Gloria
Steinem, in her September 4th editorial in the Los Angeles Times, came
out strongly against Governor Palin claiming the only thing women have
in common with Palin is an X chromosome. I respectfully disagree. Governor
Palin knows what it is like to be a woman, a mother, a daughter, a
sister - things the two men on the Democratic ticket can never fully
understand. She knows what it is like to grow up invisible in an incredibly sexist society, to be stared at, groped, and sexually harassed. 
She
knows what it is like to be smaller in stature than men and physically
vulnerable. She knows what it's like to worry that you are pregnant
when you don't want to be or that you are not pregnant when you want to
be.
Sarah Palin knows what it is to experience the joys and sorrows of motherhood, to nurse a baby while holding down a job, to leave for work in the morning with a toddler tugging at your pant leg, or to have your children calling you at work to diffuse squabbles or ask for help with homework. She knows that once you get to work you have to speak twice as loud and twice as often to be heard and work twice a hard to go half as far. She knows what it is to be a member of the second sex.
She
knows what it is like to be smaller in stature than men and physically
vulnerable. She knows what it's like to worry that you are pregnant
when you don't want to be or that you are not pregnant when you want to
be. Sarah Palin knows what it is to experience the joys and sorrows of motherhood, to nurse a baby while holding down a job, to leave for work in the morning with a toddler tugging at your pant leg, or to have your children calling you at work to diffuse squabbles or ask for help with homework. She knows that once you get to work you have to speak twice as loud and twice as often to be heard and work twice a hard to go half as far. She knows what it is to be a member of the second sex.
Gender is the most fundamental human characteristic. 
The first comment made when a child is born is either, "It's a girl" or "It's a boy." From
that second on, boys and girls live in parallel universes in the same
culture. From the nursery room to the board room, boys and girls are
given different messages about their respective roles in the world. At
the hospital they are given different types of names and wrapped in
different colored blankets. Once home, baby girls and boys wear
fundamentally different clothes and play with different toys. This
differentiation extends through school where girls are given less
attention, picked less frequently to answer questions and placed less
often in advanced science and math classes. Once in the
workforce, women are steered into lower-paying careers, paid less for
the same work, and forced to juggle the responsibilities of work and
home. You can't learn what it is to be a woman, unless
you are one. You can't have a government essentially devoid of women
that knows what's best for women. You can't legislate for women, without women.
The first comment made when a child is born is either, "It's a girl" or "It's a boy." From
that second on, boys and girls live in parallel universes in the same
culture. From the nursery room to the board room, boys and girls are
given different messages about their respective roles in the world. At
the hospital they are given different types of names and wrapped in
different colored blankets. Once home, baby girls and boys wear
fundamentally different clothes and play with different toys. This
differentiation extends through school where girls are given less
attention, picked less frequently to answer questions and placed less
often in advanced science and math classes. Once in the
workforce, women are steered into lower-paying careers, paid less for
the same work, and forced to juggle the responsibilities of work and
home. You can't learn what it is to be a woman, unless
you are one. You can't have a government essentially devoid of women
that knows what's best for women. You can't legislate for women, without women. After
the last Democratic Primary was over and it was clear Senator Clinton
was not going to get the Democratic nomination, myself, and a small
group of Clinton supporters met with Senator McCain and Carly Fiorina. I
personally explained to Senator McCain that women comprise well over
half of the population, yet are underrepresented in every branch of
government. I asked him loudly and clearly to choose a
woman for the VP slot and to increase the number of women in the
cabinet and on the Supreme Court. Senator McCain listened
respectfully to my request. Representatives of The New Agenda also met
with Carly Fiorina as well as members of the Obama campaign to make
similar requests.
After the Democratic Primary, I was personally in contact with a member of Obama's Finance Committee. He left several messages on my office phone, "urging" me to support Senator Obama. We
had numerous contentious conversations and I finally told him I would
be happy to vote for Senator Obama and rally other Hillary supporters
to vote for Obama but in return I wanted Obama to pledge gender parity
in the cabinet. I foolishly thought equal representation in government was a reasonable request. "What if there aren't qualified women you still expect us to appoint half women to the cabinet?" he replied. I was confused. "There are 300 million people in this country; you're telling me you can't find ten qualified women?" He responded, "You can't have that." We had no further conversations. There was nothing more to say.
