Are you a Hillary or a Sarah

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

 As this video demonstrates their is still a identity crisis for how women should act in politics (I couldn't get the video to work)

  I’m sure it comes as no surprise to the class that from the moment I heard Barrack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention I became a strong supporter.  But despite my firm belief that he was the best candidate I always felt a little bit sorry for Hillary Clinton.  I know it is cliché to discuss her difficulties as a woman, but truly her campaign and the appearance of Sarah Palin as the Republican nomination for Vice President represent the kind of identity crisis women are having in the quest for roles of power.  Ever since women gained legal equality they have been trying to figure out how to break the glass ceiling and achieve true equality.  After thousands of years as subservient roles, where do you fit in as equals?  Do you abandon femininity and adopt the style of business as men or do you create a new style business with a female flair? 

Hillary Clinton if fierce but does that mean less of a woman?

            On the one hand you have the Hillary Clintons of the professional world.  The women who “grow a pair of balls” and play hardball with the boys.  In Maxine Hong Kingston’s book ‘Woman Warrior’ she translates this role in medieval China where a swordswoman assumes the role of a man to lead a troop of soldiers against corruption.  By doing so she attains power and pride that she would not have felt, but must sacrifice part of what defines her as a woman.  “When I became pregnant, during the last four months, I wore my armor altered so that I looked like a powerful big man.  As a fat man, I walked with the foot soldiers so as not to jounce the gestation.” (pg 39) Later she gives up raising the child to protect it from her dangerous line of work.  This is as the case for the Hillary Clintons of the world today.  They have achieved top level education, worked hard and attained the power and prestige they deserve, formidable opponents to any man.  However at the same time they are viewed by many as not truly “female.”  They are labeled as “bitches” and considered to be bad mothers because they value their career.  Career woman also run the risk of lonely lifestyles.  As expressed in Woman Warrior, “Nobody supports me at the expense of his own adventure.  Then I get bitter: no one supports me; I am not loved enough to be supported.” (pg 48)

Sure she is hot, but is that enough to lead?

            So this fear prevent woman from assuming this kind of strong independent woman role in society.  Instead they become more Sarah Palin beauty queen models.  “To sustain her being loved, she often works at herself in the mirror, guessing at the colors and shapes that would interest him, changing them frequently in order to hit on the right combination.” (pg 9)   This isn’t to say the Sarah Palin’s forfeit power, but instead choose to embrace femininity and use it to their advantage.  They run things like they would run their family home and allow men to at least feel to a certain degree in power.  Of course this is dangerous line, as Sarah Palin found out.  Political analysts say that Sarah Palin struggled with women voters because feminists thought she was too weak and promoting negative female stereotypes where traditionalist woman believed she was asserting too much power for a woman. 

            So where does this leave women? Hell if I know!  I grew up with two complex females and I am no closer to understanding them.  I have met mild manner housewives who can take control and strong independent women who blush and giggle like school girls. I will attest that women are just as smart and capable as men, but so have much more baggage.  Whether they are still victims of history and just need time to find their place amongst the boys, or whether they are just more susceptible to all these emotions that make life more complicated I have no clue. 

WOMEN ARE A PUZZLEMENT!