Gross talks about hairstylists coming to her hotel room. Are we supposed to infer that she is a vain woman, spending inordinate amounts of time on her hair and make-up? Well - many men spend time with their stylists before and event. Remember the uproar about Bill Clinton's haircut on Air Force One?
The author also talks about her mood swings:
"On the 2008 campaign trail, one close aide recalls, it was practically impossible to persuade Palin to take a moment to thank the kitchen workers at fund-raising dinners. During the campaign, Palin lashed out at the slightest provocation, sometimes screaming at staff members and throwing objects. Witnessing such behavior, one aide asked Todd Palin if it was typical of his wife. He answered, “You just got to let her go through it… Half the stuff that comes out of her mouth she doesn’t even mean.” When a campaign aide gingerly asked Todd whether Sarah should consider taking psychiatric medication to control her moods, Todd responded that she “just needed to run and work out more.” Her anger kept boiling over, however, and eventually the fits of rage came every day. Then, just as suddenly, her temper would be gone. Palin would apologize and promise to be nicer. Within hours, she would be screaming again."
Is he implying that PMS may be clouding her judgement? Are women just too temperamental to hold high office? One source for the article stated,
"...she “does not understand math or accounting—she only knows buzzwords, like ‘balanced budget’"
Sounds a lot like that old meme, "girls can't do math." The article goes on to highlight how Sarah Palin trots our her children as props on the campaign trail. Well, don't all politicians (male and female) do the same???? The criticism of her extreme spending of campaign funds for clothes paint her as a shallow clothes horse with a shoe fetish. Well - the same can be said of some male candidates. And I don't hear too much about male candidates' choice of 'intimates' yet Gross feels the need to specify that Palin bought Spanx girdles on while on the campaign trail. Now honestly, what self-respecting woman over 35 doesn't go out of the house without her Spanx?
What about the following passage? Does anyone else see the double standard?
"...There’s a general consensus in town that, at least since the start of the 2008 campaign, Todd has been shouldering the bulk of the parenting and that Sarah’s relationship with her children has grown more distant... An aide overheard conversations between Sarah and Todd in which Sarah tried to make a self-serving argument sound selfless, holding that the campaign was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that she could not deny the children. “I don’t care what it costs,” she said. “I want them here.” Although the couple hired a nanny to help the children with their homework, little homework got done."
Do we question a male candidate's decision to bring his children on the campaign trail? Do we question it when the wife of a male candidate takes on the majority of parenting responsibilities? Does the fact that she works and needs help to take care of her family make her a bad mother? That'll be news for the millions of mothers who work hard to support their families and have to call on their partners, family, and childcare providers for help. Now if you want to question her parenting, let's talk about her decision to name her kids Tripp and Trig.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it. Michael Gross defends his article and said that it does not have a sexist bias. He is simply highlighting that Sarah Palin has two personas - public and private. No - really???? A public figure with a private life? I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya! A two-faced politician??? Heresy!
Yesterday I called on parents to raise their daughters to think for themselves, speak with their own voices, and to become our future leaders. Today I'm calling on them to raise their sons to value women on the basis of their intellects, honesty, and values - not on the basis of what society now sees to be "acceptable" roles and behaviors for women. Teach by example. When criticizing a woman's behavior, whether in the workplace or a social setting, don't call her a bitch. Use the same terms you'd use for a man - aggressive, self-serving, cutthroat, etc... Don't refer to her as "emotional" (code word for hormonal) if she just has a bad temper. And realize that when women do get angry, sometimes we have a darn good reason for being so. Teach your sons (and daughters for that matter) to judge women by the same standards that they judge men.
Don't get me wrong - I still think Sarah Palin is bat shit crazy and completely unqualified to hold public office, but for reasons other than she's got a nasty temper and she likes her 4-inch heels.
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