Palin Can Handle the Heat

As soon as John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his running mate, the murmurs could be heard across the country. “But she has five kids…” “How can she take care of her children?” “What decision will she make when the phone rings at 3 in the morning and one of her kids is sick?” The fact that people are questioning whether Sarah Palin should run for vice president while having five children disturbs and disappoints me. Last I checked, this was the United States of America, one of the most forward-thinking countries in the world, where everyone is created equal. This sounds good in theory, but obviously some people still don’t truly believe it. Choosing Sarah Palin was a great move by John McCain and a giant step forward for women’s true equality in America.
The greatest disappointment to me surrounding this issue is the double standard that people still hold for women. Many Americans still think of women as the June Cleaver types who stay at home to care for their children while their husband brings home the money. Well, this isn’t 1950 anymore. Women are just as capable as holding a steady, consuming job as men, and they can still spend much needed time with their family. Male candidates are never questioned whether they will still have time to spend with their children when holding a high position of office, but as soon as women announces her campaign, everyone questions her character. Since when is someone who has a time consuming job abandoning their family? People are more than capable of balancing their time between work and family, and they know that family always comes first. It is time for one of the worst double standards to come to its much-needed death in America.
Many of the people that do not support the choice of Sarah Palin worry that she won’t be able to handle the pressure of raising five children and being second in command of the country. However, in my experience, women are actually better at multi-tasking and managing several things at once. My dad can usually only focus on one chore at a time, while my mom can do several without any problem. Missouri Western State University conducted a study earlier this year finding that women are actually better at multi-tasking than men. I can’t foresee Sarah Palin having any trouble balancing a heavy work load along with raising her children.
The United States is one of the most forward-thinking countries in the worlds, yet other countries are still light years ahead of us in terms of women in politics. Several countries have already elected women presidents or appointed prime ministers such as Switzerland, Germany and Chile. Even India, a country where many women are still discriminated against, elected a woman president last year. How can Americans not support a possible woman vice president? Are we not a country of equality? Looking at the examples set by other countries around the world, it’s obvious that America still doesn’t see women as complete equals to men, despite any laws that say otherwise. People can “talk the talk” by saying that women are just as capable as men in any capacity, yet they still do not “walk the walk” through their actions.
Even politicians don’t agree with the choice of Sarah Palin. Many Democrats are hypocritical in their opinions. First they supported Hillary Clinton, providing many steps forward for the equality of women, yet now they turn their back on Sarah Palin, consequently erasing those steps to put us back at square one. Granted this may be only because she is a Republican, but if so, they need to focus on criticizing Palin for her opinions on certain issues and not on her family or her character.
Almost 90 years after the woman gained the right to vote, women are still not seen as completely equal to men. The concern over Sarah Palin’s nomination to vice president shows that many Americans are still in their old, backwards-thinking mindsets. Palin should be applauded for her audacity in breaking stereotypes of the typical mother of five, not questioned of whether she still loves her family and can simultaneously handle the pressure of the job of vice president. Americans need to wake up and realize that we are living in a time that women don’t just need to stay home to take care of the kids but can also take on tough jobs and be successful just as much as men. Sarah Palin can handle the pressure. Can you?