The revolting slut-shaming of Bristol Palin

[DonViejo]

Yes, she's a hypocrite. But that doesn't excuse the glee with which the media is reporting her pregnancy

ANNE THÉRIAULT, THE DAILY DOT

Bristol Palin is pregnant again, and the first thing she wants you to know is that she’s ashamed.

“I know this has been, and will be, a huge disappointment to my family, to my close friends, and to many of you,” Palin wrote in a June 25 blog post announcing her pregnancy, which she now claims was planned. She added, “I do not want any lectures and I do not want any sympathy.”

Unfortunately, she might need both.

Palin has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars as an abstinence-only advocate. After giving birth to son Tripp in her teens, Palin made a career out of being a cautionary tale. She began giving talks at conservative Christian functions, urging young people to practice abstinence rather than safe sex. She started blogging for Patheos, where she frequently writes about her opposition to reproductive rights. She even took a very public pledge to remain celibate until marriage.

It’s easy and accurate to call Palin a hypocrite. She’s made a fortune preaching the doctrine of premarital abstinence while clearly choosing to disregard it in her personal life. In a few short days, Palin has gone from being the poster child of the abstinence movement to a real-life example of what many people have been saying all along: that by not teaching teens how to have safe sex, abstinence education actually increases the likelihood of pregnancy.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/07/02/the_revolting_slut_shaming_of_bristol_palin_partner/

[hlthe2b]

1. More of what I've seen comment-wise was GRIFTER shaming...

and that is fair game, IMO. BP's combative attitude towards everyone, aided and abetted by her mother's hired ghost-bloggers, rather than merely making her statement announcing/celebrating her pregnancy and going "radio" silent (consistent with her supposed request for privacy), is what is making her the target.

I honestly think she might have gotten a very momentary collective "chuckle" for the hypocrisy and then a big yawn following, if she had not tried to use the situation as a launching pad to attack those who believe in women's reproductive rights and the need for comprehensive sexual education.

[HFRN]

28. grifter shaming is always fair game

you want privacy? dont make public statements about something you're not consistent about

[kelliekat44]

2. I have no special love for the Palin s but I think it is disgusting to "slut shame" her.

How many casting the stones have far worse going on in their families. Lessons learned can help us all to be better people. The poor are always slammed for out-of-wedlock children...often too poor or uninformed to get birth control.

Sure she and her mom are hypocrites (who among us is not?). I don't believe either deserve the nasty comments thrown their way around the Internet and in the media.

[Human101948]

5. It's the blatant hypocrisy...they definitely deserve to be shamed for their explotation...

You are missing the point if you think that the majority of DUers would give a second thought to her if she had kept her mouth shut about abstinence.

[MsMAC]

11. Exactly! She could have gone a while longer before

the "truth" would have to come out but she is an attention seeker - much like her mother! She is not a role model to use when talking to young people about sex education!

[Hortensis]

33. So why lower ourselves? They won't tak the message from us anyway. Let's just let Jeb Bush and his

ilk call for shaming unmarried mothers while we continue to worry about teen suicide, shamed grandparents casting out their children to keep their position in society, out-of-wedlock children abused by the virtuous right. You know, all the usual nasty fallout of hard-line social/religious conservatives' chasing this particular beloved traditional value.

Personally, I'm guessing most of what we dislike from this girl is a product of her personal limitations combined with her upbringing and cultural surroundings. Like most social conservatives of this era, she has been encouraged to be the worst version of herself politically. A not overly smart girl who needs money and literally doesn't know any better.

I wished her well when she had to face the world the first time and, like most of us I'm sure, I do once again. Just glad they don't live next door.

[Human101948]

34. It's politically significant and tinged with racism, thus worthy of DU discussion and condemnation..

If she was the daughter of a black politician, Fox News and many Republicans would be using the event day and night to reinforce the racist meme of loose morals and lack of personal responsibility in the African American community. The same standards should apply to their favorites.

[BuelahWitch]

38. Racism? Really?

That's one hell of a stretch! Your little muscles must be plumb worn out!

[Jester Messiah]

3. I think hypocrite-shaming is completely appropriate.

She was happy to sit in judgment of others, claiming purity (and a fat payday) but when the time came to walk the walk, she wouldn't. THAT is the shame.

[MADem]

4. She is not being "slut shamed." She is being GRIFTER SHAMED.

The premise of the article is a crock of shite. It's all over the place, too, babbling on about how the POTUS's kids get ridiculed, and equating the racism that they endure with Bristol saying one thing and doing another--it also infantalizes Miss Palin, who is an adult, with her OWN money and family, and who isn't a teen under Mommy's thumb. She is a TWENTY FOUR YEAR OLD ADULT WOMAN.

She took a quarter of a million bucks to preach about abstinence, when plainly--as her pregnancy indicates, unless a star shone over Wasilla and a miracle occurred--she wasn't practicing what she preached.

