One of the least helpful arguments in the conservative post-election analysis (if one can indeed call it that) is the gynephobic finger of blame aimed at Sarah Palin.  The McCain ticket, which featured Palin as only the second female Vice-Presidential candidate in U.S. history, garnered eleven times the electoral vote count as did the Mondale-Ferraro candidacy in 1984!  Only six percentage points separated the male-female ticket from the boys of the Left.  That is a near-miracle, given the nation's economic crisis and President Bush's approval ratings tanking by the minute.

 

In a year in which any Republican would face a colossal struggle, Palin brought a fresh face: a woman's face, a woman's world-view, to the good-old boys' club that is, in the public's perception, the Republican Party.  She did well, amazingly well. 

 

Lose the gynephobia, boys.  To paraphrase our ancient sister Lysistrata, "For [politics] from now on is. . . women's affair."

Regardless of one's political affiliation, one must admire this woman. Inter-racial marriages, and the children thus produced, brought the first wave of healing to our country's racial divide.

 

Both of the major Presidential candidates, and one of the Vice-Presidential candidates (Palin) are splendid examples of the gift racial diversity brings to one's family: John and Cindy McCain adopted one of their children from Bangladesh; Todd Palin, a Native American, married Sarah, of European ancestry. That in itself is a milestone--both tickets speak of the breadth of diversity in our nation.

 

Having such diversity in one's own family is a gift to the entire community, for it teaches love for those who appear to be, on the surface, so far apart. When there is no relationship, one sees otherness in the diverse faces of humankind. Becoming acquainted, even making friendships with those of other races and other cultures can replace hate with love.

 

Regardless of the outcome of today's election, let us erase the hate that often pops out in heated debate, and replace it with civility--even in our disagreements, let us never forget the face of humanity on our opponent.

In her foundational work, "Castration or Decapitation," feminist Helene Cixous tells the story of a Chinese nobleman with many wives whose whim [read: fetish] was to turn his wives into soldiers. So this "noble"-man hired the ancient equivalent of a drill sergeant to train the women as soldiers. But to the sergeant's chagrin, the women would not march in step, be turned to silence. They chattered, they cackled, they walked as they wished. The sergeant promptly decapitated the two women in the front row. The women marched in step from then on. Cixous concludes, "women have no choice other than to be decapitated, and in any case the moral is that if they don't actually lose their heads by the sword, they only keep them on condition that they lose them--lose them, that is, to complete automatons." (From "Castration or Decapitation," trans. Annette Kuhn. In Signs, 7, no. 1 {1981}, pp. 41-55)

 

Sarah Palin is no one's automaton. She refuses to become the Stepford wife of the Left. Her ideas are fresh, not bound by the chains of twentieth-century Marxism. She has risen to her position in government-not on the coattails of a man-but on her own merit. She is strong-a woman who can survive both in the wilds of Alaska and in the halls of power. She is logical, a woman who in the words of Elaine Lafferty, former editor-in-chief of Ms. "...sees...processes...questions, and only then, she acts." (From "Sarah Palin’s A Brainiac," Daily Beast, October 27, 2008)

 

For those of you who seem to equate intelligence with emulating a walking encyclopedia, I actually prefer Palin’s nuanced way with ideas to those of the men in the race: when presented with something she is not familiar with, she wants to study the matter before making a comment. That is the mark of a fine executive. Arrogance, on the other hand, is the mark of a petty mind. Anyone can memorize facts and recite a canned response. People who are willing to listen and to learn are sorely needed in today's world. For too long, the U.S. has been labeled arrogant, mainly because its politicians have been long on factoids and short on listening to others' points of view and willingness to learn. Palin, on the other hand, has not lost her head to the arrogance of the Left, nor to the "good-ole-boys network" of the Right. Because she exudes graciousness in the persona of a life-long learner, Sarah Palin is indeed the polar opposite of the "ugly American." We are ever so glad that she is also a woman.