang, just as her politics blows Obozo right out of the water.
All the more reason why we don't need some of our own to help with the left's scorched earth attacks on her. We should be shoulder to shoulder with the brave woman.

Anthony| 4.4.11 @ 9:00AM

P.S. Speaking of hypocrisy, Obozo has just announed his ONE BILLION DOLLAR re-election bid. What happened to the left's mantra of "getting the money out of politics"?
If not us, who, if not NOW, when?

Seek| 4.4.11 @ 11:21AM

I could care less about Sarah Palin's lifestyle. I care very much, however, about the fact that she is shrill, parochial and supremely unqualified to hold the nation's highest public office.

George True| 4.4.11 @ 11:37AM

She is at the very least an order of magnitude more qualified than the current holder of the office.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 11:39AM

So is a rock.

Teaghan| 4.4.11 @ 12:18PM

Troll~

LJM| 4.4.11 @ 1:16PM

A rock is a good choice of metaphor for you. Obviously, you are very knowledgeable on rocks, particularly the one between your ears.

Mimi| 4.4.11 @ 4:48PM

You are so RIGHT GEORGE! And without all those charactor defects!

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 6:52PM

"I could care less about Sarah Palin's lifestyle. I care very much, however, about the fact that she is shrill, parochial and supremely unqualified to hold the nation's highest public office."

But there are so many fusty people in the Heartland, and I live there and meet them everyday, that Palin just might win in, say, 2020 or even 2016.

Alan Brooks| 4.4.11 @ 9:19PM

... Thomas Sowell might be dead by 1/20/'13--
what other black guy do you have? no one.

Brook Alans| 4.4.11 @ 9:59PM

Dumb old Tom Sowell is as unintelligent and dishonest as dumb old Walt Williams, says I the intelligent and honest Brook Alans.

Michael L. Hauschild| 4.4.11 @ 8:55AM

I, as a NRA advocate and consultant to the Unicameral, worked with the local NOW organization. They were a far cry from the post-modernistic rabid slant one usually associates with their leadership. They seemed normal, they were from all walks of life and like most people of diminutive stature they were afraid to venture out into a parking lot at night. They, like most of people at the hearings (we are in a Red state) wanted Canceled Carry Permits.
You should have seen the look on the anti-gum members of the Judiciary Committee when, expecting what most would think, the NOW representative demanded that their members be able to protect themselves from the trash that the “revolving door of justice” kept releasing back on the streets. Now I do not know about the upper hierarchy of NOW but this batch of ladies, knew what they wanted and got what they wanted. Palin was not around then, but some of the crowd I got to work with then would have voted for her now.

Steve A| 4.4.11 @ 9:21AM

The mask was ripped off this movement when Clinton played hide the cigar with a young, impressionable, star struck intern & they remained silent. The current movement are marxist / socialist / progressives, nothing more.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 11:37AM

"my little humidor". :)

Appleby| 4.4.11 @ 12:00PM

No, it dropped off when they believed Anita Hill.

I have always been what used to be called a "Liberated woman" although if asked, "Are you liberated?" I always say, "No, I was never captured!" Women of my generation and type were fighting for equality before the law and nothing else: the right to own property, sign leases (my Daddy had to sign the contract for me to rent a flute, for heaven's sake, when I was 2 years out of university and he was retired on disability half a continent away!), have credit cards in our own names, have our testimony recognized in Court (Mama confessed recently that it used to be possible to evade jury duty by stating simply, "I am a woman") and our incomes considered when the family bought a home -- not to mention fighting for the elimination of the "Family Wage" that assumed all men worked to support families and all Girls worked for "pin money" since we were all being supported by men.

I fought most of those battled without the aid of "feminists", who at that time were largely hippie scum or Marching Mommies.

I believe Sarah Palin is a woman like I am; one who saw what she wanted and went after it, and damn the torpedos and the men who stood in the way. You know, the kind of woman that the average working man calls "an emasculating lesbian b***h".

Steve A| 4.4.11 @ 1:09PM

Appleby, That's all well & good, but those battles have been fought & won. You now have what you asked for, equality. Young men let the door hit you in the face, cut you in line & in general, show no respect.

