tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899847539073422781.post4439991448836430039..comments2013-02-21T20:35:15.029-08:00Comments on A Life Domestic: Gossip, truth, and spinMainland Sisterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13646776463451024139noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899847539073422781.post-57678992113151582092008-09-04T21:28:00.000-07:002008-09-04T21:28:00.000-07:00I think you've really hit on a lot of the reasons ...I think you've really hit on a lot of the reasons that Palin is so fascinating to nearly every woman I know--almost every friend who's emailed me in the past week has mentioned it. Many of us are moms wondering how in the world Palin can hold her world together--five kids and the state of Alaska--plus shoot for even more, when we can't even pick our kids up from preschool on time, make a dinner that includes more than one of the major food groups, and clear the cobwebs from the corners of the house. <BR/><BR/>But as a working mom myself, I feel strangely proud of her, even though personally find her politics difficult to swallow: she was so poised last night despite the intense scrutiny and incredulity she's been facing. This country has only seen women as moms and wives of politicians or as unapologetic nearly asexual climbers, and she's some sort of amalgam of both. She's certainly made this already addicting election season even more engrossing.Mainland Sisterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13646776463451024139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-899847539073422781.post-91184237841877930462008-08-31T18:22:00.000-07:002008-08-31T18:22:00.000-07:00You know I was thinking about Palin as well. And ...You know I was thinking about Palin as well. And the phrase that kept coming to my mind was "right to raise". I just couldn't get over the feeling that she was running so hard, going beyond what made sense - at least in the world I live in.<BR/><BR/>I really didn't think about whether the baby was her child (never even thought about it) but did think a lot about what it really means to have a family and how one would balance five children and the Vice Presidency. Actually, it seemed totally ridiculous which certainly makes me face up to certain feminist issues - like why would I have a different feeling if it was a man. I suppose it is because I would figure someone (read: mom) would be home raising those kids in the everyday sort of ways they deserve. Not that that is right (I did immediately assume her husband wouldn't be taking on that role and that she, as a self-professed soccer mom would continue to juggle it all) or that lots of kids don't have two working parents, but it still struck me as frantic and impossible.<BR/><BR/> Oh yeah, nannies and tutors and help with the house but...."the right to raise" seemed to be something that kept coming to me. Like why would someone fight so hard for a child's life (as she is such a strong advocate for) and not fight just as hard for their right to be raised in the sort of everyday ways kids deserve.<BR/><BR/>I admit, I was a single working mom and I juggled and enjoyed the profession I chose. But one kid and a restaurant is different then five and the Vice Presidency and I think that is what many of us might be feeling in our heads and hearts along with the suspicion that no one looks like that after so recent a birth. <BR/><BR/>But again, I didn't get that one. I just felt sorta sad for the kids and the sweet baby. I just wanted to believe there would be hugs and love and patience and an ear for every one of their kids passing fears, hopes and wild-eyed imaginations.<BR/><BR/> My heart sort of ached and i looked at her and I felt like she was caught up in some ridiculous momentum of...what? The American Dream? What, what, what could she be thinking? Who the hell would want to inherit this mess and sit around with the scoundrels and tyrants of industry and watch the dirty politics that she will inevitable watch, or participate in, and think to herself (because she is green and totally unprepared) "what have I done?" <BR/><BR/>And I felt stunned by these thoughts and how she looked and the sweet baby and the words kept coming into my head.."The right to raise".fasenfesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08868075767165147192noreply@blogger.com