Kara Jesella joins us at TAP Online today with a piece on Sarah Palin and the rise of motherhood politics:
Maternalist politics have arrived -- again. Over the last two years, mothers -- particularly progressive mothers -- have become increasingly vocal on a number of political issues. In her 2007 book "Mamarama," feminist author Evelyn McDonnell says that she would "like to reclaim momism as a growing branch of activism," adding that it "could be to the aughties what civil rights were to the '60s."
Sarah Palin's approach seems to be a little bit different than what McDonnell had in mind. With a high-paying job and flexibly-employed husband, she hasn't been outspoken on the issues that typically concern progressive, feminist, and increasingly, activist mothers, like paid sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, and excellent child care. In some ways, her personal politics of motherhood seem retrograde: by mentioning that her son was about to go to war, she hearkened back to old ideas about mothers having a special moral authority. But, ironically, she merges this with a newer, more explicitly feminist idea: That she is a particularly adept administrator because she is a mother.
Also, take a gander at this great piece Dana wrote back 2007 on what female politicians lose when they brand themselves as mothers.
--The Editors
