The Tea Party and Angry White Women

For good or ill, conservative women have moved mountains in America’s past. The prohibition of liquor is just one example. So is the banning of books in schools. Now they have helped organize the Tea Party, and their new political engagement may change American political culture in unpredictable ways. Their assault on the misogyny in the Republican Party, for example, may repeat some of the changes that occurred when feminists challenged the Democratic Party in the 1970s. Perhaps they will build a large base in the Tea Party and elect their own leaders. It is also conceivable, as in the past, that they may disappear into their homes and churches and become a footnote in the history of American politics. Given the current economy, however, that is unlikely.

That the Tea Party panders to fear and resentment is well known. One of the dirty little secrets of the movement, however, is that the conservative movement is, in part, fueled by female members who are angry and resentful at being excluded from Republican and conservative politics.