The Irony of Success: Feminist Principles in Service of Anti-Feminist Ends

Even ardent right-wing ideologues are embracing the feminist notion that a woman can simultaneously be a mother and pursue a career at the highest levels. But it's a jarring conversion.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

Watching the political theater surrounding Sarah Palin's nomination has been head-spinning in many ways.

I have worked my entire life to ensure that all women have opportunities and choices - about having children, raising families, pursuing careers, moving into professional and political leadership. To me, this represents the heart as well as the concrete accomplishments of the feminist movement. As a result of our work, and those of millions of women activists in whose high heels I followed, my daughter understands that she can pursue any dream -- mother, astronaut, computer geek, (Vice) President - the possibilities are endless.

But over the course of that struggle, it hasn't only been men who have resisted that change. Activists like Phyllis Schlafly rallied opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment and insisted that women with children should stay home, that women were meant to be mothers first and should be judged on that criteria.

Now the very same Phyllis Schlafly - and her male compatriots in the Religious Right political movement - have suddenly embraced the same feminist arguments that we've been making for decades--simply to rally around John McCain and his vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin.

I guess it's a sign of our cultural success that even ardent right-wing ideologues (with the notable exception of Dr. Laura) are embracing the feminist notion that a woman can simultaneously be a mother and pursue a career at the highest levels. But it's a jarring conversion. Of course, it isn't really a conversion on the principles of equality and choice but rather a political tactic that cynically uses the widespread appeal of those feminist principles to ultimately undermine them.

It's all about electing John McCain, who has repeatedly pledged to nominate Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade. It's about electing John McCain, who is promising more federal judges like those who were named by President Bush and who are systematically undermining individual Americans' legal and constitutional protections - including the principle of equal pay, environmental protection, racial justice. It's about electing John McCain, who has little regard for many of the civil rights and civil liberties that lie at the heart of the American way.

Ironically, Sarah Palin herself seems to be even more anti-feminist than McCain. She opposes equipping young women with information about potentially life-saving contraception. She opposes women having the legal option to choose abortion even in the case of rape or incest. She used her line-item veto to strike funds for a social service agency that provided assistance to young unwed mothers. She would use the power of the state to deny legal protections for women and men in same-sex relationships.

And while I am remarkably pleased that the success of our movement has been so adopted by mainstream America that even my opponents pretend they agree, I'd hate to see John McCain and Sarah Palin succeed, and have the political power and bully pulpit to impose their dangerous policies on the rest of us - and limit the choices that future generations of women will be able to make.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot