Rose Marshack moved to Champaign in 1983 and frequently vows never to leave. She graduated University of Illinois with some degrees in Computer Science and New Media, taking a break in between to spend a decade (or two) performing in the bands Poster Children and Salaryman. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and Arts Technology at Illinois State University. She also teaches tae kwon do at the Urbana Park District, and is currently obsessed with capoeira. Rose blogs at www.whyamistillawake.com.
What's left to say about Sarah Palin? Just some observations about her attackers. I cannot believe the outpouring of hatred towards her I noticed during the days after she was introduced. Every intelligent woman in this town that I came across (and by intelligent, I mean ‘able to breathe on their own’) loathed her. Intelligent men did so a bit more quietly, passively.
We all thought “the race is over!”
A little alert flag goes off in my head each time I hear someone pick on some feminine aspect of Barracuda. Yes, Barack’s completely right, family should be off-limits. Democrats have had some loser family members in the past too, and it’s probably unfair to judge someone by their family. Do you want to be judged from mistakes your family members make?
“But she has a responsibility to corral her children!” you may say (especially if you were a Republican and Barracuda was a Democrat). But here in the 21st century, the century of Women’s Rights, do we still talk like that? Can’t it be the Man Of The House’s job?
And any derogatory reference to her Miss Alaska Runner-Up status scares me; if she were a fat, ugly woman, would it be better? Would we think of her as smarter? I’m worried that anti-Barracudists are attacking mirrors and they’re going to get themselves in a lot of trouble. There are plenty of real worries.
My gorgeous, light-up-my-life, yoga-instructor little sister is now a Republican. We were brought up as Democrats, but she has married a very rich man who hates the idea of having to pay taxes and is more than slightly homophobic; other than that — he’s a bang-up fellow. Sister, herself, is very concerned that a Muslim democrat in office wouldn’t continue to go after the Iraqis, who attacked us during 9/11. And she loves the idea of a hockey-mom as president — total score for all us women!
My mom wants me to stage an intervention, like when I got mom to stop drinking. She thinks I can save my sister and turn her back to the light side of the Force. My dad says I can’t say anything to sister because it will cause problems between her and her husband. (and he’s right.) My Husband, at this point, would probably rather I stop talking to any of my family members all together. (and he’s right.)
But mom’s distraught. How can her daughter bring up her kids to believe this crap?
So the other night, I finally broke down and wrote an email.
You know those terrible emails that you get from preschool buddies? The ones about how anti-Jewish Barack is? Or how Jewish he is? Or how Muslim? Or proof that Hillary is gay? Or all the statistics, baked on one side or the other, about how each candidate has caused the hugest tax increase in history? I’ll be sending the Democratic platform version of that to my sister. I’m desparate. I see a woman on TV saying “I’d like a vice-president who is just like me, a normal, hard-working hockey-mom,” and I start to question all I know and believe in. It’s like someone telling me 2+2=5. It’s like Brave New World.
Dear Sister,
I know you're a Republican, but I don't understand how you can support a VP candidate that is against abortion rights, doesn't care about wildlife, and believes that our troops in Iraq are on a "mission from God."
And for the record, Obama is not a Muslim. He's, unfortunately, a Christian. And he's not un-American. He gave up a high-paying job to help out his community. (in Chicago, in America.) Palin makes fun of his community support, but it's a lot more Jesus-like than what she's done.
I'm sure there are plenty of reasons to vote Republican, but I hope you are voting that way for the right ones. I don't want to see our children go off to fight wars in the Middle East, and I want to have the right to choose whether or not I have an abortion.
And I don't want creationism taught in schools, and if the Ex-Toddler gets sick, I want to be able to use stem cells to fix him.
And I hit send.
And I felt like an asshole.
And she never responded.
I think she’s too busy teaching yoga.
Comments (9)
Monday, September 8, 2008 9:22 AM
sounds like the last presidential election.
people voted on the basis: "with which candidate would i rather have a beer?"
Monday, September 8, 2008 10:31 AM
You know it's funny that you mention your sister is into yoga. One of my co-workers was gaga over Palin after her speech.
She too, is a yoga instructor. She too is married to a Republican. I'm not sure if there is a connection, but it weirded me out.
She actually said to me that she thought Palin wasn't very mean in that speech... because Palin didn't actually mention any names or some bullshit like that. I was aghast... and pointed out exactly the spots in the speech where Palin was wrong or mean.