If she had been preaching against demon rum, and got caught in a DWI, it would be the same thing.

Her "shaming" is all about being a Big Fat LIAR. I'm sure in this day and age no one really gives a shit what she gets up to with her fiddly bits--but the part of her body that is being criticized is her BRAIN. It's not cool to take money and LIE to people....but that, apparently, is a family tradition in her set.

I hate the inappropriate use of the term "slut shaming." And that's what is happening in this case. Bristol Palin simply didn't practice what she preached, after being paid a small fortune to so do. I'll spare my empathies for kids who find themselves in a reproductive pickle without access to choices or money to exercise those options.

You know what's revolting? SALON failing to focus on the real victims of Bristol's Bullshit--the kids who listened to her, ended up in a family way anyway, and didn't have a wealthy family and a personal income from LYING to fall back on. What idiot at SALON thought this article was a good idea? Who gives a shit about Bristol Palin? She needs to just shut up and stop giving bad advice to impressionable youngsters--how's that for some Big Mouth Shaming?



UGH!

[Fred Sanders]

6. When the first line is "Yea, she is a hypocrite", you know the article is going to go down hill.

That the entire GOP consists of massive hypocrisy, it is their life force, seems to go unnoticed, again goes unnoticed.

The Palins brought shame to America'a intelligence ...stupid-shaming in return is well deserved.

"Slut-shaming" is not a good word to begin with.

[MADem]

18. The whole thing is a rambling, hot mess.

And mixing up the teen aged Obama girls in there...what's up with that?

Palin will be 25 in October. She's not some little kid on an allowance. She's a creepy wingnut young adult who is making money hand over fist by lying to young girls, and two-left-footing her way through Dancing With The Stars.

SALON can--and should--do better.

[Sherman A1]

14. Precisely

She brought this upon herself by being a grifter, liar and a hypocrite. That is the issue, not her choices in her intimate affairs. She put herself in this position and chose to lecture (and at least indirectly shame others and their choices) while accepting both the limelight and a bit of cash for her statements. As the wise man once said to me.... "Most Wounds are Self Inflicted" and she is the perfect example of his words.

[daleanime]

26. Amen.....

[davidpdx]

27. Big mouth shaming is a perfect description

I scanned through the article and agree that the focus of it was in the wrong place. She clearly does not practice what she preaches. The article should be renamed Bristol Palin's Pity Party.

[Drahthaardogs]

30. It is her IN YOUR FACE HYPOCRITICAL WAYS,

that are shamed. The author of this article is a complete dolt.

[lapislzi]

35. You rock, MADem!

Couldn't have said it better myself. Young people, mainly poor young women, are being actively harmed by idiotic "abstinence" programs and propaganda. That's what makes me angry about her. She can have all the children she wants, in or out of wedlock. It's nothing to me. But don't go around preaching your hypocritical tripe to impressionable young people.

[MADem]

39. Why thank you! nt

[mwrguy]

7. Zero sympathy

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. Fuck that! I am a black woman and for centuries, we have been demonized and shamed for our sexuality

From the harlot and jezebel stereotypes to the Welfare Queen to the "Video Hoe," 'THOT," and "bench wench".

Fuck Bristol Palin. Fuck her hypocrisy. Then, she turns around and attacks Malia and Sasha--innocent children who have done nothing.

Fuck her, her lying and racist mother who also quickly married when she found out she was pregnant.

Fuck them all.

[Historic NY]

9. Slut shamed I recall she is the one that put this out there on social media...

more like a case of self-inflicted.

[brooklynite]

10. Nobody is shaming her BECAUSE she's pregnant

If anything, they're shaming her (deservedly so) for being willfully ignorant of contraceptive options (especially after her FIRST pregnancy) and for being shaming of the sexual practices of others.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. Not just a hypocrite but a con, a grifter, a person who profited from a false image of piety.

She also used her position to judge others as morally insufficient. Her announcement led with shame because that's what she's traded in, the shaming of others while she did as she pleased and cashed the checks.

[marble falls]

13. She's not being slut shamed. She put her views and baggage out there, nobody chased her....

down. She's being called out for her hypocrisy not for being a woman, or being pregnant or being unmarried.

She's being called out for her slut shaming of progressive women's rights issues.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Grifter shaming.

Just because her rank hypocrisy involves her own sex life, that doesn't mean she gets a pass on being called the hypocrite she is.

Remember, WE are the people who say sex outside of wedlock is OK - not her and her gfifbilly family.

[we can do it]

16. Fuck the hypocrites.

[betterdemsonly]

17. Click bait headline

The only time the word "shame' is used is in the quote from Bristol herself. The rest of it shames her for her hypocritical stance for abstinence until marriage, which even the author admits is justified.

[MADem]

20. The article is just a huge mess of garbage sentences. It's all over the place.

From the article:

So yes, Palin certainly does deserve a lecture. She also deserves sympathy, because as much as she has promoted and financially gained from the abstinence-only movement, she’s also been hurt by it. She’s spent her life being told that her body is shameful and her desires are evidence of sin. She views sexuality not with joy but with shame, regret, and fear.

