The Independent News Source
NCR on Kindle - NCR classifieds - YouTube - Twitter - Facebook - Email Alerts - RSS
Printer-friendly version
PDF versionThe new feminism of Palin and Bachmann
by Jamie L Manson on Jul. 08, 2011
"What is 'feminist' about them, for those who want to use that descriptive, is their belief that God calls women no less than men to fight His battles against Satan on earth. Women hold awesome power as spiritual warriors, in this worldview; they're not doormats, nor should their godly duties be confined to the domestic sphere. This is its own sort of egalitarianism, to be sure, but it is one far more compatible with the complementarian theology of arch-conservative Protestantism than with the feminism of liberal religion. After all, Bachmann and Palin have both made much of their roles as wives, mothers and churchgoers in a way meant to show that their political leadership will not upend the gender hierarchy so crucial in the conservative evangelical home and church sanctuary."
In an essay in the Huffington Post, Marie Griffith analyzes the peculiar brand of feminism adopted by America’s most prominent female evangelicals: Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.
Griffith, who serves as director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., notes that the evangelical feminism of Palin and Bachmann is a “far cry” from the original movement founded by Christian women in the 1970s.
Back then, evangelical feminists found their faith in an egalitarian Jesus. They saw clear connections between their Christian beliefs and the principles of the Women’s Liberation Movement.
These Evangelical women leaned left, while the new breed of Evangelical feminists always seem to take a hard right.
Given their conservatism, how can Palin, Bachmann and their ilk be considered feminists? Griffith offers a helpful explanation:
same old same old Phyllis
same old same old Phyllis Schafley with lipgloss, what they once called putting lipstick on the pig, but I shall demure going to such a rhetorical extremity where the angels fear to trespass.
I guess they can't be
I guess they can't be feminists because they don't worship the sacred God of feminism--abortion. They also then can't be defended by women's groups when countless articles say they can't be leaders because they should be home with their kids. The usual liberal hypocrisy.
can you, even anonymously,
can you, even anonymously, document specifically any of this neo-McArthyite sin of calumny
http://ruleofreason.blogspot.
http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2008/09/palins-down-syndrome-child-and-...
dudes. We are talking Bachman
dudes. We are talking Bachman and PALIN here, not Simone de Beauvoir, not Dorothy L. Sayers, not the Reverend Sister Elizabeth Johnson.
The theological and philosophical consideration runs as deep as their marketting department, no more, no less. PR only. Where was Palin´s degree?
Love one another.
Love the lesser loved.
Wish I could get that deep to just do it.
Palin wonderered, why do the
Palin wonderered, why do the liberals so hate her?
The answer: Downs Syndrone. It proves their bararity.
90 percent are killed through legal abortion. Never mentioned by the NCR liberals, who support this mass murder. The seamless garment. Social Justice
if I fall beneath your NCR
if I fall beneath your NCR liberal umbrella, where do you find me supporting mass murder, anonymous one?
Does no one screen these incoherent calls?
Let's all go Real Name.
And stop the wars, inclduing the war upon our poor at home
actually, Down's or Down are
actually, Down's or Down are acceptable, not your usage here.
The rest I find magnificently, absolutely, even anonymously, incomprehensible.
Palin and Bachmann represent
Palin and Bachmann represent the result of women who follow their Christian beliefs and who happen to be conservative. They are great roll models for our young women, and men for that matter, to follow. So far as I know, they have stuck by their principles no matter the pressure from secular society. The so-call feminists (e.g. NOW etc) have been loudly quiet in their defense of conservative women being attacked, unfairly I might add, by their detractors (mostly on the left).
Al, no one can serve two
Al, no one can serve two masters. You can't have it both ways, especially "women who follow their Christian beliefs and who happen to be conservative." What is called conservative today, even "constitutional conservative" does not square with Christian beliefs and practices, and in fact runs counter.
What are "roll models?"
Their principles are defined by secular society and their marketing departments.
Sorry, these women are not
Sorry, these women are not feminist. A feminist would fight for reproductive choice. They would not excoriate single women heads of households. They would educate their kids about teen pregnancy. These women would set back women's rights by decades.
Post new comment