Why Sarah Palin Makes Women Cringe

John McCain may have thought he would win over women voters with his choice of Sarah Palin, but he was so wrong.  Especially since all the housewives women who vote for whoever their husbands (or clergymen) tell them to, were already going to vote for McCain anyway. Free-thinking women wouldn’t dream of voting for a candidate like Palin, man or women, that stands strongly opposed to issues that improve the lives of women.  Sarah Palin is no hero for modern women of any age!

I hesitate to get into politics on this blog, but I work every day to empower women and strive for them to succeed professionally and personally.  Seeing every cliche about women play out with Sarah Palin’s nomination is beyond disappointing.  The Sarah Palin choice was a giant step backward for women.  When an unqualified and unsuitable woman candidate is put forward in any organization, the repercussions of her failure endure.

Sarah Palin was obviously a mistake, and since the shock value of the announcement wore off, she has only become a liability.  I was convinced she would withdraw from the campaign before November for “Personal Reasons”, but the more that comes out against her, the more McCain digs in.

Here is a shortlist of the absurdities:

• The only thing Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have in common are their XX chromosomes.  She doesn’t stand a chance of picking up HIllary supporters.
• The Republicans underestimate women, assuming any skirt woman will do.
• Women cope with a lot of guilt in their lives, but women will not feel guilty voting against this particular woman.  Yes, we’ve waited a long time, but she is not “The One”.
• Sarah Palin is completely unqualified for this job or to be President, she would never have been considered if she was a man!
• The top quality of Sarah Palin’s that people recognize and agree on is that she is photogenic.
• Sarah Palin using her newborn with down syndrome as a badge of honor demonstrating her opposition to abortion in all circumstances, even incest and rape, is repulsive.
• Spinning the teenage pregnancy of her daughter into another anti-abortion story is really too much.  I do not judge her daughter for getting pregnant, it only reinforces the fact that it should be a private choice without interference from a government of morality police.
• She does not represent Modern Women in her strong stance against birth control and her preaching of abstinence.
• Sarah Palin must have seemed like a safe pick because she married her sweetheart and is a mother of five.  No chance of affairs or scandals?  Not exactly.  Investigation already pending…
• The biggest cringe factor is to see her standing on stage talking about shattering the glass ceiling, while if elected, she would single-handedly put the struggle for women’s rights back 40 years!

Finally, please throw her to the wolves!  Why is everyone being so polite, nice and gentle with her?    If she were a man, her lack of experience and incompetence would have been ripped to shreds.  She is being presented as tough and rugged and as a gun enthusiast, she is even armed after all, so throw off the gloves andlet her take it like a real woman!

Filed under Blogging, Politics, Social Issues, The Mommy Wars, Women | Comments (6)

10 reasons not to call yourself a Mompreneur

I happen to be an entrepreneur, woman, wife, mother of two, daughter, sister, friend, colleague, boss, professor, advisor, activist, volunteer, etc.  However, I do not feel compelled to compress all of these roles and aspects of my life into one job title.   Is there any woman in the Corporate World that would appreciate being called a MommyManager by her employees after giving birth?  In fact, I am sure you could win a lawsuit in the U.S. on these grounds.  So, why do women entrepreneurs fall for this condescending label?  It beats me why so many embrace it, but here is my attempt to put a stop to this trend…  (in no particular order)

1 ) A Mompreneur is a Nonpreneur! 

2 ) You may as well shout to the world ”I am not serious about my business”.  The message is the same.

3 ) Attention all Moms; you are still a person with your own individual identity, skills, qualifications and interests.

4 ) It is too convenient to insert an excuse for failure into your job title. 

5 ) Why bring your kids into your business? 

6 ) When an architech becomes a father, does he start calling his profession Daditech?

7 ) Do you really want to go there?  Pubertypreneurs, newlywedpreneurs, gaypreneur, divorcepreneur, menopausalpreneur, grannypreneur, etc…

8 ) Do you think you are unique because you are a Mom and you are running a business?  More than 80% of women have children, so please get over it! 

9 ) Unless the target market for your product or service is strictly limited to new moms, stay at home moms and fellow “Mompreneurs”, please be advised that the rest of us don’t find it cute. 

10 ) Any shortcoming in delivering on your promise, will be attributed to the prioritization of your parenting resonsibilities over your professional commitments.  You cancel a meeting, your client will assume your kids must be sick or when you are unavailable on request, you must not have a babysitter.    

Please don’t spoil it for the rest of us that take both parenting and running our business seriously! 

Filed under Entrepreneurship, The Mommy Wars | Comment (1)