As the Republicans were swooning over Sarah Palin, proclaiming “A Star is Born,” we saw something else hatched too. Let’s call it Pit Bull Feminism, drawing from Palin’s own self-characterization. With Pit Bull Feminism, you have the appearance of feminism—alleged Superwoman, top executive and mother of five—with a repudiation of everything feminism stands for and has fought for. By now most… return to article
-
subscribe to print magazine
-
email this article to a friend
-
Reader Comments (6)Page 1 of 1 pagesre: “Pit bull feminism”
Looking back at some of Susan’s articles and comments, I guess it depends on whose bull is in the pit.
Tht’s OK — there’s plenty of “bull” to go around.
Posted by whattheheck on Sep 10, 2008 at 12:07 PM Speaking from the other side of the Pond, it seems to me that a basic category error is being made here. Being a “Superwoman, top executive and mother of five” does not automatically qualify any woman as a feminist. It just means she’s a woman who has succeeded in acquiring power and influence *despite* her gender.
To qualify as a feminist you have to at the very least subscribe to the basic tenets of the movement, and that includes reproductive rights and equal employment rights. Without that, Sarah Palin is not a Pit Bull Feminist, she’s just a Pit Bull.
Posted by TheologyJen on Sep 10, 2008 at 12:54 PM Women Want Safety, not Biden’s Reckless Idealism
Senator Joe Biden proudly proclaims that he was beaten with impunity by his older sister as a youth. This is the same sister that raised his two sons after his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident.
Biden has often claimed that the Violence against Women Act is the greatest achievement of his career. Yet he fails to recognize the role women play as perpetrators of violence against men and children. Hundreds of studies show that women commit acts of domestic violence as often as, or more often than men. It’s a well established fact that a child is more likely to be killed by the mother than by the father, a neighbor, an acquaintance, a stranger or a sex offender. Many studies also show that lesbian women physically attack their intimate partners at least as often as heterosexual men.
As a result of Biden’s Violence against Women Act, the federal government pays states to create laws effectively requiring that innocent men be removed from their homes and families without even an allegation of violence, with no legitimate standards of evidence, when a woman makes a claim that she is afraid.
Elaine Epstein, president of the Massachusetts Bar Association (1999), has said “the facts have become irrelevant… restraining orders are granted to virtually all who apply. Regarding divorce cases, she states “allegations of abuse are now used for tactical advantage”. According to Epstein, who is also a former president of the Massachusetts Women’s Bar Association, restraining orders are doled out “like candy” and “in virtually all cases, no notice, meaningful hearing, or impartial weighing of evidence is to be had.”
State restraining order laws are starting to fall because they’re unconstitutional. The federal law behind them, written by Joe Biden, is likely to fall as well, not because it isn’t popular, but because it is clearly unconstitutional.
There is a rapidly growing activist community dedicated to addressing this issue. One of the focal points of this community is the Glenn Sacks blog, www.glennsacks.com .
Supporting Documentation Follows (if it isn’t blocked by the anti spam filter)
Here are some of the facts regarding Biden’s abuse at the hand of his sister. During senate hearings held on December 11, 1990, Biden testified to the abuse.
http://www.ifeminists.net/introduction/editorials/2006/0503roberts.html
This recent CDC study indicates that women between the ages of 18 and 28 initiate reciprocal violence against their intimate partners about as often as men. It also indicates that women initiate non-reciprocal violence against their intimate partners more than twice as often as men.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/15/31-a
Here is a link to a bibliography of over 200 studies indicating that women are as violent as men in their intimate relationships:
www.csulb.edu/~mfiebert/assault.htm
According to the US Department of Justice, women also abuse, neglect and kill their children at significantly higher rates than men. Here’s some of the data on child homicides.
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04/figure4_2.htm
Research clearly indicates that lesbian battery is at least as common as heterosexual battery.
http://www.glennsacks.com/domestic_violence_a_2.htm
http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/lesbianrx/factsheet.shtml
http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/lesbianhealth/a/DVFactsMyths.htm
Cathy Young reports on the Elaine Epstein quote and the broader issue at Salon.com here:
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/25/restraining_orders/
and provides in depth analysis here:
http://www.iwf.org/files/50c58dda09f16c86b2c652aa047944f6.pdf
Posted by HumanRights101 on Sep 12, 2008 at 3:40 AM The transcript of the Senate hearing in which Biden described being abused with impunity by his sister is available here (see p.171-172):
http://www.fathersandhusbands.org/BidenHearing.pdf
Posted by HumanRights101 on Sep 12, 2008 at 3:51 AM NJ DV Law Overturned Amid Epidemic of False Allegations
New Jersey’s domestic violence statute has recently been found unconstitutional. The New Jersey Attorney General is taking this case to the state’s Supreme Court.