High School girls, thanking their Mom's & Grandma's for the sexual revolution, now routinely post & text graphic photos of themselves to guy "friends" to display the menu.

But you have your own credit card now so it's all OK.

Appleby| 4.4.11 @ 4:03PM

Oh, so because your daughter is a tart and you can't do anything about it, that's MY fault because I wanted to be an astronaut instead of a housewife?

Listen, bubeleh, men have been blaming women for their own sins since Adam pointed his finger and whined, "The woman tempted me." God said then it was rubbish, and it still is. If you don't like the way your daughter behaves, that's YOUR lookout. Not mine.

P.S. My two boys that I helped rear are gentlemen and have been since they could sit up by themselves, and although they are fully grown now, they still wince when they curse. I am the fastest backhand in the West. Ask me about the time I nearly knocked Jacques Villeneuve off his paddock bike at Monza for calling me a dirty name.

darcy| 4.5.11 @ 1:29AM

Eve believed the lie; Adam did not protect her. Same story today. Eve still believes the lie that she can be in all ways like a man (slightly different temptation than was the first). Our culture's in a pickle because women want to be like men, and the pill has given them the freedom (slavery, really) to be just as promiscuous as men have been through the ages, and all that without the "negative" consequences of their immoral lifestyle choices.

That's what women's lib has done for us: pretty much destroyed the family, taught women that children can be killed even, while still in what should be that most protected place of all. And what do you think that does to society's attitude toward the respect for human life?

Is it any wonder that a "minor" thing (by comparison), theft, is practised on such a wide scale by way of our citizens' urging the government on to steal from his neighbor on his behalf: we wouldn't be having such a fiscal crisis as we are if our society hadn't devolved to the point of rewarding thievery on the massive scale that we now see: affordable housing, you know, is just a euphemism to enable Joe to steal from Frank to pay for his mortgage via Fannie and Freddie (just one example of the redistributive thievery we permit because the entire country is awash in immorality).

And I blame the women who believed the lie. Naturally the men are going to be all for THAT particular lie. Women should instead be the civilizing influence in society, their historic role. But no! They've abdicated that, and look at where we are. "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" is a saying worth resurrecting.

Steve A| 4.5.11 @ 9:42AM

Oh, guess I hit a nerve. Funny how you would call out my daughters not having the least freakin clue what you are talking about. Just like I usually interpret from your drivel.

darcy| 4.5.11 @ 1:20PM

I responded to Appleby; your comments I agreed with, that is if I interpreted them as you intended: the women's movement lowered the status of women in many essential ways and set the course for both the coarsening of our culture and the fragmentation of the family -- and by extension, the moral values the family transmits from one generation to another remains impaired. That not ALL families are so impaired does not imply that the nation overall, as we see pushed in our face daily by sleaze media and corrupt politicians, is morally healthy.

It's not. And the women who put self first and family second are largely to blame.

If you can't see that, that's your problem. But do NOT tell me I don't know what I'm talking about; it betrays a condescending attitude that is not at all attractive or proper in a debate.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:31PM

On the contrary I find strong women to be very appealing and often very sexy. After all the mind is the biggest sex organ in the human body. Women with strong minds are never boring, sometimes a pain the the butt, but always worth being around. And my daddy said "never marry a worm of a woman, she will bore you and her mind is incapable of being creative in bed." :)

Appleby| 4.5.11 @ 1:26PM

Besides which, smart women have smart children. Assuming they are smart enough to marry smart men. My youngest sister agreed with you that "feminism has spoiled all [womens'] fun" until she made two disastrous marriages and then she realized what her life would have been like if we had not gained certain rights for her.

P.S. "99% of all chivalry," said Lord Peter Wimsey, "is a selfish desire to have all the fun."

Doctor Right| 4.4.11 @ 9:21AM

Palin owes the mainstream feminist movement nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch.

But unlike them, she has too much class to smear them with the libelous slander they have used to smear her since 2008.