Weeks later I approached a training session for DNC canvassers at a park in my neighborhood. Eager
to practice their new skills, they all ran up to me, "Do you support
Senator Obama? Do you want to donate money to the DNC?" After explaining that I was a Hillary supporter, I again made my request. I will support Senator Obama if he will pick a woman as his running mate and promise gender parity in the cabinet. The men in the group openly laughed at me and found my request ridiculous. I looked at the horrified faces of the newly minted female canvassers. "They're laughing at you too," I muttered.
Not one to give up, I contacted a daughter of a friend of mine who is a policy advisor for Obama. She assured me Obama was a good guy, so I posed my request to her. She generously responded, "I'll ask him." When I did not hear back from her in a few days, I shot her another email. She told me how disappointed she was in me for making such a stupid request. Obama was on the "right" side of the issues. Why did it matter whether men or women legislated those issues? I guess the answer from Obama was No. What saddened me was her mother was one of this nation's greatest champions of title nine, educational equity and gender parity. Her
mother and I counted the number of pictures of boys and girls in text
books, male and female cartoon characters, and documented the
underrepresentation of girls in math classes in our nation's schools. Yes, policy is important but who decides and delivers that policy is even more important. As Marshall McLuhan profoundly noted, "The medium is the message." Children incorporate many of their perceptions about gender by age five.
Little
girls won't understand if Sarah Palin is pro-life or pro-choice, believes in gun control or is a member of the
NRA, but they will know the Vice-President of the United States of
America is a girl and that alone will alter their perceptions of
themselves.
Little
girls won't understand if Sarah Palin is pro-life or pro-choice, believes in gun control or is a member of the
NRA, but they will know the Vice-President of the United States of
America is a girl and that alone will alter their perceptions of
themselves. I have given my loyalty to the Democratic Party for decades. My party, which is comprised primarily of women, has not put a woman on a presidential ticket for 24 years. My
party refused to nominate my candidate, Hillary Clinton, for president
or vice president, even though she received more votes than any other
candidate in history. My party stood silently by as Hillary Clinton was eviscerated by the mainstream media. My
party was mute while the main stream media repeatedly called Clinton a
bitch and symbolically called me and every other woman in this country
a bitch. My party was disturbingly silent when the main
stream media commented on Hillary's body or the shrillness of her
voice, reminding me and every other woman the fundamental disrespect we
endure on a daily basis. My party's candidate was mute when Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Father
Pfleger openly mocked Senator Clinton from the pulpit of Trinity United
Church of Christ. My party's candidate was silent when the rapper Ludicrous released a new song calling Hillary a bitch. My
party and it's candidate gave their tacit approval for the attacks on
Senator Hillary Clinton and consequently women in general.
I have a choice. I
can vote for my party and it's candidates which have demonstrated a
blatant disrespect for women and a fundamental lack of integrity or I
can vote for the Republican ticket which has heard our concerns and put
a woman on the ticket but with whom I fundamentally don't agree on most
issues. If Democratic women wait for the perfect woman to come along, we will never elect a woman. We have to seize opportunity where it presents itself. Besides, the Democratic Party is no longer my home. I have no home, but this election I will
make my bed somewhere else.
I
respect Gloria Steinem's right to support the presidential ticket of
her choice but she is openly trying to derail Sarah Palin's historic
candidacy. As Madeleine Albright said, "There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." I will vote for McCain-Palin. 
I urge other women to do the same. I
might not personally agree with Palin on every issue and I promise to
the first person knocking on her door, if Roe v. Wade, or any other
legislation that goes against the rights of women is threatened. But in
Governor Palin I find a woman of integrity, who not only talks the talk
but walks the walk. I can work with that. I will work with that. When
I walk down the street, I don't have Democrat printed on my forehead,
but my gender is obvious to everyone and impacts every interaction in
my life. Since my country is far from gender neutral, right now for me gender trumps everything else. I urge other women to join me in this fight for equality. Sometimes opportunities occur where you least expect them.
I urge other women to do the same. I
might not personally agree with Palin on every issue and I promise to
the first person knocking on her door, if Roe v. Wade, or any other
legislation that goes against the rights of women is threatened. But in
Governor Palin I find a woman of integrity, who not only talks the talk
but walks the walk. I can work with that. I will work with that. When
I walk down the street, I don't have Democrat printed on my forehead,
but my gender is obvious to everyone and impacts every interaction in
my life. Since my country is far from gender neutral, right now for me gender trumps everything else. I urge other women to join me in this fight for equality. Sometimes opportunities occur where you least expect them. 
