A different view of Palin: She’s a victim of sexism

Vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin (photo: bobster1985 via Flickr.com)

When the news broke that Sen. John McCain chose Sarah Palin — the unknown governor of Alaska — to be his running mate, the nation balked for a couple of reasons. First of all, the GOP is not exactly known for being a proponent of affirmative action, and that’s exactly what this pick was all about. Let’s face it: If McCain was not running against the likes of Barack Obama — a very popular progressive man of African descent — there would be no McCain-Palin ticket. Second of all, McCain himself is not very woman friendly in his thinking or his voting record. For instance, although he has stated that he supports equal pay for equal work, he also strongly opposed a bill that called for equal pay of women in the work force because he said it would lead to too many lawsuits.

Now here is Sarah Palin, plucked from the obscurity of the Alaskan political scene and swept into a presidential race that will take up page after page in history books for centuries to come. During the race she has been shredded in “handlers” as if she were an animal. She is rigorously coached so she can give educated answers to questions about the constitutional role of the vice president and The Bush Doctrine. A school girl getting told where to sit, what to say.

If you asked her, of course, she would say she felt like a victim of sexism. She’s right about that. But she won’t list the reasons I just listed above because she can’t: Her handlers would not approve. She hasn’t even shown outrage at news stations casually reporting that there are now stripper contests for Palin look-a-likes in Las Vegas. There is absolutely a lack of respect for Palin because she is attractive. The Internet is flooded with doctored photos of Palin in bikinis, mini skirts, sometimes naked in compromising positions with McCain. If she were outraged, we wouldn’t know. The GOP can’t let this pretty Christian belle in a skirt and heels have an opinion of her own or voice her anger… or any emotion, really, except fear of terrorists.

Why aren’t more women outraged? Maybe it’s because this is a display of a very old and ongoing double standard. Consider this: Obama is an attractive guy. Why aren’t there doctored photos of him in his skivvies online? Where are the Obama stripper look-a-like contests? These are the degrading sexist marks that every woman, including Palin, has to face. The question is, how does each woman handle it?

Palin knows she is a victim. In fact, that’s part of her role in this race. To be a victim. McCain picked Palin knowing he could take the existence of sexism and work it in his favor. When people imply that she shouldn’t run for VP because she has to take care of her kids, the McCain camp can scream, “Sexism!” When reports come out about Palin’s wardrobe and how much her makeup costs, they can scream, “Sexism!” And all rightfully so. But there’s one little problem: By taking a woman as a running mate and then assigning her handlers and treating her as if she is incapable of speaking on her own is worse than scrutinizing how much her clothes cost or whether she can take care of her kids.

Because the McCain campaign has had Palin under constant supervision from day one, she’s never really had a chance to display her own power. After weeks of intense coaching and rehearsed answers, it comes as no surprise she’s getting fed up with being “handled.” According to news reports this weekend, Palin is starting to display her independence by going against her handlers and taking impromptu questions from the press (something any vice presidential candidate should be able to do).

But instead of commending her for her ability to voice her opinions, she’s being called a “Diva” by McCain advisors:

“She is a diva,” one McCain loyalist told CNN last night. “She takes no advice from anyone. Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.” The Alaska governor was reported by friends to have been frustrated at being denied day-to-day contact with the media, being forced instead into high-profile TV interviews where her garbled answers have been the stuff of comedy routines ever since.

So let me get this straight: when Palin goes against her party advisors she’s a “diva” but when McCain does it he’s a maverick?

So Palin and McCain are right when they say she is a victim of sexism. But she’ll get a lot more respect with that claim once she starts being the defender and stops playing victim. To become the powerful woman whose voice and opinions are fully respected, you have to first stop being a puppet. It’s a good sign that over the weekend, Palin seems to be snapping some of those strings and proving she has a voice of her own. She must know a thing or two about asserting her opinions. Running for governor as a woman in a conservative state like Alaska is no walk in the park.

While it’s hard to compare Palin with Hillary Clinton they do have some things in common. Both are victims of sexism in the political field. But how did Clinton handle it? As the Huffington Post’s Ben Smith writes:

Hillary Clinton always walked a very careful line on portraying herself as a victim, attempting never to let that get in the way of her perceived strength as she built a commander-in-chief persona. The McCain campaign is dwelling on Palin’s victimhood, a new chapter in the short history of women in presidential politics.

We have to face the facts: Palin has had little control in this campaign. Her voice has been muffled by the advisors and coaches around her who are going to make sure she knows her lines. It’s true, Joe Biden has raised some hairs with the Obama campaign with some off-track comments. That’s bound to happen. But no one’s is calling him a “rogue” or a “diva.”

It’s not Palin’s fault that she’s being treated this way. But what she has to do as a female leader is address these challenges that every woman, especially in politics, must face: male dominance and the objectification of women. The fact that it makes world news when she actually speaks for herself says a lot about how she’s been treated during this campaign. It’s time she becomes the maverick she claims to be.

Even after the campaign is over Plain will still have to fight for her image as a leader rather than a victim. Speculations are already circulating that if McCain loses, Palin will be the scapegoat for the campaign’s decline.

Politico reported over the weekend:

“These people are going to try and shred her after the campaign to divert blame from themselves,” a McCain insider said, referring to McCain’s chief strategist, Steve Schmidt, and to Nicolle Wallace, a former Bush aide who has taken a lead role in Palin’s campaign.

What confuses me is, with Palin being one of the biggest targets of sexism, why aren’t other women, who claim to be feminists, speaking up? Why aren’t more people, including Palin, outraged?