The Black Woman’s Dilemma – Now a White Woman’s

Everywhere there is a buzz about the new addition to the Republican presidential ticket. It is a fascinating action taken by the GOP that left most people perplexed wondering wtf was going on. However, as more and more time passes, it becomes increasingly clear why the GOP chose Sarah Palin as their vice presidential candidate. At first, it seemed that the idea of a Palin was a desperate attempt by the McCain camp to rally disgruntled Hillary supporters; the only way McCain could possibly dream of winning his campaign’s bid for the presidency. But of all women, why her? Why a forty four year old woman with five kids (one with Down’s Syndrome), who has a pregnant teenager, and is under investigation for abuse of power? Some speculated that the GOP in a desperate move to undermine Obama and steal Hillary Democrats, chose someone so quickly that they failed to vet her. I highly disagree. I think her total package is exactly why she was chosen.

As soon as she was on the national scene, talk quickly spread around her personal life and it’s relation to the issues of women’s rights. Some questioned her desire to become vice president while she was still breast feeding, along with a pregnant daughter. Issues of women’s rights, the right to choose, the right to one’s body, the right to work as a mother, issues of insurance and birth control, and issues of childcare, and social class and privilege were hot topics around the country. Different women reacted differently to this choice of a vice president who seemed so out of place, and oh so inappropriate. Her personal life gave way to talks about her policies that are extremists and anti-woman.

Yet…she was being protected from male patriarchy and mysogyny by the same right wing who dished it out towards Hillary before, but were now questioning sexist questions and sentiments directed her way. At the same time, progressive feminists defended her right to be free and protected from mysogyn even as she might reverse all of the women’s rights advances that have been achieved over the years. If nothing else, the GOP was galvanized by her and her story and how easily it deflected from Obama’s historical nomination as the first African American to clench a major party’s nomination, as well as the idea that he might actually win based on the issues.

But here is the thing, aside from the fact that she is an anti-woman woman, if she were to become vice president, she would be the first female vice president of the United States, and if anything were to happen to McCain, she would be the first female president. All this is cause for celebration for women all over. However, it is hard to celebrate a woman whose ideology and policies are classist, sexist, and racist. Policies that usurp your rights to your body, to live your life as you choose, as well as disabling you from pursuing the quality of life you see fit for your self, and doing nothing to end the structural inequalities that prevent many women from achieving the same quality of life as their male counterparts.

Are White women facing the same dilemma that was facing Black women earlier in the election? When the primaries were still in full swing, conversations about Black women and their allegiance to their race or gender were brought up. Some were called sellouts to (white) feminism for supporting Barack Obama and not Hillary, when there was a great opportunity to make history by electing the first potential female president for the United States. What some of these (white) feminists failed to do, was actually account for the race factor. Conversations about women’s rights were often lacking the aspect of race and racism that women of color face. These conversations often turned off women of color, simply because their voices and realities were not being hear or seen or acknowledged. Where racism was thrown Obaman’s way, some of these feminists were silent. In fact, in some cases, the racism that was thrown out against Obama came from these white feminist communities as a means to undermine Obama. Therefore, the idea of supporting Hillary as part of a feminist movement seemed more as an advance for white women rather than a universal womanhood accomplishment. But for some White women, women of color failed them and their movement.

Similarly, those Black women who supported Hillary initially were also seen as sellouts to their Black race or communities of Color. How could they not see the magnitude of what was happening in the country? For the first time, a Black man could become president of the USA! What were they thinking? And again, misogynistic language was thrown out towards Hillary to undermine her and women in general, and these women were still expected to put race first, when their gender was under attack. Some Black women or other women of color who experience misogyny in their communities felt as though their cries for equality went unheeded, their work to have an equal voices in their communities and a presence that is protected from sexism and misogyny went unrecognized, therefore, they supported the woman because their gender was just as important to them as their race.

You can understand that some Black women found themselves torn by both these realities and faced a difficult decision before they decided what meant more to them, and who between Hillary and Obama would get their vote. Ironically, neither candidate addressed the issue of race of racism as part of their platform. Neither candidate made it known that institutional racism was part of their agenda, something they would tackle once in office. Both candidates however, supported various policies that would decrease some inequalities among the genders such as “equal pay for equal work.” They also both supported a woman’s right to choose.

Black women have faced the dilemma of having to choose between their race and their gender, as though they could exist without one or the other. Before with Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas, O.J. and Nicole Simpson, etc. So what’s the White woman’s dilemma? There is now a woman running for vice president of the USA. Many women were outraged that the GOP would think them so simply that they would simply vote for someone due to their female genitalia. However, we should recognize the significance of her election. She is still a woman, and could potentially do what no woman has done before; a huge accomplishment for women in general.

It just that…well…she’s an anti-woman who will probably reverse women’s accomplishments in the past. It is now clear that a large number of Women of Color who supported Hillary before, are now supporting Obama. But what will white women do? Will they make history by electing the first woman as vice president who will potentially also become president? Or will they vote for a male, a Black male, and make history either way? Will they choose race (not their own) over gender or what?

I imagine that it must be infuriating for all progressive women that an anti-women woman is taking advantage of what Hillary Clinton did for the women’s movement and using it to her advantage. What is Hillary’s thoughts on this? Is she supporting “women” even if they are anti-women themselves? Or is she bitter because this woman is doing what she couldn’t herself, and taking advantage of the barriers she broke and using them to advance her extremist views?

Sarah Palin is extremely likeable if you don’t think about her policies (which should make many women shudder). But this seriously sounds like a dilemma to me. Especially to those disgruntled Hillary supporters. What will they do?