Palin’s Teen Pregnancy

I personally don’t care about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy. What I object to is the hypocrisy, not just of the Palin family but of the claim that it is a subject inappropriate for public debate.

On the one hand, of course, it is entirely a private affair; however, it was made a public affair a long time ago by those who insisted on abstinence before marriage, who cast judgment on anyone who had pre-marital sex, who sneered at teen pregnancies and particularly those of black teens, who supported policies that either rendered it impossible to terminate unwanted pregnancies or eroded public forms of support for girls/women and their unplanned offspring who lack the kind of support that Bristol fortunately has, etc.

Pretty Woman: Sarah Palin

Imagine my delight when the hokey chick flick came out on the campaign trail, a Cinderella story so preposterous it’s hard to believe it’s not premiering on Lifetime. – Vice in Go-Go Boots? – Maureen Dowd, NYTimes.com

I normally don’t go for Maureen Dowd. But this one did make me laugh. That said, I wonder at which point does critique become satire, then slur?

Yes, I still find insulting the choice of Palin as VP because she’s so grossly underqualified for that particular position. Perhaps she is a fine governor for Alaska. But 2nd in line to the POTUS? What was McCain thinking? What happened to the man who was once the Republican I Liked and Secretly Suspected Was a Democrat? (I just caught myself about to shoot off, “is he senile?” but realized how problematic that might be.)

That said, though we can critique her hypocrisy re: family values, if feminists want to argue for choice, we cannot go around criticizing her decision to be a Governor rather than the primary caretaker of her child, Down Syndrome or not.

I am a bit shocked by her hubris and audacity in thinking herself capable of being POTUS. I’d have respected her more if she’d declined.