Not a recent article, but a good piece by Courtney E. Martin in American Prospect online that sheds some light not only on the controversy and strong opinions over Sarah Palin but also, on how we see ourselves as women and the status of modern day feminism.  As the commentary points out, the debate seems less about her and more revealing about us as women, as a society and country on gender and equality issues. Like the “Who’s Laughing” workshops on race and humor that I organized a decade ago, we may learn a lot by asking a few hard questions, e.g. about our discomfort or pleasure with Palin and taking a closer look at why she evokes such strong responses and controversy. Politics, power and gender dynamics are complex, from internalized sexism to reverse stereotypes, with few simple answers. As one insightful professor pointed out to me in college, asking the hard questions and having the honest conversations may be more important than trying to find the one right answer.

On feminism and gender equity, I would like to focus efforts on alleviating barriers and challenges to success–poverty, healthcare, education, childcare–as well as constructively eliminating remaining bias or prejudice, among men and women. We all have some stereotypes and blindspots to work on.  Women remain grossly underrepresented in Congress (16%) and in top corporate leadership (3% are CEOs). The White House Project is one good organization that promotes and trains women for elective office and civic participation. We definitely need a more diverse and robust pipeline. Running my own campaign and serving in local public office was one of the most fulfilling and challenging experiences. Go Vote, Run, Lead!

As for beauty pageants, folks are surprised when they hear me point out the differences between the scholarship pageants and other bikini-fur coat-and-sports car pageants. Since I attended dozens of pageants to watch my sister compete (and win—she paid part of her college tuition with scholarship awards), I  know the difference between chiffon, gold lame and taffeta,  dyeing matching pumps and how to do Asian glamour make-up. I learned the Top 10 Interview Questions and have seen the best and the worst talent performances. Actually, I would probably be a pretty good American Idol judge!