Back in the late 80's/early 90's girls heard the term "glass ceiling" bantered about as a woman's issue ~ basically, you couldn't see it - but there was a limit to how high we could really go in life. Our mother's may have told us that we could be anything we wanted to ... but that wasn't *quite* the truth. We could be anything we wanted to, but only if we could get past the men first.
Now it turns out that we have to get past other women too.
I was on a mommy forum the other day when Sara Palin's candidacy was announced & I hurried to post that "He picked a GIRL!!!!" YEAH!!! So what that it may be a clear stab at collecting the female votes, and yes the GOP may be using her (and her looks) just to get the under 40 male vote ~ but she's a female & a mom & she can fight for working moms! WOOHOO!!!
There aren't words to express how my stomach dropped when one working mom posted: "Well, I know that as a woman I am supposed to be able to identify with her. I just can't. I'm sorry. ... how can you be second in command of the USA and properly raise 5 children? What do you do when you have a child with a fever and a meeting about war planning? Seriously, I can't identify with her being willing to not be there for her kids."
Um .... WHAT?! I have to assume it would work much the same as the Obama's household, or even my own - the Stay At Home Parent takes care of the fever while the employee goes to the meeting. When she comes home she will give all the cuddles in the world & kiss the booboos & help with homework. Just like every other working parent in this country she will, unfortunately, have to miss some events while the SAHP picks up the slack.
God don't strike me dead for agreeing with Anne Coulter - but she made the good point that JFK ran for office with two small children & no one once questioned his ability to be a good father. Beyond that ~ Barack is hailed as a wonderful father who reads to his children at night & helps them with homework & sits on the front row of dance recitals. No one has posed the question that he can't be a good father and fulfill the job of president -- so why is Sara Palin's motherhood being used as a weapon against her? Mitt Romney has 5 sons & has never once had that used against him - just the opposite, his sons were considered to be an asset for his campaign.
Are we lowering the glass ceiling for our daughters now? You can be anything you want to be - so long as you aren't a mom at the same time. You can run a major corporation, just don't get pregnant while you're there or you may not have a job when you come back. You can be VP, so long as you don't take kids along with you.
Since when is it acceptable for motherhood to be considered a detriment for a woman?
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8 comments:
Being a good parent has nothing to do with your job description and being good at your job should have nothing to do with whether or not you are a parent.
I still wouldn't vote Republican, but I don't think her having children is any deterant at all to her being VP of the country. I would say mothers everywhere should take it as a compliment that we CAN do it all!
Agreed! If being a family man is a positive attribute for a male politician, being a family woman should be the same for a woman. Women and men in this country juggle family and work all the time. No need to knock all women down by saying that Palin can't do it because she's a mom. I'm not her hugest fan overall, but it hurts all women to try to discredit her by lowering the glass ceiling, as you said.
I totally agree. HOWEVER, I think a big portion of the argument is due to one of her children being disabled.
I don't have a child who is disabled but due to my husband's brain injury I've seen just how much time it takes to be an advocate, being there to make sure that rehab is going as it should, making arrangements with insurance companies..the list goes on and on and it is DRAINING.
No matter if you are a man or a woman living a life with a disabled person is HARD WORK that is can easily suck the life out of you.
There is clearly still a double standard.
I remember someone once pointing out that the real reason women have trouble "having it all" is because the only way men did it all those years is by having a wife at home. So, if they really want what '50s dads supposedly had, working moms need a "wife" to do all the cleaning the house/cooking dinner/iron the shirts/make the dentist appointment stuff.
And, although I understand C-3's point about advocating for a disabled child being a full-time job in itself . . . um, how to put this? . . . why can't it be dad's job for a while?
As you say, C-1m, if it were Obama who had a disabled child? No one would wonder if he could do it all. They would just expect his wife to do the childcare and the advocating.
Why can't we expect the dad to do it in the Palin family? Why do we assume that having things work that way make her "less of a woman"?
Grr. Soapbox topic for me.
personally i think that's a good example for her children. no one has questioned barack's ability to be a good father if he made it to office.
i think dems are simply trying to create drama.
and i love what you said about ann coulter---that woman makes my skin crawl, but she was right in saying that.
My point isn't that Dad can't do it but it's a team effort for BOTH PARENTS. I'd say the same thing if she were a man.
In the US we seem to be under the delusion that we we have all the time and all the physical stamina in the world. All we have to do it want it enough. I call bullshit on that theory. We are only human.
Also, I wanted to clarify by "do it all" I mean...do it all at the same time.
A woman can do whatever she wants but you can't do it all at the same time.
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