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I am not going to discuss the debate.
The way I see it, John McCain could have stepped on that stage, sat at that desk, and pulled out the solution for World Peace from his back pocket, and yet the mainstream media and 50 % of the population would have said, “Yeah, well, he didn’t look presidential.”
But what I have spent that last day considering is why this whole Palin thing has really pissed me off.
It’s crazy, because, while my economics are conservatives, my social beliefs are liberal, and thus, I don’t even really agree with a lot of what Palin represents.
So why do I feel so defensive when I see so many degrading personal attacks?
Because I feel like I have spent the last three months in the basement of a frat house around 3am, when the air is rich with judgment, superficiality, and gender degradation.
Since the announcement of Palin's VP candidate status, the Internet, television broadcast, and office conversations have been overwhelmed with inappropriate behavior towards her – slamming her feminism under the guise of attacking her intellect or policy.
It's crazy that those who are the first to stand up and scream about the government “keeping your hands off my ovaries!” are also the first to giggle about and email YouTube videos of Palin in a beauty pageant.
The hypocrisy of this is that (for those guilty of Palin slurs), on one hand, you turn to your daughters/sisters/nieces/student and tell them, “You can do ANYTHING in the world you want! You can even be President!” But on the other hand, you turn around and post videos of busty girls imitating Palin’s life, call her “dolt” or a "twat," say she's had the IQ of a house plant, or suggest that men would only vote for her based on the size of her breasts.
(This “dolt” slam, by the way, is even more ironic considering the fact that, point-by-point, Palin outspoke Biden during that debate, with Biden making significantly more mistakes, inaccurate statements, and outright lies – while Palin only got credit for “not fucking up as bad as we thought” and a couple random comments of her high heels – yeah, and Palin’s the dolt).
Because what you are really saying to the female youth is, “Yeah, you caaaan be anything you want, but just as long you believe and follow the popular thought....aaaaaand, even then you should expect to be degraded, ridiculed and dragged through the mud.”
I mean, we are basically reversing everything our mothers taught us when we went through high school – we are teaching our girls that it’s more important to follow the crowd, to be popular, to say the right things, as opposed to standing up for what you really believe in, having principles and speaking out, even if it means the popular group won’t accept you.
We are teaching them that, by doing the unpopular, you should EXPECT maltreatment.
And the worst offenders seem to be females. It’s truly unbelievable that in an effort to support one side, you have actually encouraged the backslide of a gender. Think back to every slam you make against Palin personally – I mean, ANYTHING not associated with her actual politics. And think about whether or not you would/did say that in front of a ten-year-old girl, or how you would respond if that had been said ABOUT your ten-year-old daughter/sister/niece/student.
You call yourself feminist, but then you lower yourself to the level of that basement frat boy with these antics. You ride the gender equality train as it roars into the station, but then you question whether or not Palin can have a family and hold office. You scream about equal education, but then riducle the schools where she earned her degrees. You yell, "Equality! Diversity!" but then make fun of her accent, choice of words, and hobbies.
So basically, you believe a woman CAN be President (or Vice President), but just as long as she's liberal, only moderately attractive, and of immaculate educational/geographical background.
I’ve said it a million times – you don’t like her, don’t vote for her. But take a second to think about the words that come out of your mouth, think about the emails you forward, think about ears of the young girls that surround you. Think about what it was like for you in high school, and how insecure you felt under the superficial judging eyes and hurtful words of the jocks and popular kids - and then ask yourself how your own behaviors are any different.
I was told once by a blogger that I "shouldn't take it so personally" when people engage in this behavior against Palin. But why shouldn't I? More importantly, why don't you, female blogger? Because, as a young female in a supervisory position, I hear way too often insinuations regarding my ability given my age and gender.
I sit at meetings where I am dismissed, but my male supervisor is acknowledged.
I AM offended because my I am a daughter of a family - of a mother - who worked her life to ensure that I had and took advantage of opportunities to succeed that she din't have as a female growing up in the 50s.
And here we are, in 2008, ensuring that we "keep the woman in her place."