Occam's Tool| 4.4.11 @ 7:31PM

You know, she could be praising Ferraro because she was raised well and would speak "no ill of the dead."

I would be happy to vote for Sarah Palin on the Republican ticket. Good person. Good Conservative.

Vern Crisler| 4.4.11 @ 9:36AM

I think a distinction needs to be made between gender feminists and equity feminists (as Christina Hoff Sommers did). I have no doubt Sarah would be on the equity side.

cyberdog| 4.4.11 @ 11:31AM

I worked in a corporation that was predominately Republican men. This company was also dealing with Affirmative Action issues so they chose to invent leadership positions so to promote women and balance the equality measurement. Years ago this company had one particular “token” female upper level vice-president strategically placed for window dressing of the corporate image. In her favor she was intelligent and a true corporate soldier who followed the dictate meticulously. Her one obvious flaw was that she became an outspoken feminist who never recognized the “special” circumstance that led to her good fortune. During the last election I had the opportunity to discuss politics with her and I was surprised to hear her strong negative reaction towards Sarah Palin. Here was a strong willed Republican feminist who had the chance to support another woman and she couldn’t say one positive thing in her favor. I never saw that one coming.
Now that a couple years have passed I have noticed one predominant trait among these corporate feminists. Many of them express denial of benefiting from entitlement. Sarah Palin doesn’t have that crutch to lean on and these feminists can’t relate to that reality.

Steve A| 4.4.11 @ 2:08PM

Cyberdog, I'm going to lay this out there even though I know I am going to get abused for doing so. As a general rule (I know there are exceptions) women, for lack of better terms, are petty, jealous & resentful of other women. They gossip about their "pals" as soon as they walk away. This alone explains some of the Palin Derangemant Syndrome.

Faithful| 4.4.11 @ 2:35PM

You're absolutely correct about that, Steve. The exception is Christian women who live by the Spirit, and not the flesh.

The flesh is petty, jealous and resentful and displays itself ~ it's called Sin.

And Men have their Sin problems that display themselves. Men apart from the Spirit of God are for the most part out for one thing~ sex, and they are driven by their selfish desires.

We're all sinaholics apart from God's saving Grace.

Only Jesus Christ can change us ~ from the inside out.

"I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing." Jn. 15:5.

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Jn. 3:6.

Mimi| 4.4.11 @ 4:56PM

Heh Margie, Is that you???

Occam's Tool| 4.4.11 @ 7:35PM

I hope so. I certainly hope Margie has returned. What a fine lady.

mnemos| 4.4.11 @ 11:37AM

This article seems to buy into the myth of "the world began in the 1960s". Feminism existed before "The Feminine Mystique" and that is precisely what Kay was talking about. The women's suffrage movement was about feminism and equality. People like Susan B. Anthony were not simple liberals with knee-jerk responses to a political party. Women like Freiden didn't start a movement, they took a movement and turned it into the ideological front that the current leadership of NOW is defending.

Derek Leaberry| 4.4.11 @ 11:45AM

The Republican Party is so afraid of the feminist movement that it is institutionally simpatico with the feminist movement. Any Republicans out there willing to de-emphasize women in the military? Any Republicans out there in support of a tax system which would restore the one-wage earner system that big business and the feminists so despised? As for Sarah Palin, she's no less feminist than other Republican politicians and probably a bit more feminist.

Chalkdust| 4.4.11 @ 11:49AM

I am not surprised Palin would not turn away from a seemingly warm embrace from a local water carrier of NOW. Nor am I surprised of some ill-chosen comments she made about Geraldine Ferraro on the event of her death. Most women in this country are not aware of the human wreckage caused by the so-called feminine movement with it's socialist agenda, added by a cadre of weak-willed and limp-wristed male fellow travelers.

Doctor Right| 4.4.11 @ 11:54AM

""We regard our feelings as our most important source of political understanding."

Doesn't this phrase nicely summarize ALL liberal-left ideologies?

Teaghan| 4.4.11 @ 12:28PM

"How do you FEEL about this?" Not, "What do you THINK about this"
Go Sarah!

