US Republican Vice Presidential hopeful "Mom" (and soon to be Grand Mother) Sarah Palin has been hailed by certain press commentators in the Mail and Financial Times as a "true feminist". Well, some feminists certainly like the personal to be political, and Ms Palin has rapidly achieved this, or rather her pregnant 17 year old daughter has on her mother's behalf. Bristol is also, or so we are led to believe, shortly to have an "arranged", marriage to her baby-father, a spotty youth of 18 whose Bebo entry proclaims that he doesn't "want kids", nor a "forced" marriage I strongly suspect. All this because Mom's teachings seem to have fallen short on sex education and contraception - or perhaps Creationist's don't go in for these - and abortion is an absolute "NO, NO" for "Conservatives Christians", like Sarah Palin.
This is very strange because I thought "Feminism" was all about a Woman's Right to Choose : whether or not to have children, get married etc. In much of the world, if not in Alaska, these are absolutely key issues for Women's Human Rights, as is the issue of contraception both for birth control and to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. As the case of Bristol shows, sexual abstinence may neither be the preferred choice (or even an option !) for the majority of women, most of whom are far less fortunate than Sarah Palin's daughter in their economic circumstances, and those of their unborn children. So as far as I'm concerned this Neo-Con Mom is no more the future for feminism than any of the other regressive religious ideologies, including much of what passes for "christianity".
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