Why Do Feminists Defend Sarah Palin?
Meh
We do. A lot.
Which of course brings me to the question, why?
I mean, she’s anti-choice, anti-environment, anti-everything good and, for all appearances, about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.
So, why, when guys who are ostensibly on the liberal side call her things like “dumb twat” do feminists come out of the woodwork telling them to knock it off? And believe me, we do. Every time Bill Maher talks about her, he uses sexist language like whoa. And that’s the thing. See how I described her above? Not a single gendered attribute in that list. Because her gender has no impact on the fact that she’s a terrible person. She’d be a terrible person if she were male because of her stances on women’s rights, abortion, the environment, energy conservation and many other issues.
So, first, the gendered insults are completely and utterly unnecessary.
The second reason feminists jump to her defense when people start in with gendered insults is because we’re smart enough to realize, “there but for the grace of the Flying Spaghetti Monster go I.” Because we know that no one gets to be the “Exceptional Girl” forever. Sooner or later, you will “screw up” and say something someone male doesn’t like, then suddenly you’re the “dumb twat,” “stupid cunt,” or “ball-busting bitch.” And we also know that it sucks. So we try (I do try, I don’t always succeed, but I try) not to use gendered insults, and to call others on them.* Because honestly, if you disagree with someone about something, their gender really has nothing to do with it. People can be cruel, stupid, awful and mean-spirited and it has absolutely nothing to do with their gender.
So, that’s why feminists speak up whenever Bill Maher or his other Fauxgressive buddies call her a stupid twat. Because her being the owner of a vagina has nothing whatsoever to do with why she’s awful.
*My particular blindspot in the category of gendered insults is “dick.” It’s a bad habit and a verbal tick that I’m working on losing, but it’s kind of been my non-swear word swear word since my late teens, and it’s hard to quit saying it. But I am working on it.
Polimicks 
“I mean, she’s anti-choice, anti-environment, anti-everything good and, for all appearances, about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.”
Hey now! Wet mice have claws and teeth! That has to make them at least a LITTLE sharper than Palin!
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