Essay++++++++++++++++++++++2

First paragraph missing The Tea Party movement has been portrayed in many lights by the media. Right leaning media will show the Tea Party in a positive light. It will highlight the positive changes in the organization itself and the progress it has made. It doesn’t see the party’s Christian lean or highly fiscally conservative views as a negative aspect for a political movement. The middle ground media will attempt to give viewers straight facts about the movement. It will not look to sway the average person only inform. Through the middle one can learn about the Tea Party through mostly unbiased eyes. The Tea Party was founded by right leaning fiscal conservatives who were discontent with the current handle of the United States economic wellbeing. Their views usually benefit a certain demographic of American as opposed to the greater good, which has led the movement to come under heavy fire from the left. The left wing portrays the Tea Party quite distastefully. It claims that the movement is disorganized and their economic views are irresponsible. They highlight the organization’s disunity. A major point the left makes is the that the fiscal policy of the Tea Party movement would cut almost all of the social welfare programs that benefit some many American’s today, because some use them irresponsibly. The one idea that all faces of the media can agree upon is that most of the Tea Party’s public faces and leaders are, surprisingly, women. Both sides of the political spectrum represent women in a different way. The left likes to show women being strong leaders both in, and mostly out of the home. They tend to represent more feminist ideals and do not always portray women in the traditional mother/homemaker perspective. They also often demonize right wing women as traitors to their own sex. The right tends to glorify the strong feminine mother type as opposed to the business women. Liberal female politicians are often portrayed as cold, while right leaning female politicians are lionized as strong mothers and care givers of the party. Within the Tea Party, right leaning media portray women as “Mama Bears.” They idealize the female role in the home while also having strong female leaders. These leaders, such as Sarah Palin, and Michele Bachmann, play off of their highly feminine appearance. These women are all married and have large families, biological or otherwise and often play up their roles as mothers in the media. The Tea Party uses these women as examples of ideal families with strong Christian ideals. They glorify these women and use them to show that the Tea Party is not a sexist origination. The left leaning media portrays Tea Party women differently. Many hardcore left leaning media pundits will depict female Tea Partiers as betrayers of their own sex. They represent them as anti-feminist “Suzy homemakers” that rely on their good looks and cute telegenic personas to win public support. They criticize the Tea Party beliefs and ideals as taking America back to its beginning, a time where women couldn’t vote, own property, or be taken seriously. Less left leaning media sources will simply criticize the women for their public personas, not for their seemingly anti-feminist views. Female politicians within the Tea Party work hard to create their own personas as well. Sarah Palin, in the forefront of the party, and one of its founders, has been working since her 2007 nomination as the Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee to create her public image of that as hard working mother and homemaker. She uses her persona to speak to many women, but many of her views do not correlate with speaking for women. She has come under fire from many feminist organizations. She is seen as almost a puppet for the Tea Party. On the other hand, the Tea Party supports Palin. They portray her as one of their “Mama Bear” politicians, a term that Palin herself coined. She has many supports within the movement because of her strong conservative beliefs and her strong Christian beliefs, especially her pro-life stance, which she supported when she chose to carry her youngest child to full term, even with the knowledge that he would have Down Syndrome. They portray her as a hero to mothers and homemakers and as a protector of the feminine ideal, even while she is a strong figure head of a national political movement. Michele Bachmann, a newer face in the Tea Party is portrayed very similarly as Sarah Palin, by both the right and the left. From the left she has been thoroughly scrutinized for her strong Christian beliefs, including her belief in the protection of the sanctity of marriage and that her husband works to turn homosexuals straight. These beliefs are supported by the Tea Party movement because of its firm roots in Evangelical Christianity, and she is glorified for them within the movement. The role of women in the Tea Party movement is highly disputed. Some believe that their beliefs are reversing feminism throughout the party, and some think they are being heroes of the sex by being leaders in a male dominated party. Many of these disputes arrive because of the radical nature of the Tea Party and its views and if they were closer to the middle of the Republican Party they would not be nearly so scrutinized. It is hard to find unbiased views in the media about women in the Tea Party because of its radical nature. It is still important that all these women are taking a stand either way, because as people become more politically active, especially those that have been historically kept down, the country becomes more equalized for all, providing more opportunity to move forward as a people.

Missing citations, with intent to add. Also, gotta make that first paragraph. Forgot to bring my source with me.