Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Sarah Palin, Sexism, and Board Games


The other day, I was playing Harry Potter Clue with Katelyn, my brother, and his friend. In the game, the rules are largely sex-neutral (there is a small thing about the gender of the character you play as, but it is statistically unnoticeable) and this got me to thinking: why cant we just have rules like that in society?

A friend of mine, as well as several other males, are very good conservatives but are virulently sexist. They wont admit it directly due to the social stigma, but they wont give specifics as to why they wouldnt support Sarah Palin as a candidate in 2012. The only logical conclusion is a hidden, perhaps unknown even to them, gender bias. If Palin represents the 'New-er Feminism' as the cover of Newsweek says, does my friend and those of like-mind represent the 'New Sexism?'

To answer the question, both phrases must be defined. I see it as obvious that Palin's feminism deviates from the Left's model by centering it not on what Democrats want women to be, but on women's self-determination. For example, if she wants to be a stay-at-home mom, 'hear her roar.' However, this also entitles women to choose to be moral figures. Radical, cut-men-to-pieces feminists will say that is simply a regression to pre-liberation oppression and, thus, deny support those who advocate such moralities as a pro-life agenda or small government - like Sarah Palin. The picture above illustrates this beautifully; it's pretty simple to see how factually incorrect the poster is (no woman has ever been as close to the presidency). It's also a demonstration of how stupid the Democratic party thinks we are. However, I'd like to propose that we make the social, political, and economic milieu (environments) allowing of full, individual prosperity for all people.

I do not mean only 'economic' prosperity; in 1964, Barry Goldwater said that "it is the socialist who subordinates an entire individual to their economic standing" while forgetting the spiritual, familial, and all the other tenets of personal prosperity and happiness. Advancing women does not just mean having female CEO's. I advocate rights and equal treatment for all people: this means getting rid of welfare initiatives politically targeted at females. This means scrapping race-based, sex-based, faith-based, and any other nonessential predisposition of any governmental recognition of the individual.

Like Harry Potter Clue and other board games, our rules need to recognize people as free players on the great stage of life, nothing more and certainly nothing less. A simple recognition such as this allows you and I to determine who we want to be, regardless of any preset characteristics bureaucrats and politicians believe we should have. So, to you so-called 'feminists,' I, a conservative male, am a more progressive, more forward thinking feminist than you are. If you support women and only women, you must start supporting Sarah Palin for President. I, on the other hand, havent decided who I will support; but I can assure you that, unlike 'New Sexists,' I will weigh all candidates on balanced scales over the next three years.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some may feel squeamish about eating it, but rabbit has a fan base that grows as cooks discover how easy they are to raise — and how good the meat tastes.