This post is a part of my “Out of the Kitchen” weekly column at The Progressive Playbook in which various news and pop culture items will be examined through a feminist lens.
In the 2008 election season, the American public became painfully aware of a new type of political woman: Sarah Palin. For those of us involved deeply in discussions of gender and feminism, it was a little heartbreaking. Here was this politician, only the second woman in American history to be the Vice President nominee of a major party, and her views were decidedly anti-woman. (Even though she co-opted our label.)
According to Ann Friedman and many other feminists, Palin’s role in the 2008 election became a symbol of the right’s tokenism. The message from the McCain campaign was patronizing at best, sexist at worst. It appeared that they felt they could appeal to women voters simply by adding a woman to the ticket, and seemingly any woman would do. It didn’t matter that Palin was inexperienced, uninformed, or extreme.
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