Richard Baker| 4.4.11 @ 2:31PM

Palin owes nothing to the "girl" movement. In Alaska, her kind of ruggedly individualistic women are hardly unusual and have been a part of that State's scenery for as long time. Is it just me or do all the "Feminist" leaders, and most feminists, look as if they've been struck with an ugly stick and dress as if they sleep in ditches?

carol| 4.4.11 @ 2:38PM

woman's lib meetings in college in the 60's madison wisc any far left than that oh yes berkley
well they were mostly lesbian man haters and a total turn off to me.
having come from a mother and grandmother both business minded /owners and working women no need for NOW they were living the future. With a father who said my sister and I could "do anything we put our mind to" we did and our daughters do. The government and the society does not create our values. Family does. Be strong conservative women and leave them in the past.

ACynic| 4.4.11 @ 4:07PM

NOW: National Organization of Whiners; the lesbian arm of the CPUSA and ACLU; a collection of bolshevik, pig-ugly, lesbian bull dykes who hate men, and hate non-lesbian women even more. Membership confined to lesbian socialists and communists; residents of the uppper eastside of Manhattan automatically qualify for free lifetime membership , unless you are already a member of the CPUSA or ACLU in which case you will be paid to join our organization of unproductive whiners, losers and serial complainers.
Successful women NEED NOT APPLY.

Seek| 4.4.11 @ 6:11PM

Gee, we're not too big on caricaturing, are we? BTW, I thought former NOW President Patricia Ireland was a mom to three kids.

Rowdy Boots| 4.4.11 @ 4:20PM

My only complaint about Radical Feminists is:

DEY SO DAMN UGLY AND DEY GOT NASTY ATTITUDES AND DEY TALK DIRTY.

You got a problem with that?

lol

ugly stick manufacturers made a fortune in the sixties and seventies

knowsitallsup| 4.4.11 @ 5:02PM

Im probably gonna get a smack down for this BUT The Womens Movement "You can do/be anything you want to do/be" OK. Here goes. Up until that point the brightest and most succesesful women became teachers or nurses. Education was streamlined, disciplined and effective. What about now? Are all those who would have been in Education now spread out in business?And yes, successful and influential. But why become a teacher now? Not for the pay, maybe for the benefits and especially retirement. And well, you need a strong Union to wring those items from the taxpayers. After all, the taxpayers are not at the negotiation table, are they? I know there are great dedicated teachers out there, striving for excellence in our schools. But something is wrong. What quality are we looking for in our teachers today? A degree? A calling? Someone looking for a "sweet deal"? I guess I am just pining for the "old days". I still have all of my class group photos from Elem. School (1961 - 1967) Avg class size? 34 students. And we knew where they kept the Bolo paddle. Pretty good system if you ask me. Sorry if I bruised some toes. Not my intention.

mames| 4.4.11 @ 5:38PM

As my strong wife often says today, "where the hell are the men in the "C" offices? There has been a marxist/feminization of corporate america . Some how those two movements are c0nnected at the hip.

howard lohmuller| 4.4.11 @ 6:08PM

Sarah Palin is a frontier lady. Many ladies and men are unwilling or unable to live up to her standards. So these folk seek to ostracize her. Those folks in the farming community or the military understand her and identify with her. Others in the general population realize her good qualities and want to identify with her. Feminists, civil rights activists, politicos, ethnics, religionists, and other issue oriented folks have a narrower agenda and may or may not need her approval. But she is big enough to accept any friendship if it is offered. What a concept!

caroline| 4.4.11 @ 6:13PM

I have to wonder where all these outraged feminists are when women around the world have their liberties denied and their rights violated every day.

Cynthia| 4.4.11 @ 6:53PM

Caroline, I have wondered that myself. NOW has always baffled me. We need to be teaching our daughters to be strong, independant minded women who are responsible for themselves, not looking to blame someone else for their own choices.

Occam's Tool| 4.4.11 @ 7:35PM

There are more women than men in colleges now. That has NOT improved the dating environment; it has coarsened it. My Liberal sister first noted that at University of Illinois in 1985, telling me, "Occam, the girls outnumber the boys here, so they are much more aggressive in getting relationships started than they would be if the situation was reversed."

