Sarah Palin and Class Politics
I was having a debate about Sarah Palin with a self-described conservative friend recently, and he remarked how “the left” (leave that indifferentiation aside for the moment) had gone ballistic in its hatred for her. Not more than the vitriol “the right” reserves for Hillary Clinton I suspect, but I feel he has a point.
Much of the criticism is focussed on her inexperience (a question that must be asked of the Obama camp as well, to be sure), but a certain amount has caricatured her as a red-neck, gun totin’, caribou killing hillbilly. Now the red-neck, gun totin’ brigade has not done a lot for US credibility in last eight years, and I reserve my deepest levels of contempt for people who find it necessary to demonstrate their superiority over animals by killing them with high-power, precision targeted weapons, but I wonder whether the same level of condemnation would be aroused if Palin was male? Larvatus Prodeo canvasses a similar question here, and some of the comments are revealing. “Gun totin’ hick” isn’t a good look in relation to US foreign policy, so why weren’t these accusations levelled at George W Bush, or at John McCain?
Predicably, Republicans are squealing “sexism.” Well at least they’ve learned the word: eventually they’ll realise that a woman doesn’t have to be “one of the boys” to be considered for high office. I don’t think all this criticism is sexist, but there is certainly an imbalance in the progressive commentary, and it wouldn’t hurt their credibility if they examined that. I believe there are more than enough reasons to argue against Palin as VP without descending to class-based stereotypes.
It seems that most commentators have respected Palin’s call to leave her daughter alone. For my part, I’d prefer it if they skipped the hick-baiting, and asked questions about how Palin’s policy of abstinence and narrow definitions of sexual morality will address the problems of unwanted pregnancy, when they don’t even work in her own family.
Your Comments
Catriona writes:
Alas, I’m not sure they’ve even learnt the word “sexism,” as opposed to just throwing it around because they know it gets a response. Most of the powerful structures of public life are the same, and not just in the U.S.: there’s no gender in politics (or the army, or the police force) as long as you’re all lads together.
Posted: 9 09 2008 - 16:46 | Permanent link to this comment
Wendy writes:
See the call for short articles on Sarah Palin at FlowTV
http://flowtv.org/
Posted: 10 09 2008 - 09:44 | Permanent link to this comment
Wendy writes:
and also the Sarah Palin dolls reported in The Australian today.
Would there have been a hilary clinton doll do you think? What would the accessories have been?
Posted: 10 09 2008 - 11:09 | Permanent link to this comment
John writes:
Hi Wendy
My original post was prompted by an American college site (I’ll decline to provide the link) with a mock-up “Caribou Barbie” doll complete with M-16, snow-mobile, sexy librarian glasses, and a dead moose. Now I’m all in favour of ridiculing politicians, but the discussions around Palin have taken on the nasty class- and gender-based tone that I discussed in the post.
It looks to me that the dolls mentioned in the Oz are part of that parodic industry that grows up around any public figure, and seem largely free of the more objectionable types of class politics. Google suggests that there are many items of Hillary Clinton paraphenalia out there, including dolls (I liked the HC voodoo doll a lot!) I can’t see anything with quite the same level of class hatred as the SP things, but I’m sure they are there.
Posted: 10 09 2008 - 12:13 | Permanent link to this comment
Wendy writes:
My feeling is (sadly and perhaps cynically) that Palin is really a pawn in the Republican strategy to generate some interest, of any kind, in their campaign as a way of countering the Obama phenomenon (whether she is aware of this or not). That is, I think they chose Palin because her “controversial” personal story can dominate the media cycles….at least giving them something to work with and gaining a foothold in the race for the presidency. Debates of class and gender are powerful ways of mobilising public debate…superficial or otherwise. It all seems to be about the spin rather than the substance. I agree that the ridiculing and patronising tone of some commentary is objectionable…but perhaps those in charge prefer this to an actual engagement with the issues that emerge around Palin becoming a public figure.
N.B.What actually interests me is how much this campaign might mirror the Santos-Vinick campaign in the final series of the West Wing so I’ll be continuing to follow with interest!
Posted: 10 09 2008 - 13:28 | Permanent link to this comment