How does the writer know this? Answer--she doesn't. I'd say Bristol views sexuality as an opportunity to make a buck, if anything.

She then goes on to tell us how BP doesn't have access to contraceptives (how would she know this? Maybe the rubber broke? Maybe she didn't bother to pick up her prescription? ) and how she thinks BP feels about all this--unless she's BP, she knows nothing:

If Palin had been able to access some of the things she relentlessly campaigns against—contraceptives, legal abortion, or even just a proper understanding of biology—she might not have found herself in the position of both announcing and apologizing for her pregnancy at the same time. It’s heartbreaking that Palin would anticipate disappointment from her friends and parents when sharing what should be happy news. This is not how anyone should feel about a wanted pregnancy.

Then, she calls the adult grifter a "victim" and infantalizes her:

We should be angry at Palin for earning an enormous amount of money promoting a set of beliefs that are harmful and dangerous, especially for young women. However, we should be even angrier at that system itself and the powerful right-wing men it serves. As much as Palin seems to have benefited from that system, she’s also been a victim of it—a fortunate, privileged victim, but a victim nonetheless.

Sounds more like she's being EXCUSED for her grifting, rather than being shamed for it. She's being cast as a VICTIM, here--not sure why, but this is some garbage writing. What she is, here, is an enabler for profit who got caught.

[betterdemsonly]

23. The Palin family are a huge revenue generator for Left Tabloids as well as Right Tabloids.

Huffpost, Salon, Rawstory and Alternet have profited as much from the Palins as Faux News and TLC.

[snooper2]

29. It's "salon", not like that is a real outlet for journalism LOL, bunch of bloggers

[yellowcanine]

19. Not just a hypocrite....making a living being a spokesperson for celibacy.

Including working with people who want to make it difficult for young women to get contraceptives.

Palin made a career out of being a cautionary tale. She began giving talks at conservative Christian functions, urging young people to practice abstinence rather than safe sex. She started blogging for Patheos, where she frequently writes about her opposition to reproductive rights. She even took a very public pledge to remain celibate until marriage.

So, I am having a tough time ginning up too much sympathy for her. For her children, yes. But not her.

[Downwinder]

21. She is a Reality TV property, burnishing her image.

If she is not controversial she has little value.

[bullwinkle428]

22. If this piece contained grammatical and spelling errors, I would have accused

her mother of writing it.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

25. Lol. You betcha!

[vinny9698]

24. She is slut shaming herself by her actions.

She does not need our help. Only to point to her and let her do our talking for us.

[riderinthestorm]

31. She's made a career out of basically slut shaming others

that abstinence crap is slut shaming those who have sexual desires. She's basically telling them to purge the urge til marriage.



What's happening to Bristol Palin is hypocrite and grifter shaming.

This article is utter crap!

[Lizzie Poppet]

32. This is exactly how I felt, as well.

I had a pretty damn funny joke about this occur to me...but thankfully, before I posted it anywhere, it also occurred to me that posting it would be slut shaming, a practice I abhor.

[Javaman]

36. good grifts are clever and unseen.

you think you are being told something truthful and earnest.

you believe the person you are talking to is sincere and honest.

once hooked, any line of bullshit they give you as a cover story has a ring of truth to it, because it's been set up that way by the grifter.

even when you give them your hard earned money, support and backing, you think you will honestly get something in return.

all cover stories confirm all your beliefs that this person is on the up and up, that is until you get a knock on the door, or a call from your bank or a friend or stranger asking if you know so and so; you then realize that you are a gullible dupe and the floor to your world drops out from under you. it dawns on you like the flash of a nuclear explosion that you had just been taken for all your savings and you are now completely broke.

Boom.

so throw all the hate at me that you want, but when I see stories like that regarding the palins and their ilk, I see it as just part of their grift.

I know of what I speak.

I have had cousins that were full fledged grifters. They would lie, steal, swindle, and talk all with a sympathetic smile or a sob story or with some lame excuse after another trying to explain away "a rough patch they are going through" or "an opportunity of a lifetime" or what ever story they were making up to get in your wallet or take your valuables.

So feel outraged by this story all you want, but I just can't. It's part of a larger grift these thieves have been perpetrating on the American public for years.

and even worse, if this was written by someone independent of the palin's, then that person is just being taken for a ride and doing the bidding of the palins free of charge. Which all grifters love.

[joeybee12]

37. What absolute effing garbage...on many levels...

The "glee" is actually the glee of the scum Palin cult who are selectively releasing tibdits to the media for getting as much mileage out of this as possible, since publicity is the only thing they live for...ffs, does the author have an effing clue?

As for slut shaming, I don't see anyone doing that...I see people pointing out the abject hypocrisy of this person who lives her life in a glass house.