So again - why aren't you offended?
The way I see it, John McCain could have stepped on that stage, sat at that desk, and pulled out the solution for World Peace from his back pocket, and yet the mainstream media and 50 % of the population would have said, “Yeah, well, he didn’t look presidential.”
But what I have spent that last day considering is why this whole Palin thing has really pissed me off.
It’s crazy, because, while my economics are conservatives, my social beliefs are liberal, and thus, I don’t even really agree with a lot of what Palin represents.
So why do I feel so defensive when I see so many degrading personal attacks?
Because I feel like I have spent the last three months in the basement of a frat house around 3am, when the air is rich with judgment, superficiality, and gender degradation.
Since the announcement of Palin's VP candidate status, the Internet, television broadcast, and office conversations have been overwhelmed with inappropriate behavior towards her – slamming her feminism under the guise of attacking her intellect or policy.
It's crazy that those who are the first to stand up and scream about the government “keeping your hands off my ovaries!” are also the first to giggle about and email YouTube videos of Palin in a beauty pageant.
The hypocrisy of this is that (for those guilty of Palin slurs), on one hand, you turn to your daughters/sisters/nieces/student and tell them, “You can do ANYTHING in the world you want! You can even be President!” But on the other hand, you turn around and post videos of busty girls imitating Palin’s life, call her “dolt” or a "twat," say she's had the IQ of a house plant, or suggest that men would only vote for her based on the size of her breasts.
(This “dolt” slam, by the way, is even more ironic considering the fact that, point-by-point, Palin outspoke Biden during that debate, with Biden making significantly more mistakes, inaccurate statements, and outright lies – while Palin only got credit for “not fucking up as bad as we thought” and a couple random comments of her high heels – yeah, and Palin’s the dolt).
Because what you are really saying to the female youth is, “Yeah, you caaaan be anything you want, but just as long you believe and follow the popular thought....aaaaaand, even then you should expect to be degraded, ridiculed and dragged through the mud.”
I mean, we are basically reversing everything our mothers taught us when we went through high school – we are teaching our girls that it’s more important to follow the crowd, to be popular, to say the right things, as opposed to standing up for what you really believe in, having principles and speaking out, even if it means the popular group won’t accept you.
We are teaching them that, by doing the unpopular, you should EXPECT maltreatment.
And the worst offenders seem to be females. It’s truly unbelievable that in an effort to support one side, you have actually encouraged the backslide of a gender. Think back to every slam you make against Palin personally – I mean, ANYTHING not associated with her actual politics. And think about whether or not you would/did say that in front of a ten-year-old girl, or how you would respond if that had been said ABOUT your ten-year-old daughter/sister/niece/student.
You call yourself feminist, but then you lower yourself to the level of that basement frat boy with these antics. You ride the gender equality train as it roars into the station, but then you question whether or not Palin can have a family and hold office. You scream about equal education, but then riducle the schools where she earned her degrees. You yell, "Equality! Diversity!" but then make fun of her accent, choice of words, and hobbies.
So basically, you believe a woman CAN be President (or Vice President), but just as long as she's liberal, only moderately attractive, and of immaculate educational/geographical background.
I’ve said it a million times – you don’t like her, don’t vote for her. But take a second to think about the words that come out of your mouth, think about the emails you forward, think about ears of the young girls that surround you. Think about what it was like for you in high school, and how insecure you felt under the superficial judging eyes and hurtful words of the jocks and popular kids - and then ask yourself how your own behaviors are any different.
I was told once by a blogger that I "shouldn't take it so personally" when people engage in this behavior against Palin. But why shouldn't I? More importantly, why don't you, female blogger? Because, as a young female in a supervisory position, I hear way too often insinuations regarding my ability given my age and gender.
I sit at meetings where I am dismissed, but my male supervisor is acknowledged.
I AM offended because my I am a daughter of a family - of a mother - who worked her life to ensure that I had and took advantage of opportunities to succeed that she din't have as a female growing up in the 50s.
And here we are, in 2008, ensuring that we "keep the woman in her place."
So again - why aren't you offended?
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