Sarah Palin

I was watching C-SPAN, the only news channel that actually reports events as they happen without the over-numbing commentary of Network reporters who insult my intelligence by telling me how I should think about policies and issues. The channel had a full hour dedicated to former Governor Sarah Palin’s book signing at the Joseph Beth Bookstore in Cincinnati. The book store was packed with people from all walks of life: working and middle-class folks, as well as many well-informed, articulate men and women. They were all there to see the author of Going Rogue, Palin’s best-selling book that has thus far sold around three million copies.

For some time I have been pondering the “Sarah Palin phenomenon,” trying to get my value-system and opinions out of the way to really see why so many people in this country love and support her. I sat there, watching her emerge from the second floor of the bookstore like a hero. With a big smile Ms. Palin announced to the cheering crowd: “Oh, we’re gonna have a blast! I appreciate your courage, and carrying the book…and going rogue like me because you care about the truth…”

People were asked for their comments following the book signing which gave me a clearer sense of her popularity. One woman said “Sarah is a lot like us, a working Mom who’s raising her children. She represents us. I like her.” Another woman enthused, “She’s a rock star, great girl, great mom!” Joe Demato a conservative New Yorker who moved to Cincinnati, noted that “She dedicated her book to the people. She does not dodge the questions…” A young college student named Rachel expressed her deep love and respect for Palin. This whole energetic ambiance was moving to the music of Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Rising”, playing in the background. Although the press from Canada and Germany were present, as were journalists representing a few US entertainment shows, they were not allowed to ask Palin any questions.

What does Sarah Palin represent to millions in this country? Why are so many of us so quick to dismiss her? Is it possible that she is a symptom of something that has been brewing in this country for many years and just now is beginning to manifest on the surface? I believe that Palin represents a new brand of feminism. She is giving voice to the ‘soccer mom’ archetype, which has been dismissed as limited and insignificant by many egalitarian feminists. She is pretty, hits the gym everyday, takes care of her family the best way she knows how, and she shoots moose because that’s what you do if you live in Alaska. Many women and men who feel intimidated by the intellectual sophistication of politicians and their abstract jargon, blame those same politicians for the political and economic impasse the country faces. They feel there are simple solutions to our problems and find solace and comfort in Sarah’s simplistic approach.

Yes, this is another kind of feminism. One that is expressed in the form of an independent, hard-working woman who is respected by her husband and her supporters. Many of us, particularly in liberal camps, have to remember that although we stand on the shoulders of 1960′s brand of feminism, the phenomenon of Sarah Palin still  represents the next stage of development for many women in this country, and an overwhelming majority of women in the developing world. How many women in Africa or Latin America aspire to be in her shoes—an autonomous professional woman, contributing to the household and being elected democratically to the highest seat in her state?

Hillary Clinton

As a woman, the other issue of concern is that if Palin was a male politician, would we have vilified him this much? Or would we have simply dismissed him as another politician doing what politicians do. Apparently George W. Bush’s lack of intellectual depth was not a factor in his electability, as we elected him twice. Why aren’t we chuckling at her gaffs like we did with Bush? Does she represent traditional values that we have grown to despise because we have become career women and maybe did not ‘include’ the value system that our own mothers grew up in? Or is it just simply a case of subconscious masculine views of political leadership? Not too long ago, many liberals were quick to vilify Hillary Clinton, a woman with far more impressive credentials than many of her former male predecessors. So, are we witnessing the birth of a new feminism that’s creating friction at the highest levels of traditionally male-dominated politics, or is it the initial signs of a dying exclusive domain of masculine power?  Providing further evidence to such masculine dominance of political world views, a few days ago, at a town hall meeting in Saudi Arabia, a young male student asked Secretary Clinton with a big smirk on his face “How scared would you be if Sarah Palin was elected president of the US? Would you move to Canada?” This young man’s question typifies the nature of psychological projection males have about a profession that has traditionally been the stomping ground of men. A Saudi asking that question, really? After all we’re talking about Saudi Arabia where women do not have the right to vote and cannot be elected democratically to any political position.

The two major polarizing figures in the United States today are President Obama and Sarah Palin. Obama comes from his head and heart on most issues, while Palin comes from her heart and gut on all issues. They are both learning on the job, and can learn a lot from each other. Obama can try to be less rehearsed and more connected to the needs of people in middle America, and Palin can benefit tremendously from shorter, comprehensive sentences, a study of history and the Republican philosophy.

