To the Democrats Shame

I had good intentions to post regularly, but I found the primaries a bit too intense. Or maybe the problem is that I cared too much. End result, a total avoidance of my blog. I'd probably still be avoiding it, but my disgust at the treatment of women during this election season has finally reached a breaking point.

The blatant sexism during the primaries was hard enough to take. I won't say that it cost Hillary the nomination, but that it played any part of a Democratic primary was shameful. The bigger shame? That the leaders of the party won't face, or deal with the reality that it isn't just conservatives that are sexist. Sexism is alive and thriving among liberals.

Any doubts I had about that were laid to rest during the aftermath of the primary. As bad as Hillary was treated, her supporters were treated worse. Her supporters were portrayed as female, and treated accordingly. Her supporters were expected to fall meekly into line, and when that didn't work they were dismissed, berated, and browbeaten. Over and over I heard people holding up the specter of Roe vs Wade overturned and contraceptives outlawed. Personally, I have a really hard time imagining a major candidate's supporters being treated this way if they were perceived to be primarily male.

I was pleased to see major concessions made for the convention. I was even pleased with Obama's VP pick, even though it wasn't the pick I hoped for and felt was needed to win in November. The convention went well, and Hillary was allowed to do what she thought would work best to bring the rest of her supporters on board. Things looked up.

Then McCain picked Sarah Palin. And now my heart is breaking.

I can handle it when it's people from the other side who are behaving badly. I might find it frustrating, but I can handle it. But when it is my family, friends...or members of my political party who are in the wrong...I find it desperately painful.

For the first few days after McCain's announcement, I saw nothing but misogyny from Democrats and other liberals and progressives. Oh, they dressed it up in issues garb, but somehow they always managed to bring her gender into it. Instead of simply addressing her positions on abortion and contraceptives, they framed it around her being a mother of five and her choice to give birth to a Down syndrome baby. You never hear people asking if male political candidates be good fathers and still fulfill their political duties. Think about it. Are Democrats wondering if Obama can do his job seeing as he's the father of two young girls? And how is her having been a beauty queen even remotely relevant? Obviously, it isn't. But it is a gender-specific way of trashing Sarah Palin. That these attacks emanated from people who champion gender equality make them all the more insupportable.

I applaud Barack Obama and his insistence that the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's daughter should be off-limits, but he needs to go further. He needs to caution Democrats against any attack directed at Sarah Palin that isn't based solely on her record and on her views.
It isn't like her views don't leave plenty of room for criticism.

If the gendered attacks on Sarah Palin continue, I know I won't be the only person at risk for becoming completely disgusted with the Democratic Party. Especially on top of the primary and post-primary season. I think what has been hardest for me is discovering that there actually isn't a whole lot of difference between conservatives and liberals in their attitudes towards women. They both expect women to stay in line. The difference is merely in where they draw the line.