The Sexist Attacks on Sarah Palin
Sep 3rd, 2008 by nick
I believe that Republican nominee Sarah Palin would make a poor vice president for a number of reasons, including her lack of foreign policy experience and her far-right positions on many issues. But can we please stop suggesting that Palin shouldn’t be vice president because of her children? This line of reasoning is just straight-out sexist, and to hear it from fellow liberals is embarrassing. Yes, Palin has five children, one of whom is less than a year old and has Down’s Syndrome, and another who is seventeen and pregnant. Why should that disqualify her? She also has a husband who presumably already shoulders most of the parenting burden. If he were running for president instead of Sarah, would anyone suggest that he shouldn’t be president because of his children? Would anyone suggest that Barack Obama shouldn’t be president because he needs to stay home with his two young daughters? Of course not. Why should we have a double standard for men and women in this regard?
This sexism has been bothering me too, so I am glad you pointed it out. It’s interesting to see how the conservative republicans, with their so-called “family values,” deal with this issue. Normally, those would be the people most likely to suggest that she shouldn’t be vice-president because of her children. Their expectation is that women should be stay-at-home moms. If a woman like her were on the democratic ticket, we would certainly hear lots of that kind of sexist rhetoric from the republicans. They wouldn’t hesitate to criticize a mother who “abandons” her children to become a politician. But as she is on the republican ticket, that’s something they don’t dare criticize. Instead, they emphasize and applaud her anti-choice position.