Much excitement about Sarah Palin this week, and much comment; this piece by Anne Applebaum I particularly enjoyed because it considers whether Palin is indicative that the Hillary Clinton era is over.
The move from early feminist to post-feminist is an interesting one; the idea that we are now ushering in high profile female politicians who were not the ones who had to fight to be allowed to go to university, to be the doctor rather than the nurse, the director rather than the secretary does indicate a sea change....
But there is still a long way to go. Criticism of Palin this week and the unease about her from many women commentators made me think about the frequent whisper during the Democrat primaries from women saying that they wanted a woman president - just did it have to be Hillary? The same is being said of Palin....That glass/concrete ceiling -no matter how important the 18m cracks are - will only finally be broken when we can describe our distaste for Palin, Clinton or whoever down to them as individuals or their party not their gender........
PS one last thought. Much furious comment on whether Palin should be running for Veep despite having a baby with Down's Syndrome. I look forward to similar debates about the suitability of both Gordon Brown and David Cameron to run this country.....oh, no, there hasn't been any has there....? Is this because we take disability in our stride in the UK - or is it because they are both men?
No comments:
Post a Comment