Maybe getting upset by something written by a member of “the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada” is a little like being shocked that Bush endorses McCain. Everyone expects it and clearly there is no point in opening a dialogue here. But Andrea Mrozek’s article needs responding to because what she’s saying needs to be discussed. There are hundreds of amazing feminists in Canada that are nothing like what Mrozek is trying to scare the willing public with, yet we are letting her define us. It’s time to start talking.

So her first point:

Feminists went apoplectic when Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was chosen as Senator John McCain’s running mate. The same feminists who keep saying we must have more women in politics suddenly changed their minds. We need more women–just not that kind of woman.

Now there is a large degree of hyperbole going on here, I have yet to see anyone go “apoplectic” over McCain choosing Palin, however there sure are a lot of feminists, and people who don’t call themselves feminists for that matter, that are damn upset. America has been going in a direction for years under the Bush administration that has threatened women’s reproductive rights and now we have a potential VP who is as “pro-life as any candidate can be.” Feminists are worried about Palin because of the effect she might have on policy. While most would agree it’s great to see a woman in an important and visible political role, she does not receive a get-out-of-jail free card because she’s a woman. If she were to become VP, she would have responsibility towards the citizens who elected her, women and men.

North American feminists should be working to extend the fundamental freedoms they enjoy to parts of the globe where such freedoms are absent. But instead, they pitch a package of partisan political beliefs at home. Their palette is left-wing and non-negotiable — especially the part about unrestricted access to, and, ideally, public funding for, abortion.

This is a well-worn argument that ring-wingers have been trying to crucify feminists on for years, but unfortunately for them it’s just not true. Has Mrozek picked up a copy of Ms lately? Read a feminist blog? Because if does she’ll realize feminists are fighting daily to “extend the fundamental freedoms they enjoy,” as opposed to taking them away like the current government seems determined to do.

And now we get to talk about abortion, because it from the conservative perspective it seems that’s all feminists can think about. We’re abortion crazy! And while I’d disagree that feminists are all staunch left-wingers (many of the feminists I know have absolutely no interest in government politics) I would agree that abortion is in some ways non-negotiable. I think (I hope!) I can speak for many other feminists when I say that anyone is free to decide what they think a fetus is, and all women are free make their own decisions about pregnancy and reproduction, but no one can tell me what to do with my body, and that is non-negotiable.

In this very polarized context, it’s not surprising that only the very strongest of conservative and pro-life female politicians would rise to the top. It takes a lot of guts not only to stand up to the kind of sisterly abuse described above, but also to compete effectively in a traditionally male-dominated field. To those untainted by ideology, Sarah Palin is gritty determination personified. To establishment feminists*, however, she’s a disaster.

This is just kind of pathetic and Mrozek drops a level in my esteem here. Seriously, we’re supposed to feel sorry for all these middle class white republication women because feminists are mean to them? Moving on…

Why? Two words: family values. She has five kids (which is at least four too many for a dogmatic, career-obsessed feminist) and she’s pro-life, even in cases of rape and incest. That she also insists on having the rewarding career that feminists wish they had themselves is just too much. It’s driving her feminist opponents around the bend — they now find themselves criticizing her for neglecting her children, which is more than a little rich coming from people who never tire of reminding mothers that staying at home to look after their children is a cardinal sin.

Um, once again, I don’t know who these people are she’s talking about but they’re sure as hell not feminists. And now feminists don’t have rewarding careers? I thought we were the evil anti-family ones? I’m confused.

Ultimately, feminism — in its current manifestation as a hodge-podge of left-wing positions on abortion, gender quotas and family law — has become a brittle, insecure ideology. Nothing highlights this better than the animus feminists reserve for a woman like Sarah Palin.

Hers is the new face of feminism. Get ready to see more of it.

Ah yes, the uppity women meme. Having positions on relevant issues that affects our lives makes us “brittle and insecure”. I thought we were full of rage? Or perhaps we’re just everything bad, like witches or terrorists. Ohhh, scary feminism face is my next Hallowe’en costume! But seriously, let’s talk about the new face of feminism. It belongs to the women who formed grass-roots organizations that put a stop to the potentially disastrous Bill C- 484. It belongs to the exhausted men and women that run my local women’s shelter and make next to nothing. It belongs to those girls who got to see a woman run for president, to the new immigrants I teach English to that left their country because they were not considered people. The new face of feminism may not be pretty but it’s a damn good face.

*And I’m dying to know who these “establishment feminists” are.  Any guesses?