Jacques-Alain Miller - Sarah Palin: Operation "Castration"

......• Sarah Palin: Operation "Castration" •

.........Jacques-Alain Miller
.........translated by Jake Bellone with James Curley-Egan

The choice of Sarah Palin is a sign of the times. In politics, the feminine enunciation is hence called to dominate. But be careful! It's no longer about women who play elbows, modeling themselves on the men. We are entering an era of postfeminist women, women who, without bargaining, are ready to kill the political men. The transition was perfectly visible during Hillary's campaign: she began playing the commander in chief and, since that didn't work, what did she do? She sent a subliminal message, one that said something like: "Obama? He's got nothing in the pants." And she immediately took it back, but it was too late. Sarah Palin is not only picking up where she left off but, being younger by fifteen years, she is otherwise ferocious, slinging feminine sarcasm like a natural; she overtly castrates her male adversaries (and with such frank jubilation!) and their only recourse is to remain silent: they have no idea how to attack a woman who uses her femininity to ridicule them and reduce them to impotence. For the moment, a woman who plays the "castration" card is invincible.

In France, we were able to see Ségolène accomplish Operation "Castration" on Fabius and Strauss-Kahn, but, subsequently, she tried to give herself a motherly image and thus she neglected Sarkozy, who was able to paint her as a twit. And thus she joined the ranks of Martine Aubry or Michele Alliot-Marie, the standard models...

What is the precise difference between the women of these two generations? The first ones imitated man, respected the phallus, and performed as if they had one. The second wave knows that the phallus is only a semblance and, furthermore, one not to be taken seriously: it is the de-complexified femininity. A Sarah Palin puts forward no lack: she fears nothing, churns out children all while holding a shotgun, and presents herself as an unstoppable force, "a pitbull with lipstick".

Has Obama already lost? By not choosing Hillary as his partner – in the instances of his spouse, who is quite a pitbull herself – he paved the way for McCain to drive right in. Thanks to Palin, McCain is back in the race. Sarah impassions America, she brings a new Eros to politics. If Obama wins, she has better chances to be his challenger in four years. If it's McCain, Hillary will be his number one adversary. In any case, a new race of political women rise to power.