{Originally Published on The Dr. Laura Blog}

I am extremely disappointed in the choice of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Republican Party. I will still vote for Senator McCain, because I am very concerned about having a fundamental leftist, especially one who is a marvelous orator, as President.

At first, I thought it amusing that McCain picked a pretty, smart, and tough female to counter the racist/sexist accusations going back and forth between parties. I remember how Oprah Winfrey got caught in the cross-fire as she stepped up to the political table to support Obama with pride that a black man could rise to such heights in the USA, only to get slammed by feminists who told her it was gender, not race, that she should back. Understandably, Ms. Winfrey pulled back from it all.

Forget gender and race. I’m frankly and sadly caught in the dilemma of having to balance policy versus example in touting a candidate for the office of the First Family. I was ferociously attacked (what’s new?) when I spoke out strongly against Bill Clinton’s dalliances in the Oval Office. That situation quickly turned into a debate whether “private has anything to do with public.” Nonsense.

Role models are very important. Children and young adults look to those who are visible and successful as a road map of what is acceptable behavior and emulate those actions over the morals and values their parents and churches have taught and tried to reinforce. It’s a tough go these days, when the “bad that men or women do” is used for entertainment purposes without judgment, or is excused because of political or financial considerations.

I’m stunned - couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain?

Originally posted on Bitch Ph.D.

So here is the biggest, most annoying problem with having a feminist marriage:

No matter what you and your partner have agreed on, other people will cling to their antiquated notions.

It’s the biggest evidence to me that marriage is not just a
contract between two people; it’s also a kind of social contact (for
better or for worse). Like, if you and your partner decide to reverse
conventional gender roles–you work the day job, he stays home with
kids and kitchen–and you are perfectly happy with this arrangement
(ok, reasonably happy). Lovely! You win! You and your partner have done
all the hard work necessary in arriving at this decision, you have had
principled discussions about division of labor, you have made sure that
neither one of you is feeling coerced, that this is how you both want
it to be, blah blah blah and now you can sit back and enjoy your
domestic life. WRONG. Because now you have to deal with constantly
explaining to everyone around you that, “no, this really is what we both
want, no, I am not an emasculating bitch, actually this was his idea,
no really you can ask him, no, he isn’t doing it “for” me, no, we’re
not doing this to “prove” something, really, we are doing this because
it works for both of us, individually and as a couple.”

(click title for more)

Originally published on Julie Pippert: Using My Words.

It
was a pretty innocuous mother’s club meeting, and we were talking about
babysitters. I don’t even recall why it came up, the talk about
babysitters. Conversation unrolls so organically in these meetings,
these times we get together, without children, and get to just talk.

But
sitters came up in conversation and the turn of that conversation
surprised me. Greatly. Apparently around here it’s bad manners to quote
an hourly rate for one’s babysitting services.

“You know what
gets me?” a mom said, “You know what sitters I prefer? Who I pay the
most to? The ones who say ‘oh just pay me whatever.’” She went on to
explain that (and this is my paraphrase not her exact statement) to
her, it came across as very forward, rude even, when these sitters said
they charged X dollars per hour.

My mind rolled that concept
around for a minute: it’s cheeky and rude to state upfront how much you
charge if you’re a babysitter.

I looked around the room, seeking
the people who ducked their heads to avoid disagreeing or the people
shaking a no with their heads, and waited for someone to say, “Well for
heaven’s sake, it’s a business. Of course they need to—and
should!—tell you in advance how much they charge! How else will they
learn to value their own worth and services? How else will they learn
to deal with people and money? How else will you be able to figure out
how much to budget and how much cash to have on hand for the time?”

But not one person did. Not one ducked head. Not one shaking head. Not one verbal alternate perspective.

(click title for more)