The New Jersey Law Journal reports that Judge Richard Russell of Ocean City made the following remarks on tape during a judicial training session regarding the issuance of restraining orders.
source:
http://www.fathersandhusbands.org/NJ_Rights_1.pdf“If I had one message to give you today, it is that your job is not to weigh the parties’ rights as you might be inclined to do as having been private practitioners. Your job is not to become concerned about all the constitutional rights of the man that you’re violating as you grant a restraining order. Throw him out on the street, give him the clothes on his back and tell him, ‘See ya’ around.’ “
A new municipal judge attending the training session stated “The statute says we should apply just cause in issuing the order.” “You seem to be saying to grant every order.” Russell quickly replied, “Yeah, that’s what I seem to be saying.”
The article is full of comments from Russell and his colleagues that are equally inflammatory.
Perhaps you think Russell should have been disbarred for instructing judges to ignore the constitution. In doing so, he violated his greatest responsibility as a judge in the most blatant way possible. Perhaps you think he should have gone to prison.
Russell now serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s State Domestic Violence Working Group, the Executive Committee of the State Bar’s Family Law Section, and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Family Practice Committee. He currently is the chair of the court’s Child Support Subcommittee.
Given a recent ruling declaring New Jersey’s domestic violence statute unconstitutional and given the imminent Supreme Court challenge, the truth regarding the real practices that are being used to separate men from their children and their homes must be heard.
Posted by HumanRights101 on Sep 12, 2008 at 3:55 AM “With Pit Bull Feminism, you have the appearance of feminism - alleged Superwoman, top executive and mother of five - with a repudiation of everything feminism stands for and has fought for. By now most of us know Palin’s resume: adamantly anti-choice even in the case of rape or incest, anti-environment, staunchly pro-gun, for censorship of books, anti-sex education, and, reportedly, a passionate advocate for the aerial hunting of wildlife in Alaska.”—Susan Douglas
“ANCHORAGE—Weeks after taking office as Alaska’s governor in December 2006, Sarah Palin vetoed a bill that sought to ban benefits for the same-sex partners of state workers. <u>It was unconstitutional,</u> she said.
This year, <u>she rebuffed religious conservatives</u> who wanted her to add two abortion restriction measures to a special legislative session on oil and gas policy, even though she supported the bills. Former aide Larry Persily said she didn’t want to risk offending Democrats, whose votes she needed on energy legislation.
But in her 21 months as governor, <u>Palin has taken few steps to advance culturally conservative causes.</u> Instead, after she knocked off an incumbent amid an influence-peddling scandal linked to the oil industry, Palin pursued a populist agenda that toughened ethics rules and raised taxes on oil and gas companies.
Looks to me like the author is making huge leaps in her oh-so-confident assumptions that this politician is going to overreach her authority and position.
“Whether or not Sarah Palin helps John McCain win the election, her greatest work may already be behind her. She’s exposed the feminist con job.
Don’t take my word for it. Feminists have been screaming like stuck pigs 24/7 since Palin was announced as McCain’s running mate…....
......The academic feminist left has scared the dickens out of mainstream men and women for so long, the liberal establishment is terrified to contradict feminists’ nigh-upon-theological conviction that female authenticity is measured by one’s blind loyalty to left-wing talking points. This is a version of the Marxist doctrine of “false consciousness,” which holds that you aren’t an authentic member of the proletariat unless you agree with Marxism…....
..... What the Palin pick has demonstrated, however, is that the Feminist-Industrial Complex is a fraud. Disagreeing with self-described feminists doesn’t mean you’re anti-woman. Usually it just means you’re sensible.”
Susan’s is a tired, elitist and exclusionist view that has grown tiresome, and is hypocritical, in that the feminist left also seeks to advance an agenda all its own. Their pet accomplishment, Roe v Wade, was an extra-constitutional divisive power-grab away from the people, which Roe herself now resents. Palin, even if she really did have the ambitions apparently merely assigned to her, would only be advocating rolling back that which should never have been thrust upon the country in the first place.
Posted by Natalie on Sep 14, 2008 at 10:10 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
register a new account »Posting Security
Also by Susan J. Douglas
Popular Discussions
- The 9/11 Faith Movement
Many Americans believe 9/11 was a conspiracy by the U.S. government
1979 posts since Jul 11 06 - What’s the 411 on 9/11?
891 posts since Dec 21 05 - Democrats: It’s the War
659 posts since Nov 1 05 - Was the Presidential Election Stolen?
462 posts since Jun 19 06 - A Fundamental History Lesson
The rise of National Socialism proved politics and religion don't mix
427 posts since Oct 10 05
© 2008 In These Times | Reprint Policy | Privacy Policy | Powered by Expression Engine | RSS Feeds
