In Sarah Palin is not just another working mom, the author suggests responses to Sarah Palin's career choices are more natural than party pundits would have us believe:
"The media" is being accused of sexism for asking questions about Sarah Palin that are not asked of a man, but is that fair? Mrs. Palin is the mother of a four-month old baby; it is reported that she returned to work just three days after his premature birth at a small Alaska hospital with no NICU, after flying eight hours and driving another even though her water had broken. Put aside the far-reaching suspicions raised by such a dramatic birth story, and focus on the facts - would it be reasonable to ask a male candidate the same questions? Of course not.
...This is not sexism to apply these standards to her as a woman - men cannot be mothers so the questions will never be pertinent. A father returning to work three days after the birth of his child does not raise the same issues - can we be adults and state that? It's not the same. As a mother and a woman she has every right to go back to work three days after giving birth, but some of us would like to hear her reasoning. It's unusual, to say the least.
Pregnant daughters are nothing to be ashamed of, but pushing an abstinence only agenda, which clearly failed for her family, on the nation at large is a public policy issue for which her unfortunate daughter has just become the poster child. That's not sexism; the facts would still warrant discussion if Palin was a man with the same radical "pro-life" anti-education views .
Sarah Palin, like all American women, is free to live her life as she sees fit and to make decisions for her family. But as a public figure seeking election to the number two spot, she does have to answer to the American people she would lead. Her life should be an open book, and her public persona should be born out by her private practices.
Read the complete editorial at News Hounds (tagline "We Watch Fox So You Don't Have To")
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