From Real Clear Politics Sexism Rears Its Ugly Head
The New York Times writes that some wonder if Palin should have stayed out of politics in order to raise her family: “With five children, including an infant with Down syndrome and, as the country learned Monday, a pregnant 17-year-old, Ms. Palin has set off a fierce argument among women about whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try.” A few commentators on the left have written that Palin should have told Bristol to consider abortion.
There is no question that the left’s attachment to both the Trig Palin non-story and the Bristol Palin story are dramatic examples of sexism. Attacking a female politician’s pregnancy without any evidence — accusing her of lying about her own baby — is simply sickening. Exposing a female politician’s 17-year-old pregnant daughter and then implying that the politician is an unfit mother and should have stayed at home to tend to the children is simply discriminatory. Liberal women should feel free to oppose Palin’s candidacy on policy grounds — but they have the moral obligation to defend Palin from such sexist attacks.
The other question that looms about sexism is whether the media coverage pertaining to experience is slanted due to gender. The critics of Palin’s experience need to answer why questions of Obama’s experience have never received this intensity of questioning. It’s hard to know if reporting is related to the fact that the media’s in the tank for Obama, if they just lack a level of common decency to leave family members out of the political campaign, or if it is truly sexism that is causing nasty comments regarding pregnancy and motherhood.
