Zombie feminists of the RNC

[ccharles000]

Snip-

In this "Handmaid's Tale"-inflected universe, in which femininity is worshipped but females will be denied rights, CNBC pundit Donny Deutsch tells us that we're witnessing "a new creation ... of the feminist ideal," the feminism being so ideal because instead of being voiced by hairy old bats with unattractive ideas about intellect and economy and politics and power, it's now embodied by a woman who, according to Deutsch, does what Hillary Clinton did not: "put a skirt on." "I want her watching my kids," says Deutsch. "I want her laying next to me in bed."

Welcome to 2008, the year a tough, wonky woman won a primary (lots of them, actually), an inspiring black man secured his party's nomination for the presidency, and a television talking head felt free to opine that a woman is qualified for executive office because he wants to bed her and have her watch his kids! Stop the election; I want to get off.

What Palin so seductively represents, not only to Donny Deutsch but to the general populace, is a form of feminine power that is utterly digestible to those who have no intellectual or political use for actual women. It's like some dystopian future ... feminism without any feminists.
Palin's femininity is one that is recognizable to most women: She's the kind of broad who speaks on behalf of other broads but appears not to like them very much. The kind of woman who, as Jessica Grose at Jezebel has eloquently noted, achieves her power by doing everything modern women believed they did not have to do: presenting herself as maternal and sexual, sucking up to men, evincing an absolute lack of native ambition, instead emphasizing her luck as the recipient of strong male support and approval. It works because these stances do not upset antiquated gender norms. So when the moment comes, when tolerance for and interest in female power have been forcibly expanded by Clinton, a woman more willing to throw elbows and defy gender expectations but who falls short of the goal, Palin is there, tapped as a supposedly perfect substitute by powerful men who appreciate her charms.

But while the Republicans would have us believe that Palin can simply stand in for Hillary Clinton, there is nothing interchangeable about these politicians. We began this history-making election with one kind of woman and have ended up being asked to accept her polar opposite. Clinton's brand of femininity is the kind that remains slightly unpalatable in America. It is based on competence, political confidence and an assumption of authority that upends comfortable roles for men and women. It's a kind of power that has nothing to do with the flirtatious or the girly, nothing to do with the traditionally feminine. It is authority that is threatening because it so closely and calmly resembles the kind of power that the rest of the guys on a presidential stage never question their right to wield.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/09/11/zombie_feminism/index.html

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. embodied by a woman who, according to Deutsch, does what Hillary Clinton did not: "put a skirt on."

You know WHY Hillary would not "put a skirt on"? Because she IS a woman, and not being a pop-star tart she would not stand on a stage eight feet above the audience and let the first ten rows look up her skirt!

Gawd knows I'm no Hillary fan, but this shit just gets ridiculous.

[PCIntern]

2. that Pfotenhauer babe is anorectic/bulemic if ever I saw one...

Rail thin...shiny face, eyes which pop out of her head, hyper, driven, and raggedy hair.

Score one for the Eating Disorder Clinic.

[texastoast]

3. STOP calling them feminists

They are anything but.

This is making me mad.

[texastoast]

4. Dupe delete n/t

[lukasahero]

5. K&R - This is a very interesting read. eom