Let me make a disclaimer here: I do not support most of Palin’s policy suggestions or philosophy. If I agree with some of her views it is because she learned them from Libertarians. Yet, at this point, I am not sure if she can really make them her own. My concern is how to understand the people who are supporting her, and how to meet them where they are. How can we address their fears and their feelings of alienation by the intellectual elites? My gut feeling is that a female (Ross Perot-like) Republican who’s a wizard in telling Palin’s followers in language they understand how they can get their country back, will emerge to harness the momentum that Palin’s followers have created.

Meg Whitman

Carly Fiorina

A couple of these Republican women are running for California’s governor’s office—Meg Whitman—and for the Senate—Carly Fiorina—and might be able to address the needs of many people in the country.

I would welcome your pragmatic comments on this subject. Please keep in mind that my concern is what works best for our country not for the two parties only.

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I have always had a hard time relating to a certain expression of Western feminists and feminism in the West to a large degree. I recall my first semester at a rigorous Women’s liberal arts college in western Massachusetts, where I was studying feminist literary criticism in Adrienne Rich’s, ‘When We Dead Awaken.’ I was the only student in the Poets, Race, and Identity class who thought that women writers should not have to write for a female audience nor where they better than male writers. I didn’t understand the necessity of segregating audiences or literary talent based on gender. I realized that this was just the start of my relationship with Feminism and especially, Western Feminism.

Placed in this extremely competitive environment, where women were meant to thrive and compete in a patriarchal society, I learnt a great deal on the power of being a woman. We were not called Freshmen, but Firsties, short for First Years. Prior, in my high school in Dubai, I was labeled as being aggressive and opinionated. Sensitive to this, I apologized to a fellow student for being perhaps too vocal during a heated debate. She explained to me that she thought I was being an assertive woman, and she respected that. I found this incredibly liberating. I became increasingly aware of such distinctions, and picked those that I felt gave me room to express myself fully.

The college, although incredibly empowering, because of it’s constant academic demands of best, was equally stifling and limiting. In every course I took, organization I joined, or new person met, I was asked if I ‘wear that black thing’.  Although these intelligent women were coming from a place of community and support, they assumed that I, as an Arab Muslim woman, must be an oppressed victim. To a degree, this is understandable as there were no other identities offered to represent the Arab Muslim Women on the news, or on TV, except for the woman wearing that black thing.

However, I would find it alienating and hurtful. The overall assumption that all Muslim/Arab women were marginal, secluded and restricted was incredibly ill-informed. I did not feel that, as a perceived victim, I was on equal footing with my western counterpart. I was not there to be saved from my fellow Feminist American women, who wanted to care for me and help me fight against my Arab male oppressors. Nor was Western Feminism the answer for me if that was the case.

Western Feminism has seen three main waves, with various voices reacting to the social and political order of the day. Overall, however, Feminism sought to gain gender equality by competing in the work force, lobbying for further political and economic freedom, and an end to constrictive societal labels and taboos. The women’s liberation in the 1960’s and ‘70’s was followed by the sexual liberation that, with a mostly secular rhetoric, rebelled against oppressive social norms. In the Middle East however, feminism takes on a different approach. Muslim or Islamic Feminists reference the Quran and hadiths for further freedom and empowerment by challenging patriarchal interpretations of the Quran. Traditionally, Muslim women sought empowerment in society, the home, and within the family – which continues to be the strongest social structure in the Middle East. Islamic Feminists challenge patriarchy and Islamic extremists through their own interpretations of the Quran and the hadith. Moroccan Fatima Mernisi, is such an example of Muslim feminists.  As a highly respected Muslim intellectual, whose knowledge on Islamic jurisprudence is on par with most Imams and ulemas (Islamic scholars), she questions patriarchal interpretations of the Quran.

Through a Muslim framework, deeply rooted in Islam, Islamic feminists unlike their Western counterparts do not seek to deconstruct religion and social structures, but to work within those spaces to create change. Just as Western Feminists have a spectrum of voices and beliefs, so do Muslim feminists, and debate contentious issues such as the hijab. Western understanding of the hijab is that it is an Islamic requisite for Muslim women, and to abandon the hijab is an act of relinquishing Islam, or that the act is based on more secular grounds and a sense of freedom found mostly in the West. However, while some Islamic Feminists are for the hijab, others are vehemently against the wearing of the hijab on the grounds that it is in fact unIslamic. These contradictory polemics allows feminism to constantly evolve.

However, to say that there is only one type of feminism in the West would be just as reductionist as my encounter with women in college who all assumed that by being Muslim I had to wear that black thing, and therefore must be oppressed. There is a myriad of voices both in the West and in Muslim countries and just as movements evolve so does feminist theory. Indian American Asra Nomani is a Muslim Feminist and activist in the United States calling for Gender Jihad. She wrote the ‘Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque’ that allows women to share the same space as men and pray side by side as they did in Prophet Mohammed’s time. Likewise, within the Muslim world, there are both Islamic and secular feminists that inform each other while striving for further freedoms and gender equality.

Western feminism in various expressions and waves tends to be in direct competition with men, and strives to succeed in an acknowledged patriarchal world – with men as their benchmarks- to be equal to men. Within this structure, men tend to be the competitor – and in some cases, the oppressor and even the enemy rather than partner and co-creator in ending gender inequality. Women’s rights, issues, etc., whether advocated by Western or Muslim feminists, are pertinent but can overlook components that are equally important in creating a more egalitarian world. Rather than alienating and lay all the blame onto men, we need to recognize that they are our allies. That is not to say that I am aware of the daily injustices women in the Middle East and all parts of the world endure, mostly from men. Nor do I make light of the plight of women’s issues in patriarchal societies. However, rather than come from a space of ‘women’s rights’ I personally rather come from a place of women’s rights and human compassion that includes men as partners in ending gender discrimination. Therefore, there needs to be a bigger space for men to be engaged with in feminism and gender equality, especially in the Middle East.

I sat in a lecture once about the collective experience of boys in the 21^st century, inheriting the collective responsibility of past (and future) wars, destruction, violence, and inequality. The question that was posed was: how did this determine their experience and identity as future fathers, men, and partners in this world? This really struck a chord with me as I thought of my father and my brother, both of whom I was very close to. Every time someone made a negative comment about Muslim men, I would think about them and wonder how such assumptions shaped their experiences. I then realized why I was so upset by my encounter with Western feminists that wanted to save Muslim women years ago: in doing so it made the assumption that Arab Muslim men were incapable of loving, caring, respecting, and supporting their families and women in a healthy way.

Working on a photography exhibition for an international humanitarian organization in New York, depicting decades of medical support in Afghanistan, I once more felt the need for a space to be created for the healthy Muslim man.  We had to be very selective of the images that would best represent life in Afghanistan under the Taliban, the refugee camps, the warfare and the medical assistance we provided. I found myself incredibly drawn to one image: three Afghan fathers holding on to their daughters on their laps, waiting in a medical tent for them to be examined. It was incredibly moving, after having gone through hundreds of images of women in burqas, women with their malnourished children, and the only image of men were of the Taliban or resistant fractions with guns. The image of the three Afghan fathers was not going to make it into the exhibition because it did not say much to most people about our work. However, I pointed out how important it was to show these men being caring fathers to their daughters. In a post-September 11th world where the vilification and de humanization of Arab Muslim men was a norm on TV and the media, I felt that this image was just as important as having an image of a woman in a burqa.

Of course, men as much as women, have a responsibility to achieve gender equality, however, we need to do so as partners not competitors.  In Kuwait, I would safely say that a good 30% of the protesters calling for women’s right to vote were men. As much as there were male MPs who did not want them women to have the vote, there were the same if not more men who were rallying for women’s right to vote.  In 2004, this dream became a reality with the bill for women’s right to vote that passed in Kuwait. Furthermore, in Parliamentarian elections in 2009, four women were elected, representing various political camps, including one who wears the hijab. This is just a small start to equality in the Middle East.

By consistently denying mothers, sisters, and daughters, we are keeping our countries behind, economically, financially, culturally, and socially. By vilifying and laying sole blame on fathers, brothers, and sons, we deny them the space for positive partnership. We would be most effective if, as allies, we continue to affect the legal and judicial systems, including Islamic sharia’ laws.  Through the abrogation of archaic and gender biased laws with new laws that ensures equity and acknowledges women as active partners in state and society, we can work towards a healthy and more equitable society.

Written by Sula Al-Naqueeb

http://www.humanemergencemiddleeast.org/young-arabs-blog/

Sula is a young Arab leader working on systemic changes in business and culture. An Ivy League graduate who also holds a Masters degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies, she is now the Chief Innovation Officer at Kout Food Group in Kuwait. In her capacity as a Second Generation Fellow at the Center for Human Emergence Middle East, Sula writes about emergence of new values in the Persian Gulf and offers a cautiously optimistic view of the future of the region.

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