Feminists, Conservatives Condemn Zardari’s Palin Remarks
For what could very well be the first time in history, Pakistani feminists and religious conservatives agree with each other: the way Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari treated Sarah Palin - John McCain’s running mate - was unacceptable.
When Zardari met Palin he told her she looked “gorgeous” and that he now “know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”
Although those compliments could still be considered acceptable or at least not completely unacceptable, he added he would “hug” Palin if his handler insisted.
It’s not the first time that a Pakistani leader is accused of making sexist remarks. When former Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz met Condoleezza Rice he reportedly stared deeply into her eyes and told her that he could “conquer any woman in two minutes.”
The conservative Red Mosque’s leaders in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad responded furiously to Zardari’s appreciation for Palin’s physical beauty. It issued a fatwa condemning his behavior, saying he shamed the nation for “indecent gestures, filthy remarks, and repeated praise of a non-Muslim lady wearing a short skirt.”
Feminists too weren’t thrilled when they saw their President cross the line of decency. “As a Pakistani and as a woman, it was shameful and unacceptable. He was looking upon her merely as a woman and not as a politician in her own right,” says Tahira Abdullah, a member of the Women’s Action Forum.
She added that Zardari should have at least pretended to be a mourning widower; his wife, Benazir Bhutto was killed by terrorists. “He should show some decorum – if he loved his wife so much as to press for a United Nations investigation into her death, he should behave like a mourning widower,” she said.
Palin handled Zardari’s sexist remarks quite well, by the way. She stayed calm, thanked him for his compliments and smiled. This was the only correct response; reacting negatively to such remarks would not be wise. She should show them they should take her serious when (if) she becomes vice president. Then, and only then, should she show them that the pretty face is not all there is; there is a strong character below the surface.