Unfortunately, being a Liberal, she could not draw the obvious conclusions.

PolishKnight| 4.4.11 @ 10:46PM

Occam's Tool, this plays right into the hands of the feminists, marxists, and lesbians who want "fresh meat" of confused, alienated, young co-eds to lure away from their bourgeois, heterosexual background.

What has feminism done for most heterosexual women? Given them mo' money? Not really since the money just came out of their husbands' paychecks and deprived them of much desired bragging rights with their friends comparing notes on "whose husband earns more than their wife?" Did it get them independence? To a certain degree, yes. If you're a woman planning on a divorce, or becoming a lesbian, or going on welfare, etc. then feminism has made that "lifestyle" more available. But for the rest of women, it's a wash.

Then there are the victims, the "forgotten men" and even women of feminism, who were thrown in front of the bus to make the feminist, marxist utopia possible: Millions of minority men thrown into jail than the days of Jim Crow. Millions of welfare mothers, and their children, being subsidized by the taxpayer in order to provide a substitute husband for those men in prison. The higher crimes rates by the children of unwed mother households. And a more subtle, but pernicious effect: With more women in the workplace, and fewer men leaving it (other than for the streets or prison), crowded freeways and a society of fast food and daycare and high energy. Have high gas prices and suburban sprawl, hippie granola eater? Thank so-called desegregation and feminism!

The conundrum that conservatives are increasingly facing is that they can't make a society where women are treated as equals while still maintaining the damsel-in-distress status that British society promised women back in the Victorian era.

Ironically, it's similar to the growing voice of reverse suffragists. Feminism has created a society of women who can't make up their minds and choose and instead want the best of everything. High incomes for women compared to men AND marrying up! Cursing like a sailor and sleeping around and STILL being treated like a "lady." Conservatives continue to fan the flames of this thinking, and the feminist agenda in general, by trying to treat women like spoiled children instead of ladies. Ladies, have restraint!

Rush Youngberg| 4.4.11 @ 9:01PM

I have 3 daughters, 2 sons, 1 son-in-law, 2 daughters-in-law: M.D., PhD, F-18 Marine Corps pilot, IT software engineer, IT hardware engineer, executive Price Waterhouse, Psychologist, Psych B.A./RN, Swedish B.S., USN helicopter pilot. Want to a go at matching the letters to the gender. Their parents: MD, PhD. I don't recall feminism ever being discussed. I neglected to mention. They are all Republicans and have sharpshooter awards in long and short guns.

Lisa| 4.5.11 @ 12:00AM

The fact of the matter is that women in every civilization have always participation in their own subjugation. Female circumcision would end tomorrow if mothers refused to allow their daughters to be butchered. The backlash against Palin is yet another example of women (being egged on by men, of course) trying to destroy one of their own; they've been doing it for thousands of years.

LiveFreeOrDie| 4.5.11 @ 1:44AM

Just as simple as that eh? Just opt out? Women are property, mothers just the same. Go ahead and "refuse," you can look forward to a brutal stoning.

The "backlash" against Palin is not some inherent, deep-rooted, psychological desire. It was simply the left-owned medias smear campaign. They couldn't touch McCain so they turned to Sarah. When the VP choice is not typically a primary issue for the media; Palin garnered a ridiculous amount of attention right from the beginning.

Dee See| 4.5.11 @ 5:09AM

---TOOOOOO set-up.

------STILL MORE empty Tavistock Institute
scripted cardboard.

Ken (Old Texican)| 4.5.11 @ 5:49AM

I am still praying earnestly that Sarah chooses to run.
I also think she is hesitating to toss her hat into the ring until she sees if someone she can wholeheartedly support stands up.

If she runs, it won't be ego driven, but rather service responsibility.

wodiej| 4.5.11 @ 5:01PM

One of the many reasons I admire Gov. Palin is because she goes against the grain and chooses to be thought of as a person not as a gender.

