The XX Factor: What women really think.

If It's Feminist to Be Embarrassed to Be a Woman, Count Me In

In a blatant, desperate, and misguided bid for page-views and newsstand sales, More (More? Does anyone read More? I don't know if I've ever even seen a copy in my doctor's office) asked three women writers to weigh in on Sarah Palin. Days, weeks, months later, Palin still "sells." Their responses are a heady mix of maddening, confused, and inane.

Lisa Schiffren writes: "Knowing that conservative, evangelical Christian women want their daughters to see such a role model [as Palin] tells us that feminism, in its best sense, has won its central battle." Eh? What? I can't even figure out what that means. According to Schiffren, Hillary is a bombastic careerist, but Palin is all right because she's more "Sam's Club than Yale Club." When Sam's Club becomes your selling point, I remain unsold. Ergo, Palin is the Wal-Mart of politics. If you get what you pay for, I am glad I passed on her in the vice presidents aisle.

Next up, Kellyanne Conway wonders: "Is Sarah Palin a Plus for Women?" My vote? No. Unless by "plus" you mean "minus." If that, then yes. Conway takes issue with all the "unsavory talk" that arose around Palin. (Full disclosure: I wrote about the Sarah Palin inflatable love doll, which, I assure you, was most unsavory of me.) What did the Palin experience teach the women of America? "If you dare to seek standing in any powerful institution, attacks on your husbands, hairdos, handbags, and haute couture will be just the beginning." God help us when they come for our intellects. The fallout from this "so-called sisterhoods" (that's you, feminists) "Palin impaling"? "At a minimum, we'll see a chilling effect on women venturing outside their usual realms, speaking in anything but broadcaster English, and wearing anything but a safe, neutral uniform." When we're all wearing beige, we'll know who to blame. The feminists.

Finally, we hear from Cathy Young. Young's bite-sized take on America's hate-hate relationship with Palin is that liberal women were wanting Hillary in the White House, Palin came along and messed that up, but everything worked out fine in the end because we have a new face of feminism, and that face is attached to Sarah Palin's head. "If nothing else, she has given feminism a new face, with profound appeal to women of different ages and walks of life." No regrets for those who got Palin tattoos, then.

What is going on here? Is this feminism? Neo-conservatism with a vagina? Insanity? If Palin is the new face of feminism, I'd like to request a post-feminist president, please.