Female is the new Black: Who Knew Women Could be so Hated

As a woman who actually was THERE during women's lib- I have to say, I knew women were treated like crap. No one much cared if you boyfriend beat you up or threatened to kill you, if a frat boy spied on the girls in the bathroom (that's YOU Larry-we all know now), if your boss propositioned you and then was spiteful to you if you refused (that's YOU DR.M, the orthopedist in NO who harassed me), or if a guy stalked you and then you got called names for not dating him (thanks Richie), or that you couldn't major in marine biology because "there were no facilities out in the field for women", ahhhhhh- I could proceed from there because that is just my favorite SHORT list of what could be, if I were sensitive about it, a very long list. My husband could tell you that I know when someone is being offensive to me because I am female- I ask them "If I were a 6'4" , 290 pound black man, would you have just said/done that to me?" That's MY litmus test. The answer is seldom yes.
Anyway, since the Daily Kos and the media started peddling the story that Sarah Palin did NOT have her baby (despite witnesses) but that it was her daughter Bristol's and Sarah was doing a motherly cover-up as if this was Desperate Housewives, I have been pretty shocked. I don't shock easily. I'm a nurse. I'm a mom. I lived in the 60s and smoked some, even took a little (and I mean little) mescaline twice. I'm not a prude. I draw lines in the sand over porn and kids, and anyone who does porn being involved with kids- but that is about my one big gripe. (Sort of like Madonna writing children's books, then flashing her crotch- just not a good thing for helping giving kids a childhood free of that). Now a mother has to drag her daughter out and say "look, your horrible rumors cannot be true because she is all ready pregnant!" Good grief.
When Palin was announced, I flashed back to a dinner with a very politically savvy friend who actually held jobs in DC. We were discussing the election, and he said "I hope they pick Sarah Palin- she would be perfect". Female, determined, good record. Then dang y'all if Mccain doesn't pick her. So when the announcement came, my hubby and I both said "Wow, that Brian is prescient!" Then we both ran to look up that word to make sure I was using it correctly (just kidding).
But the Obama camp seems miffed. Why? Because really, Female is the New Black. And I mean that in both ways- females are trendy accessories because of that glass ceiling and all the glorious imagery it creates, and females are actually the new "black", as in oppressed in a way that minorities are not. But it's been a closeted suppression- more women go to med school now- why? Because there isn't any money left in medicine. More women get into law firms- but oh boy, don't have babies. Make sure you have a great nanny to surrogate parent for you. It's a ruse.
What is more frightening to women than what has happened to Palin and her family? There is a picture on the net of a very young Palin in a joke tee shirt, sitting on what looks like a dorm bed- she is fully clothed. The shirt is only vaguely racy. But bloggers call her "white trash"- a racist and misogynist type of spite typical of people who, I guess, fear young women fully clothed looking silly. The smears of Bristol Palin- the glee of bloggers who say her boyfriend "says he didn't want kids on his myspace page". Well, what teen aged boy puts on his profile that he 'wants babies"? That one was hilarious. Bristol Palin is 17. So what? I hardly consider that being a child. Until the mid20th century, girls were routinely engaged at 17. People criticize this and say "the marriage won't last". What's their point? That if you get married at 23 your marriage stands a better chance? Why should the Palin's give away or abort a member of their family just because it might be a little harder to raise this child? As for abstinence education- well, isn't that the FIRST thing you teach your teenagers- it's about more than pregnancy because disease prevention and self-respect are also issues for teens to deal with. AND, on top of that, Palin's daughter, at 17, is in love with her boyfriend. His mother told ABC news that she was fine with it, and that the kids had talked a lot about getting married. It didn't surprise her much. SO what exactly is the problem?
To have spread such horrible lies about Bristol Palin, who is just a young woman like many young women, to spread such horrible lies about her mother not being the mother of Trig Palin- I can only assume it is the height of misogyny masquerading as a character issue. These are women- and these things happen to women. Not to men. To women. Bristol's relationship with her mother is really none of our business anymore than Chelsea Clinton's relationship with her father was our business.
I've actually read posts from liberals who equate this to John Edwards and Monica Lewinsky. Well, let's see, two 17 year olds in love have sex and conceive and get married. OR, a former candidate for VP cheats on his dying cancerous wife and 2 small children and conceives a baby and hides it in expensive rental houses. OR the president of the United States seduces a willing 21 year old intern, and in the White House, while on the job, has rather graphic and unprintable sexual interludes with her. Hmmmmm. That's quite a comparison job.
Democrats need to take their party back. They need to denounce the liberals who write whatever they wish and don't care about the veracity. We have reached a new low in what we tolerate as free speech. I have said that if I were Sarah Palin, I'd sue the Daily Kos for defamation of character and libel. Because Sarah Palin has a right to her reputation. They don't have to like her, because obviously they hate women politicians. They don't have to respect her, because obviously they are afraid of any woman in power. BUT they do have to print the truth. They are cowards and misogynists and are attempting to manipulate the political system to overturn our government as it was formed by our forefathers. The women of America don't have to tolerate this treatment of a female candidate. I know I won't.
And even if you are a democrat (take back your party!) or a female liberal, you have to be stunned at the main stream media's treatment of women. And heartbroken.