Saturday, September 6, 2008

Mommy, what's a sexist?

State investigations and scandals aside, I'm having problems trying to not only understand McCain's pick for VP but also the campaign to hush up dissent about said nominee.
I suppose they reason that it worked for the march to war by tying the hands of the media by proclaiming it un-American by asking the questions out loud that some of us had about the push to attack a country that hadn't fired a single shot at us.
But now to question Palin's readiness to lead as being sexist has me scratching my feminist head. In the card game Bid Whist, we call it reneging when you play a card out of turn as a trump card. Now it's sexist to just ask whether she doesn't already have enough on her plate? When did women give up the privilege of raising their children? I went back to work six weeks after my son was born and several months later added college classes to my full-time job AND my motherhood duties. It was hell juggling all three balls but I wouldn't have changed anything and I got my degree, kept my job and my son (and his older sister) survived his mother's busy life.
But back to Palin. I watched the GOP attack my beloved profession of journalism and lay the specter of sexism on it. Interestingly, though, they stood next to their compatriots who proudly wore really sexist campaign buttons proclaiming her sexuality as an attribute to the ticket. "Hot governor from a cool state" and "I'd tap Palin" and "hot hockey mom" are popular items.
As a woman, as a feminist I find it offensive for people to go to such a base level of "appeal" to distract the attention to the quality of the candidate as a potential leader of the free world. How could she even take herself seriously if more people start staring at her ass like McCain did instead of listening to her policy statements? I want her to use her brain power and not her estrogen power to persuade the country's stance on the important issues of the day. It's like I'm back in some junior high school fantasy, being hot for teacher...
Whether the GOP ticket is victorious in November or not, I feel it's shameful to inject sexuality into a political landscape for a job as important as this.

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