Her only response is that... "I think it's great there is a woman on the ticket though. I've been waiting all my life for this."
This woman is nearly 60. She apparently can't remember Geraldine Ferarro. ;)
Monday, September 8, 2008 11:53 AM
I am so frustrated with all of those holier than thou liberals who deem it inappropriate to mention anything negative about the Annointed One (Obama), yet see nothing wrong with personal, sexist attacks against Palin. Criticise her professional and political beliefs as much as you like, but leave her family alone!
The more I hear some liberal women speak, the more I want to distance myself from the feminist movement. It seems that one is only a feminist when work and radical politics take precedence over family and "traditional" values. Yet, here is a woman who is choosing to take on one of the most challenging and prestegious roles in the world, and she is demonized for not choosing to stay home with her children! This is just as hypocritical as those who are against school vouchers, but send their own children to private schools.
Monday, September 8, 2008 12:54 PM
umc, there is a difference between "saying something negative" and accusing someone of being a radical muslim or hating America. It *is* inappropriate to make up lies about someone and keep repeating them as truth, which Obama has had to face for over a year now.
On the other hand, Palin is simply being vetted, which makes sense for someone so completely unknown. People talk about her daughter being pregnant because it is salacious, like Jamie Lynn Spears being pregnant. That doesn't make it right, but it doesn't make it sexist either.
I don't know of a single elected Democrat who has criticized Palin for having kids at home. However, she has plenty of legitimate problematic issues, such as being for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it, being under investigation for firing someone for not firing her ex-brother-in-law, for claiming to have foreign policy experience because her state is next to Russia, etc.
Also, there's plenty of hypocrisy to spare here. Family values republicans are generally patriarchal and believe women should stay at home with the kids (or at least *someone* should).
The upshot is that criticism of Palin does not equal sexism. If it did, then criticism of Obama equals racism. I don't think we want to go down that road.
Monday, September 8, 2008 3:04 PM
Obama makes bad decisions all the time (FISA *cough cough*), but no one's perfect. I think it's fairly obvious to everyone that the person we vote for is most likely not our ideal president but rather the one we like the most. It's our responsibility to look beyond party lines and educate ourselves about the candidates' histories and political stances.
As for feminism...it's the nature of the movement to go against tradition, so I'm not sure what you are expecting from it, umc.
Monday, September 8, 2008 3:05 PM
Obama makes bad decisions all the time (FISA *cough cough*), but no one's perfect. I think it's fairly obvious to everyone that the person we vote for is most likely not our ideal president but rather the one we like the most. It's our responsibility to look beyond party lines and educate ourselves about the candidates' histories and political stances.
As for feminism...it's the nature of the movement to go against tradition, so I'm not sure what you are expecting from it, umc.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 4:40 PM
"As for feminism...it's the nature of the movement to go against tradition."
Are you kidding me?
You mean, the tradition of women not being criticized for having a career AND a family??!?
Get real.
Those who take this particular approach against Palin aren't feminists, they're misogynistic shills.
For the record, I can't stand Sarah Palin. She's crazy pro-holy-war. I'm a crazy peace lovin' Ron Paul supporter.
That's an issue I'm responding to. Not a gender.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 5:56 PM
Some of these comments are really repugnant.
I am morbidly fascinated by how conservatives like UMC now feel the need and right to cry "sexism" now that Palin is on the scene. What do they even mean?
"Those liberals are trying to make her talk about issues!" they say. "What a personal attack! What sexists!"
"They are questioning how the abstinence only policies she enforced throughout her state prevented teens (including her own daughter) from having unwanted pregnancies" they say. "What a sexist personal attack!"
Cheney was scrutinized when the anti-gay legislation he backed proved to harm members of his own family.
When the bad social policies you enforce come home to roost, it is political and quite up for discussion. In Palin's case, the situation is very unfortunate. It is not, however, sexist. It is an example of how her policies as a POLITICIAN have harmed those them impact.
These are almost as good as the story conservatives are concocting about how "liberals" don't like that Palin is choosing not to stay home with her kids. Nothing like passing the buck on your own thoughts, I guess.
Simply pathetic.
And, rgriscom, feminists have not always just gone "against traditions." They've only gone against those traditions that supported sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 8:26 PM
Ok, here's the commentary that I wish I could have written. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eve-ensler/drill-drill-drill_b_124829.html.