Feminism, as journalist Julia Baird notes in this article in Newsweek, is a much unloved, although proud, term. So it's odd, she says that it is being fought over by pro-life Sarah Palin who wants to call herself a feminist.
Not everyone agrees, so Ms Baird itemises six reasons why she should be able to carry the label: feminism is a broad church; it will force us (is that the "us" who are real feminists?) to properly scrutinise the many politically active Republican women; because it's cool that people want to be feminists again; it makes us think about what feminism is again; because Democrats need to lift their game.
Hmm, these aren't terribly convincing reasons. To be honest, whether some of us think Sarah Palin should be "able" to call herself a feminist seems to miss the point. If that what she wants to call herself, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop her.
And why waste the energy frankly. There are so many other, far more important things to be concerned about - such as the gang rape this weekend of women in eastern Congo (see WVoN story).
