If the story of Sarah Palin teaches us anything about sexism, it is that its impact can always be more complicated than we think. Out of context, Newsweek’s cover image of the former Alaska governor in jogging shorts (which they have refused to apologize for) is completely inappropriate. But Palin’s new book and accompanying publicity tour have been, in the words of Richard Kim, “a bogus narrative of victimization at the hands of McCain aides, the Washington elite and the mainstream media.” Calling out sexism regardless of its target is important, and Newsweek’s cover is no exception. With Palin, though, it’s unfortunate that calling it out won’t be used by Palin to help any woman but herself.
Amanda Hess’ assessment that Palin has actually benefitted from sexism is dead-on: “[Sexism] allows women to earn an insane amount of political power for simply being a hot conservative lady with no particular skill at public speaking, reading comprehension, telling the truth, or articulating a single political view that makes any sense, ever.” Sexism for Palin is not a society-wide problem, but another means by which to play the victim. And as long as her audience isn’t really listening to her ideas and is instead focused on her looks and incessant scapegoating, nobody will ask her any tough questions. In such an environment, targeting Palin with sexism is about as productive as fouling a basketball player who always misses from the floor but makes every foul shot.
This isn’t to say that Palin has not experienced actual sexism since entering the spotlight – she clearly has. But the presence of sexism in a society does not mean that woman are no longer responsible for any of their own actions, and to treat it as such is insulting to women who spend their lives fighting against patriarchal forces that they truly cannot control. Palin’s image as an ill-informed and ill-prepared leader has been brought on largely by her own weaknesses as a candidate, but because she can point to legitimate instances of sexist criticism, few journalists have dared to take off the kid gloves and question her claim to victimhood.
It isn’t just Palin who is impacted. One of its more insidious effects is that it obscures the actual work – and struggles – of Republican women who are trying to be public servants rather than craft woe-is-me narratives. Whether it is a function of the media’s love of extreme partisans or the party itself, the conservative women put front and center are far-right publicity hounds like Palin and Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann, not the more moderate Republican policy wonks who could easily wipe the floor with them in any debate about ideas (Olympia Snowe, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Carly Fiorina…). To make matters worse, the GOP thus far has only dealt with sexism insofar as they can accuse Democrats of perpetrating it against some conservative women, not as a much bigger issue that we need to confront as a society. (Jon Stewart ran a montage last year of Fox News’ sexist criticisms of Hillary Clinton alongside their defense of Palin for nearly identical belittlements.
If Palin truly wants to put an end to sexism, she needs to call it out when it affects liberal or Democratic women, or fellow Republican women (for instance, Meghan McCain, who has spoken out about sexism against both liberal and conservative women. But instead, Palin seems to become aware of sexism only when she is the target. Her victimization meme chiefly serves her own insecurities, rather than a broader debate about the way powerful women are judged on their appearance first and ideas second. That is the true loss in having her hog the spotlight.
