Sarah Palin

As you all know by now, I have never posted on politics. But this is something I feel strongly about. This is a very complictated issue for me. Yes, I am a feminist. Yes, I would like to see a woman in the White House. But Sarah Palin is not that woman.

I believe that a woman should be able to do whatever she wants. If she wants to be a career woman, she should, and she should make as much as her male counterparts. If she wants to be a stay at home mom, she should. I chose the title, "stay at home mom" for a reason. Stay at home mom's work hard. They have a LOT of responsibility and a LOT to get done in a day. Being a woman who has chosed a career, I believe that being a stay at home mom is MUCH harder than being a career woman.

Here is where I am going to lose a lot of people. I don't believe you can be both. I'm sorry, I just don't. There are only so many hours in a day, that is just the way it is. That means that there are only so many things you can do in a day. Again, that is just the way it is. I don't make the rules, but we all have to play by them. Whether you like it or not.

I have gone to college part time, and worked full-time. I have gone to college full-time and worked part-time. I did what I needed to do to earn money and get my degree. It wasn't easy but I did it. My personal life suffered for it. I did not have enough hours left in the day, or energy left in my body, to be in a relationship. One of the 3 would have suffered. This is when I came upon my philosophy that you can really only do 2 life decisions at a time. You can have a family, you can have a job, you can have a career (yes, job and career are NOT the same thing), you can go to school, but unfortunately you really can only do 2 of these things well. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Like I said, I don't make the rules, but that doesn't change the fact that these are the rules. Like em or not.

I have watched too many people try to accomplish 3 of the above at the same time. I have yet to see ANYONE do this successfully. One of the 3 will not get as much attention as it deserves.

Anyway, back to the point. I don't believe that mom's shouldn't work. You have to do what you have to do. But if you chose to be a mom, that means you chose NOT to have a career. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but given my belief about only being able to do 2 things successfully, career and mom can't be done without one suffering, and unfortunately, if you want a career, your kids are the ones who suffer. I can hear it now "but mom and career are 2 things, you said I can do 2 things." This is true, but I defined "family" as one of the two things. That involves your spouse and running the household, because lets face it, if you are a woman, you are still expected to run the house, even if you have the EXACT same job as your spouse. Again, I don't make the rules, that is just how it is. So, now you are trying to be a spouse, head of household, mom and have a career. At least one of these items is going to suffer. And it is usually the spouse and the kids.

Careers are harder than jobs. I know, I have one of each. I am a paralegal. I work hard and put in long hours so I can do well and make something of myself. It is stressful and tiring. Just like any career should be. A "job" on the other had is something you go in and do for the money. You put in your time and go home. No stress. It is mearly a means to a financial end. I can blow off the events of my "job" so much easier than I can those of my "career" because they don't mean as much. They are not detrimental.

Now this doesn't mean that I'm not good at my job, or that I don't feel stress at my job, but purely that, at the end of the day, I can walk away from it with my paycheck and nothing more.

The biggest pet peeve I have in this world is "career moms." I believe this is a myth. The only true "career moms" are those that have chosen to be a mom as their career. Women who have a career and are a mom are NOT "career moms." They are women who chose a career who have children at home who have a mother, but not a mom. Children who are not the first priority in their mothers lives, and they know it. This is where, I feel, most of todays rebellious children are coming from. Parents who have made it clear that being a parent isn't their top priority. If it were, they would NOT treat their children the way they do.

here is the political part. I believe that Sarah Palin has chosen her career over being a parent. She has 3 children. The oldest is an unwed, pregnant teen. Not that I would feel any better about her being 17 and MARRIED. The truth of the matter is that Governor Palin raised a daughter who was an only child for a VERY long time, is only 17 and about to be a mother herself. What are Governor Palin's intentions or interests in helping her MINOR daughter raise a child. This would be hard enough as a governor. How does she expect to help as a VP? What are her plans as far as her relationship with her daughter and grandchild. If I were 17 and pregnant, I would DEFINATELY want my mom around. I think it speaks volumes if this girl isn't interested in haveing her mother around.

Governor Palin's middle child is young also. She is stuck in the middle between a pregnant sister and a brother with downs syndrome. I don't even want to think about what kind of middle child syndrome the poor girl has. Not to mention, that now, during what is about to be a VERY confusing time, her mother wants to be around even LESS. The media needs to keep an eye on this one. I wouldn't be surprised if we have the next Lindsey Lohan in the making.

The baby. This is the child I feel for the most. Governor Palin has a BABY with SPECIAL NEEDS. Instead of making sure that she will have plenty of time to provide this baby with all the attention he is going to need, she is taking one more step AWAY from her family. I don't care what kind of stay at home dad Mr. Palin is. The fact remains that her children need a mother, not someone who is too busy to be there for them. On the flip side, let's say she makes time to be a mom. Now she is letting her CAREER suffer. She is the Governor of a large state and wants to be a VP. Do you realize how many people are effected when she takes time away from her job! This is the best example one area of your life suffering for another to succeed.

Why are we not only encouraging this, but so many women in this country are rewarding this behavior by intending to VOTE for the McCain/Palin ticket? Do we really want a woman who is ignoring her family to play a decision making role in our country? Do we really want a woman in office who is ignoring her job to take care of her family? I really don't see how Governor Palin can do both. It just isn't possible. Why is it that so many American women are willing to a fellow woman into a position of failure?

"But Hilary Clinton is also a mother," you say. This is true, but she has one child, who is an adult and has not once been in the news for doing something illegal or stupid. To me, that speaks volumes.

This is the biggest reason that I do not feel the Governor Palin was a wise choice for the Republican ticket, and I haven't mentioned one thing about her politics, NOT ONE! I read a blog post by Eve Ensler (the woman responsible for the Vagina Monologues). Although I feel that it is as full of opinions as my post is, she makes several VALID points, as I hope my post does as well.

Please take the time to read Eve Ensler's blog post on Sarah Palin. I hope you will find it as interesting as I did.

While you are at it, you should check out the Palin/Clinton skit from SNL this past weekend. NOT THAT is some funny shit!