Women are partly to blame for their demise as they parade in tight fitting clothes, wearing tons of make up, acting like they don't have a brain in their head and relinquishing any control over to their male counterparts. Then they wonder why society treats them second class.

Act like you have some pride and others will too-male and female.

NaturalBorn Texican| 4.5.11 @ 8:48PM

I agree with Ken.

Wow!!! never saw so many people scared to death of a smart, savy, intelligent, REAL woman.

Sarah doesn't carry the baggage most politicos are shackled with. I think she is a developing threatto any died in the wool liberal, and as I watch her gain knowledge, experience, and savvy, I have agrowing hope for the future.

rdman| 4.5.11 @ 11:37PM

Why the Leftists hate Sarah Palin:

Inner-directed, authentic and genuine, self-acceptance, everything she seems to be. Self-assured, self-generating, energetic, adaptable, physically attractive and popular. Ambitious to improve self, becoming outstanding, a kind of human ideal, embodying widely admired qualities. Others are often motivated to want to be like her in some positive way.

In short, Sarah dazzles!!

Leftists (Democrats, Progressives, Socialists):

Impress others with their spurious superiority, constantly promoting themselves. Narcissistic, with grandiose, inflated notions about themselves and their talents. Arrogance and contempt for others as a defense against feeling envious and jealous of others and their success.

Exploitative and opportunistic, devious and deceptive so that their mistakes and wrongdoings will not be exposed. Untrustworthy, maliciously betraying or sabotaging others to triumph over them. Delusionally vindictive, attempting to ruin others. Relentless, obsessive about destroying whatever reminds them of their own shortcomings and failures.

Crystal Clear… Run SARAH Run!!

If she does not run, write her in... Sarah is our only hope!

PolishKnight| 4.6.11 @ 11:21AM

"I have 3 daughters, 2 sons, 1 son-in-law, 2 daughters-in-law: M.D., PhD, F-18 Marine Corps pilot, IT software engineer, IT hardware engineer, executive Price Waterhouse, Psychologist, Psych B.A./RN, Swedish B.S., USN helicopter pilot."

I was able to get something out of that above list that you may not have expected. Your 2 sons are married and 2 of your daughters are not.

For men, personal accomplishments are a great thing but society expected them to put that secondary to their role as a father which was to provide for their families. Equality for women goes hand in hand with unwed motherhood and ultimately a socialist state to act as a substitute husband.

That's just the way it is... some things will never change...

Reactionary| 4.6.11 @ 11:43AM

Sarah Palin is a feminist.

She has rejected home and hearth, and rearing her children, to become a professional woman conservative.

Real conservatives will reject Palin and what she represents, and they should tell her in no uncertain terms to get back home and take care of her family, which she is neglecting right now to stage a quixotic run for president.

With the exception of Phyllis Schlafly, who was trying to stop something evil, real conservative women aren't in politics. They are minding their children and making a nice home.

JF| 4.7.11 @ 3:18PM

Sarah Palin is closer in nature to the original suffragettes than to today's feminists. I don't discount her "conservative" credentials because she chose to pursue a career; if you read the description of "the virtuous woman" in Proverbs, it's obvious that women were expected to be able to negotiate in business as well as be domestic goddesses. Betty Friedan lived a life of spoiled luxury - it's no wonder SHE was unhappy. Real women - even stay-at-home moms - live lives of more substance than the Stepford mamas Friedan led into oblivion.

Rowdy Boots| 4.10.11 @ 10:51AM

My problem with typical "feminists" is that they always assume superior intelligence, superior rights, superior abilities and would like men to prostrate themselves before them.

These ugly-on-the-inside women are a big turn-off. My wife is a powerful, beautiful, goodhearted woman who runs her own large business--she treats me like a King and I treat here like a Queen.

A "Feminist" could never handle a relationship like ours--it actually is based upon mutual respect for Masculine and Feminine Power and dynamics.

THE FEMS NEED TO CLOSE UP SHOP AND STOP TEACHING YOUNG GIRLS HOW TO MAKE THEMSELVES MISERABLE IN EVERY RELATIONSHIP THEY HAVE AS ADULTS.

PATHETIC!