The results of the recent midterm election put women in the politics in an interesting position. For the first time in decades, the number of women in Congress has declined. This trend is particularly peculiar given the most recent presidential election. For the first time in the history of the United States electing a female president or female vice president because a very real possibility, during the 2008 presidential election. Despite the fact that the election did not result in a female president or vice president, it gave hope to many Americans, especially feminists, that women were coming closer in gaining political equality. Also emerging from the 2008 election was the Republican maverick, Sarah Palin. Gaining attention for her comical one-liners and her dedication to Alaska and motherhood, Palin has now become a highly influential member of the Republican Party. During these midterm elections, Palin took it upon herself to lend her support to her fellow party members, especially for the female Republican candidates. Surprisingly, Palin’s endorsements garnered significant amount of support for a majority of the candidates in question. The New York Times article, “Palin’s Endorsements Lay Base for a 2012 Run,” calls to question Sarah Palin’s involvement in the midterm elections and whether it was a strategy for laying a foundation for a presidential nomination in the 2012 election. Regardless of the scrutiny Sarah Palin has received for her unique political technique and use of the media, the results of the midterm elections indicate that this approach may resonate better with the public than the staunch feminist one used by the majority of female politicians.
Sarah Palin has been able to utilize the media to build her fan basis as well as to foster support for the politicians she choose to endorse in the midterm elections. After capitalizing on the various media outlets in the 2008 presidential election, Palin continued to use these media outlets to promote her candidates for Congress. Christine O’Donnell’s highly publicized campaign for Senate was Sarah Palin’s brainchild. O’Donnell’s campaign and the resulting backlash eerily resembled Palin’s in 2008. Each woman was bombarded by questions and interviews that addressed concerns about their qualifications for running for office. Both also became targets of Saturday Night Live attacks. In each case, the women tried compensate for their questionable pasts and under qualifications by playing up their womanly charm to seduce the public. Particularly in Sarah Palin’s case, she went as far as to denounce feminism and promote her housewife values. Her SNL spoof highlights her strategy. To get where she is today, Palin has used the media to promote her enlightened sexism approach to politics. When discussing Sarah Palin’s role in politics, Douglas describes the media’s coverage of her, “Recently there was a woman who commanded the national stage, attempting to take on a role no woman had before. She was, of course, attractive- she had to be- and had a set of skills that made her seem right for the job… some Americans- particularly male pundits- remained deeply uncomfortable with ambitious women” (267). Although Douglas is definitely not a fan of Sarah Palin, she does acknowledge that Palin successfully played up her feminine wiles to gain media attention. Whether the media has displayed Palin in a positive or negative light, she has still received an extraordinary amount of face time and has been able to get her name out there, which helped the Republican Party in these midterm elections and will potentially open doors for her in the 2012 presidential election.
Rather than taking a feminist approach to politics, Sarah Palin has capitalized on her motherly qualities to convince the public that she a qualified political leader. In fact, Sarah Palin has all together denounced feminism. When running for Vice President, she promoted the idea that women did not need to forfeit their responsibilities at home to pursue their careers. She fully embraces her motherhood and uses it as a point to separate herself from other politicians. She has even given herself the nickname, “Mama Grizzly.” Sarah Palin has used these family and home-based values to reach out to the American public. In a way, Palin denies the existence of a “Mommy Tax,” by putting up the façade that she can easily balance her home life and career. In reality, the public is aware that this is not true, given the media coverage of her family. Palin is so determined to keep up this public image of a perfect mother and career woman that she is now starring in her own reality television show, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” which documents her home state and family interactions. When choosing Republican candidates to endorse, Palin particularly sought after female candidates, who share her same conservative values and public image of putting family first, despite their career choices. Newly elected South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, was quickly taken under Palin’s wing, as they worked to promote her image as a politician dedicated to her family. According the New York Times article, Palin’s publicized support for such candidates may be a part of a larger campaign strategy to not only alter the values voters expect their politicians to live by, but to also secure her spot as a viable candidate in the 2012 presidential election.
The success of Sarah Palin’s approach to politics calls to question the future of feminism in politics. It was alarming, especially for feminists, to watch as Sarah Palin’s endorsement of various Republican candidates had such positive effects on voter approval. Douglas describes (in a disturbing way) Sarah Palin’s viewpoints and her opposition to feminist ideology,
So here was a woman who was anti-choice, anti-sex education (that worked out well), anti-day care, using the gains of women’s movement to run for office, and to silence those who might have a few questions about her qualifications. Pit bull feminism was about exploiting forty years of activism, lawsuits, legislative changes, and consciousness- raising- all of which Palin benefited from- in the hope of undoing them all (271).
The rise of Sarah Palin and anti-feminist politics is especially concerning given the steep decline in the number of women in Congress after the midterm election. The majority of the women voted out of office were women who had fought and represented feminist ideals. Several of these women were even elected in 1992, during the “Year of the Woman.” Meanwhile, the number of women being voted into office support Sarah Palin’s anti-feminist political ideology. While there are other external factors that could explain this transition, it is difficult not to be worried that years of feminists’ hard work have been reversed, and Sarah Palin’s politics is becoming the new norm for female politicians.
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