Sarah Palin: What's Sexist And What's Not Sexist?

Women can be sexist, too, you know, just like persons of color can be racist. As the media debate whether Gov. Sarah Palin's public treatment is sexist or not, take this punch, socked to Palin by a woman, that's as clearly out of bounds as a husband slapping his wife in the face in public.

As related by The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus today:

My colleague Sally Quinn put it most provocatively. "Is she prepared for the all-consuming nature of the job?" Quinn wondered. "When the phone rings at three in the morning and one of her children is really sick, what choice will she make?"

Has Quinn ever asked the same question of a man running for vice president? Of course not, nor would she. What if the answer is, Sarah Palin would take the call at 3 a.m. and jump on any plane to anywhere in the world, confident that her husband would care for the sick child? To pose the question is to promote idiotic and sexist media viewpoints, while ignoring the much more important flaws in the Palin candidacy.

What's at issue is her extreme views on the environment, on religion in government (as I've written about earlier), and about women's reproductive rights. Here's an example of nonsexist, legitimate questions raised by a member of the so-called liberal media:

The Palin administration has allowed Chevron to triple the amount of toxic waste it pours into the waters of Cook Inlet. This, even though the number of beluga whales in the bay has collapsed from 1,300 to 350--the point of extinction--because of pollution and increased ship traffic.

Get with it, ladies of the press, or you diminish our credibility and our role.

By Bonnie Erbe