Todd Palin As Modern Man, Sarah Palin As Modern Woman–UPDATED

Via The Anchoress, via Founding Bloggers:

I don’t think the identity-politics crowd have been aware of how things go in the average family for quite some time. A woman relative of mine, close in age and an executive, speaks of the other women she works with. Most are fifteen to twenty years older, with no children and not married. They sacrificed family and relationships because they bought the feminist garbage that those two things were mutually exclusive. Now, facing retirement, they will get their comfort and solace in charity work or sitting on boards, which is something. But they won’t be holding children and grand children. And they won’t be holding a partner’s hand.

Meanwhile, they will be watching Cindy McCain who was educated, got married, raised a family, stayed young by doing things like car racing and traveling the world making a difference in the lives of children.

Meanwhile, they will be watching Sarah Palin who was educated, got married, worked, is raising a family, joined politics and is now the Vice Presidential candidate for the United States of America.

Meanwhile, they will be watching Todd Palin who worked, got married, started a business, is raising a family and who is taking time out of his career to support his wife’s service aspirations.

And all this is happening without the feminist belief system: that men are unnecessary, that abortion is crucial for a woman’s personal success, that religious people are sexually stunted (two families with twelve kids between them and the next generation with a bun in the oven implies that somebody is having sex), that the patriarchy keeps women down, that feminity is weak, that beauty undermines.

So how do those marinated in identity politics respond to these “unusual” (they are the average American family, hello) modern people? Barack Obama displays his sexism yet again by not directly taking on Sarah Palin but having his women surrogates do it for him. It makes him look weak. It makes him look insecure. It makes him look like he has no honor.

Let me explain. When I was in Chiropractic college, there weren’t enough women to have a women’s basketball league. So another woman and I played with the guys. No biggie. Some of the guys might be uncomfortable for a minute, wondering how hard to play me. It took all of one three-pointer in the eye, for them to get over the foolish notion that going easy was a good strategy. So, they’d play and hard. And I played hard, too. My favorite opponents played me like a man right out of the gate. It showed they respected me irrespective of my gender. My least favorite opponents refused to play. They refused to defend. They refused to take the ball to me. They refused to engage. It was infuriating both to me, and to their teammates, but they didn’t care. A woman didn’t belong on the court and the only way to convey that was to refuse to engage.

Obama is refusing to engage. That makes him a certifiable jerk.

The Anchoress says this:

Obama is making a tactical error.

Bill Clinton would never make this mistake. He and Gov. Palin would be able to go at each other freely, because they would both completely understand each other. Clinton would know Palin was an alpha-female grizzly, and he’d tease her. She’d know he was a bad boy willing to be endure a few scars and swipes for the fun of engagement.

Also, just a thought…if you want to be CIC, you can’t hide behind a bunch of girls. We hate it when Al Qaeda does that.

She is right. Bill Clinton may be a like women as sexual play things, but he also likes them smart and he does them the honor of engaging. Ditto, President Bush. Some of the best images of his presidency captured the President and his adviser, clearly disagreeing and arguing back and forth. It showed respect. He did not pay lip service to strong women, he respected them enough to engage them.

Speaking of strong men digging strong women. How about that Todd Palin? He’s obviously a man’s man. I don’t see his pinky coming up when sipping from a teacup, but I see him comfortable with himself enough to host a First Dude’s tea and luncheon.

Here is the thing, feminists: Todd Palin is not a freak of nature. He is the man that the majority of American women are married to. He’s a guy who likes his job, likes to work, likes his sports, likes his recreation activities–whether that’s monkeying around in the garage on an engine or snow mobile racing or yard work or reading a book or traveling–likes his kids, likes his house, likes his wife, likes sex with his wife, and is just an all-around decent guy. And, if his wife has a career that is taking off, he supports her.

No doubt, managing all this takes negotiation. That’s life. But Sarah Palin has affected changes in the lives of Alaskans and now has the chance to affect positive changes in the lives of all Americans. A good man would support this and a good man is doing just that.

The Palin pick uncovers some deep-seated emotions among the populace. Women have been angry listening to feminists bleat on about abortion and spousal abuse and bad men as though these are the biggest issues for women. They are not. Most women don’t define themselves by their uterus and ironically, the feminists have done just that.

Women have concerns just like men have concerns–time management, raising kids, taxes, saving for college, education, paying the bills, getting some rest after a long day. Todd and Sarah Palin deal with these issues every day, even now. They have careers and kids and life and it’s messy and challenging and a lot of work. And, it isn’t theoretical. It is real and immediate.

The Palins represent the average American family–good, decent, hard working people trying to make it all work. Far from being perfect, they’re struggling for accomplishment. The McCains, too, represent a working family. Cindy McCain is a CEO and a mom and the head of a charitable foundation while she supports her husband’s desire to serve his country.

The left needs to get with the program. The class warfare, gender warfare, race warfare has served them for far too long, but that tune just doesn’t play in America anymore. We are post-gender, post-racial and not yet post-class, but we would get there faster if the left would let the old standards go. It was their power base for so long–angry, disaffected people. It has served them politically but it has not served the country. It’s time to let it go.

Barack Obama, do the honorable thing, and engage your peer, Sarah Palin. Feminists, wake up and stop showing contempt for women who choose differently than you choose. Feminists, stop demonizing men as irrelevant. Democrats, recognize Todd and Sarah Palin for who they are: the modern man and the modern woman, working together to make a good life for their family and their country.

UPDATED: Volokh on the double-standards about men and women in politics. I have one quibble when he says, “Either it’s okay to delegate one’s parenting responsibilities to pursue political ambitions, or it’s not.” It’s not just political ambitions but serving a greater cause. There seems to me that there’s a threshold where some jobs, “ambitions”, aren’t worth the trade-off, but being President or Governor affords the opportunity to help many people including the future generations of one’s own children.

I remember reading the sour grapes Reagan’s kids had and later, their understanding that his service mattered. There is no question the kids of these families sacrifice for their country, too. But it happens whether it’s their father or their mother doing the job.

Posted in America • Isms • Political Animals
Tags: Democrats • Election 08 • Feminism • McCain • Obama • Sarah Palin