Academic

?Obama says Palin?s family off limits?

By Ann Bartow

And major props to Obama for that.

I wonder if McCain didn’t understand the magnitude of the wave of sexism that was sure to hit Sarah Palin. His wife has clearly experienced sexism, but the practical effect has been fairly mild because she has always been extremely wealthy, shielded by money she never had to earn herself, at least not in the first instance. He saw what happened to Hillary Clinton, but no doubt felt she deserved it. Well guess what, it doesn’t matter who the woman is, or what she believes. Any woman who thinks she is as good as any man is going to pay dearly for this.

–Ann Bartow

ETA: Once again Historiann lays it down good:

I don?t like Sarah Palin?s policies, which are extremely right-wing and are not the direction we need to go.  I don?t want her to be the next Vice President of the United States.  However, speculation about and scrutiny of her body, pregnancy, and sex life, or her daughter?s body, pregnancy, and sex life, and all discussions of leaking amniotic fluid, lactation practices, medical records, or anything at all relating to the sexuality and reproductive history of anyone in the Palin family are disgusting, beside the point, and moreover, a really dumb path for so-called ?liberals? and ?progressives? to go down.  (Aren?t we the party of sexual and reproductive liberty?  Do we or do we not believe in medical privacy rights?  Or does that all depend on whether we?re sniffing Republican or Democratic panties?)

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on September 02, 2008 (boomark / email).