As I mentioned in this post last week, one of the key elements to look for in the November mid-terms is the emergence of conservative women as a political force to be reckoned with. Back in the ’90s they were “soccer moms” who the Democrats sought to reach out to for so-called “pocketbook issues”. The main difference between then and what we’re seeing now is not just the arrival of solid, savvy Republican candidates from all corners of the country, but candidates who embrace conservative ideals like making government smaller and more efficient, lowering the deficit, and reducing spending.

And if you’re looking for the catalyst for this new era of female conservatism, there’s only one place to look: Sarah Palin.

And she’s driving traditional feminists to the point of frustration and despair as a result.

It’s not that high-profile Republican candidates like Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, and Nikki Haley all embrace Palin’s ideas and ideals – they most certainly don’t. But what Sarah Palin did as a vice-presidential candidate for John McCain, and is doing as a free-thinking, Beltway-bashing conservative activist is redefining what it means to be a female in American politics and a modern feminist in 21st century American culture. You may not like her, you may not even agree with her, but there’s no way you can dismiss her or the impact she has had and is having in American politics these days.

How is Palin redefining modern feminism? Jennifer Rubin’s column in Commentary Magazine has a column every so-called “traditional feminist” needs to read. Here’s the money quote as far as I’m concerned:

You see, Palin has proved by example that a woman politician need not spout the pro-big government, pro-abortion, pro-welfare-state line. “Ms. Palin has spent much of 2010 burnishing her political bona fides and extending her influence by way of the Mama Grizzlies, a gang of Sarah- approved, maverick-y female politicians looking to ‘take back’ America with ‘common-sense’ solutions.” She sure did, and she proved herself to be the most effective female politician in the country. Sorry, Hillary — while you have been playing errand girl for the Obama foreign-policy train wreck, Palin has ascended to the throne.

As I’ve written before, the problem with the “traditional feminists” of the late-’60s/early ’70s – at least in my view – is that for all their concern about their bodies and the life form potential their bodies by nature alone have via their place in God’s creation, their concern over their fellow women has always left a lot to be desired. Aligning all their passions and energies to the most radical of leftist positions when it comes to issues like gay marriage and their holy grail “abortion rights” (even supporting the practice of partial-birth abortions), they turn a blind eye to the true suffering of their so-called “sisters” in the world: systematic rape in African nations like the Congo, the treatment of women and children in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, in Islamic nations all around the world, and even still in places like India and China.

There are few worse hypocrital movements in American culture then so-called “feminism”, which has never cared much more than their own self-interests and the right to total control over their wombs. Think about it: feminists will fall all over themselves praising the likes of Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, but puke at the idea of a powerful, conservative class act like Condoleezza Rice getting anywhere close to power in Washington. And they absolutely detest conservative Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachman.

The rise of strong and confident new voices like Sarah Palin’s, and those like her running for office as Republicans, can only help fumigate the room that has been occupied for too long by the likes of the National Order for (Liberal) Women (NOW) and the so-called “traditional feminists” who continue to carry the same old water after all these years. The ’60s were forty years so; it’s time for new voices with new perspectives on the role of women in God’s creation, American culture, American politics, and the rapidly-changing world we live in today. And given the kind of crap Sarah Palin is still having to deal with, this time can’t come soon enough.

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