With the recent selection of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska by John McCain as his running mate, I have been thinking a lot about the significance of his choice. What seemed like a simple choice for many women who were Hillary or Obama supporters, may have just gotten more difficult.
While I think it is amazing progress that a woman could be chosen as a Vice Presidential candidate and that choice is considered a strength rather than a weakness, I am distraught at how the selection of Sarah Palin could effect our country and our world’s future.
I have to tell you that in expressing any doubts about her, I am feeling very sensitive about potentially criticizing and putting down a woman. From my other blog entries, you know that I am a huge proponent of women coming into leadership and power. But can I stick by that position even if I don’t agree with the woman’s values?
For example, Sarah Palin is a proponent of oil drilling. I am not. Sarah Palin is against women having a choice for an abortion. I am for women having a choice. Sarah Palin would put America first beyond all other countries. I on the other hand feel that an “America First” attitude will lead us to more “us vs. them” contentiousness and ultimately more war.
Since John McCain’s announcement of his Vice Presidential running mate, I have been challenged by the questions: Does progress for women simply mean more women in power no matter what their political view? Does it mean men in power who respect, support and promote women? Or does it mean women in power who focus on what may be our future’s most important issue — the interrelated nature of humanity and our Mother Earth?
I have heard that people like to vote in their own image. This makes sense to me, but it also worries me. Will there be Democratic women voting Republican because there is a woman on the ticket? Where are men on the issue?
I don’t think gender or race should be the issue when it comes to the election. I think we need to choose our leader in terms of his or her Purpose, Principles, Promises, and Policies. Go to this site for a free e-book: http://www.inspiringrevolutions.com/president.
I have to share a conversation I overheard relating to this yesterday…and it frightened me, although it didn’t surprise me. I was waiting for my breakfast sandwich from a local deli, when I overheard some guys there. I will paraphrase the gist of their conversation…”Did you see the Republican convention last night?…man, that woman is HOT! …sure hotter than Hillary, that’s for sure, I wouldn’t mind looking at her for the next four years…and you know what? I am voting for McCain anyway, cause I don’t want no terrorist leading this country…if Obama wins, dude, I am moving to Canada…” My stomach sank, making me not only ashamed to be an American in that moment, but also a man. Did I really just overhear this????? UGH! I AM SO SCARED THIS IS THE IGNORANT ATTITUDE THAT WILL DOOM US FOR ANOTHER 4 YEARS, OR LONGER! GOD HELP US…or should I say GODDESS! HELP US PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP LIKE NEVER BEFORE!…………I shot him a look as I left, and I wish I went up to him and said, “DUDE, Canada wouldn’t want someone like you, so you better find somewhere else to move!” I am afraid McCain did sign on Palin BECAUSE she WAS a woman, and he knew that SOME Hillary supporters might vote for him simply because of that fact. What a world we live in.
This is such a great topic – and an interesting discussion. As I do want more women in power, the outcome of that person picked, I think, should be the most important issue. I believe that John McCain’s announcement of his female Vice Presidential running mate was a strategic move, since Hillary is out. Whatever does happen in the near future, I am happy that women are becoming more involved…
Thanks Ingrid, for the link, and Tabby for keeping the conversation up. I agree with Ingrid, let’s get past race and gender and look at the candidate’s positions, policies, qualfications and character — in this instance, I’d love it if the media could just keep it simple and stick to what matters. Race, gender, age…it only matters if we want it to matter to distract us from the real issues.
In other words, she is evil.
Yes, you should stand up against this woman. She is not a good person!
Loved what you wrote.
Robert
Good discussion to put out. Oh, both my husband and I were distraught after her speech, mainly for her disturbing values and the fact that she comes in a package that is so charismatic and good looking to some. Certainly McCain doesn’t have her charisma, but the substance of her message is quite anti-feminist, anti-environment, etc. Not to mention her complete lack of knowledge and experience in foreign policy. My husband put it this way (probably because we are so steeped in reading children’s literature with our young son) – he felt she was like a poisoned apple. Very attractive at the first look of things – but it’s substance is poison nonetheless.
An excellent op-ed article was written by Gloria Steinem in the LA Times on Thursday called something like “Wrong Woman, Wrong Choice”. Worth finding it online, as I had begun to get very worried after Palin’s speech (besides being angry about her views).
Thank you Ingrid for the link to the inspiring revolutions e-book. I am going to check it out!
Hi Greg.
Thank you so much for sharing what you overheard. I too fear that this might be the attitude of many who don’t keep up with politics very much — the surface lookers. I guess the best we can do is continue to put our ideals out there and spread more awareness that way. I trust in that.
Keep writing!!!!
Love,
Tabby
Hi Christine.
Thanks for writing!
I think you hit the nail on the head — that the outcome of the person picked should be the most important issue when hitting the polls and that nevertheless, it is exciting that more women are becoming involved.
Great to hear from you,
Tabby
Carole,
Thank you for writing. A poisoned apple is an interesting analogy.
I am going to check out Gloria Steinem’s op-ed in the LA Times as you suggested!
You know in all honestly looks can be deceiving. I was drawn to our 24/7 CNN (as my roommate doesn’t miss a bit) just to see who she is but I got turned off when Palin talked and I learned more about her. My aquaerobics friend told me that for the first time in her life, she doesn’t know who to vote for because the candidates’ views are similiar and current topics are very confusing. To me, if people listen and pay more attention to the speeches and forgo the race and gender issue as some said earlier then the decision for president is easy to make.
Here is a list of books that Sarah Palin tried to have banned from the Wasilla Public Library, according to the official minutes of the Library Board. When she was unsuccessful at having these books banned, she tried to have the Librarian fired.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It’s Okay if You Don’t Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women’s Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil’s Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster
Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth
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