Feminists are angry about Sarah Palin. Frankly, I think any woman John McCain picked would have been viewed with the same scorn and derision, but the hatred of Sarah Palin, and the millions of American women she typifies, is palpable. Don't believe me? Go read this site and you'll see what I mean.
I started looking at the criticism of Palin--the ones that weren't about calling her a bitch, a c***, a whore, or more--to figure out which women's rights, exactly Sarah Palin would "set back." So far, I can only find reference to abortion (far and away their greatest concern) and comparable worth, an unwieldy and dangerous intrusion on business. And most people don't even bother with the comparable worth stuff.
So, I decided to compile a list of rights Sarah Palin won't take away if she is elected Vice President of the United States:
1. Right to vote. Yep, we have the 19th Amendment to stop that. Not that I've heard Palin say she wants to take away a woman's right to vote, but I'm sure there are some nutburgers out there arguing that she does.
2. Right to equal pay. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 assures equal pay for equal work. This is not to be confused with comparable worth which seeks unequal pay for unequal work.
3. Right not to be fired due to pregnancy. It used to be quite common for employers to fire women when they became pregnant. But the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prevents employers from firing female employees because they become pregnant, or not hiring pregnant prospective employees. Yes, I know employers still do this, but there is a law in place that protects women and Sarah Palin isn't going to rescind that law.
4. Right of married women to own property. Up until the 1960s, many states barred married women from owning property in their own name (property bought after the marriage) due to a legal concept called coverture. Essentially, when a man and woman married, the woman's legal rights merged into her husband's and she had few legal rights of her own. But fear not! Sarah Palin isn't going to "set back women's rights" by rescinding the various state statutes which recognize women's rights to own property.
5. Right to divorce. Sarah Palin will not rescind no-fault divorce, a key concept for equality, according to feminists.
6. Right to sue. Back in the 1950s--the time period feminists say Sarah Palin wants to go back to--married women could not sue for their own torts. This was because women were considered their husbands' property. So, for example, if a woman was in a car wreck, she couldn't sue the other driver for compensation for her injuries. Her husband had to do it. Sarah Palin won't be sending us back to the 1950s when this sort of thing happened.
Granted, these aren't all the rights women have achieved in the last 200 years (or 2000 years, depending on which feminist you talk to), but it's guaranteed Sarah Palin won't rescind any of these rights.
And guess what? Sarah Palin won't overturn Roe or get rid of contraception, either! That Roe was not an executive order is no secret, but to listen to feminists, one would have to believe that it is. That's why every conversation about Sarah Palin discusses her personal opposition to abortion.
Don't let feminists lie about Sarah Palin and women's rights. The problem for feminists is that there are no women's rights outside of the sacrament of abortion. But as my little list shows, there are many more rights women enjoy that will still be in place if Palin is veep.
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