This commenter on a post at Feminist Philosophers, hopeful about the prospect of the first female vice president, asks rhetorically if refusing to vote for McCain/Palin is "putting your politics before feminism".
I'm going to break the rules of rhetorical questions and give an answer, because the answer is simple: ABSOLUTELY NOT. You can't separate my feminism from my politics. My politics are feminist, and feminism is political.
While I agree that seeing a woman rise to a position historically filled only by men is generally a good thing, it sure isn't the only issue here, nor is it the most important. Any and all benefit of that sort of feel-good feminist tokenism is completely negated when that same woman has politics that are inherently anti-feminist and the power to find ways to enforce those politics on millions of other women.
Electing an anti-choice, anti-gay rights, anti-science, war-mongering woman as our first female vice president will not be a victory for feminism. It won't make me feel warm and fuzzy about how far women have come, and I do not feel torn about my decision to vote against her ticket. Not in the least.
"There is difference and there is power. And who holds the power decides the meaning of the difference." --June Jordan
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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4 comments:
I am so VERY much in agreement with you.
I had to read the question three times because it didn't make any sense. "The personal is political" has always been a key tenet of feminisms.
How interesting (and frightening) to watch the continually changing social construction of feminism. One the one hand, it's the f-word -- man-hating, hairy legs, angry... On the other hand, the Sarah Palin issue is diluting feminism in a way that makes the word meaningless, in defining the "new feminism".
My brand of feminism motivates my anti-oppressive practice and is intellectually grounded in intersectionality feminism. I need to find a user-friendly label to identify myself, because it seems that calling myself a "feminist" does not really say anything meaningful anymore.
Madrisa
Sexiest post yet!
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