I find the whole argument about whether a ‘mom can be a VP’ to be quite obnoxious and sexist, and I am a man! There is no question that opening up a national dialogue about the role of a mother in society is very important, but so far most of arguments have been made with a political agenda at the forefront. Let’s forget about what I think, let’s take a look at a few blogs and see what other are saying.
Matt Lewis at Townhall.com says, “I’m honestly surprised that the media is questioning whether or not being a mom should disqualify someone from being vice president. I wonder what Hillary Clinton thinks of how this story has turned. She obviously felt the media were sexist — particularly MSNBC. It also reminds me of Shirley Chisholm, who famously believed that her presidential chances were harmed more by being a woman than by being African-American.”
Over at Huffington Post, Hanna Ingber Win has an interesting take. She believes that women should be able pursue any career that they want to but she questions what kind of mother can work around the clock and still be a mother. She says, ” But running on a national ticket months after your child was born? Let alone a son who has Downs Syndrome and therefore under the best of circumstances is going to need every last bit of attention. How can one possibly be an involved and nurturing parent while campaigning in such a heated race? You can be a great mother and work. But you can’t be a great mother and work 80 hours a week. There is no way you are a great mother if you are not there.”
BTW- She also goes after Obama, who rightly preaches on the importance of father involvement with raising kids, on how he can be an involved father running for and hoping to be president.
OpMom keeps it simple. She says, “She is 44, the mother of five, her youngest is 4 months old and has down syndrome. I am thinking this woman has better things to do with her time than campaign 24/7!”
Clearly the choice to have Gov. Palin as the republican VP candidate, has opened up a dialogue about a mother’s career choice. Let’s hope that sexism plays a lesser role and the dialogue can focus on the real issues.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:10 am
You misspelled ‘President’ and her name is Sarah, not Sara.
OPMom, get real, moms can work and have dreams and fulfill tehm while being a mom. Wake up.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
It is extremely sexist to think that a woman cannot do the VP job simply because she has five children. As stated at the Republican convention, would we even be having this discussion if a man had five children? No one questioned John Adams (5 children), Thomas Jefferson (5), John Tyler (15 for goodness’ sake), Zachary Taylor (6), Andrew Johnson (5), Rutherford B. Hayes (6), the list goes on. Come on, her husband has taken a leave to care for the kids; who says he can’t do as good a job as a woman? Personally, I think Sarah rocks, and she’d shake up Washington.