Anti-feminist statement?

So here I go again with an opinion which will likely piss off even more of my neighbors should they be frequenting my blog.

I am glad that Sarah Palin has a the right/ability/choice to be on the GOP ticket as vice-president.
But I strongly disagree with her choice.

And the reason I think this is because 1. I am a stay-at-home mom, and 2. any career ambitions I had dissipated when I had my children.

There was a time when I really wanted to get a Ph.D. When I felt like this was the be-all/end-all accomplishment. There was a time when I worked my ass off as a teacher, spending late nights grading papers and emailing parents and doing all the diligent work that exceptional teachers do. There was a time when Rank I was a coveted place.

Maybe when my children are older and I am not in full-blown, full-time mommy mode, these aspirations will return. But I don't really care if they do or not. I'm not about ambition right now and maybe won't be ever again. I don't know.

I guess what really bugged me most was seeing Palin's little baby in the convention spotlight. All I could think was, "That baby needs to be...not on stage hearing the roar of the crowd and loud music...but being rocked to sleep at home and then put to bed." The older kids---fine---let them hang out. But the baby shouldn't be part of this. A baby has no place at a political convention (or a rock concert--do you hear me, Matthew McConaughey?).

And I guess it made me question Palin's ambition a little bit. Question her decision-making.

If Palin was a man, I would still disagree with the decision to have an infant at the political convention, but I wouldn't question the decision to be on the ticket at all because I would figure the momma would be handling the childrearing responsibilities. Sexist? Ok. Anti-feminist? Ok. But there is nothing like a momma to a baby.

Yes, there are some very wonderful fathers out there who nurture and parent better than the mothers, but there is still something about a momma. Scientists say babies know their mothers' scent shortly after birth. When people are sick, even as adults, they want their mommas to take care of them. Even though motherhood seemingly gets no respect, it is the most prized position in the world.

I guess I simply can't wrap my head around a woman who would rather be Vice-President than care for her baby, especially when that baby is a special needs child. But, remember, I have no ambition. I don't want to be Vice-President of my neighborhood association, let alone an entire country.

Since I'm so busy being an unambitious SAHM and not boning up on my state governors, had Palin not gotten on the ticket, I never would have known about her. So I wouldn't have ever had a diatribe about her being Alaska's governor and not staying home with her baby. There's something about making that big leap to VP that got my goat.