I am deeply troubled by the blatant hypocrisy of the Republican Party. Shortly after Sarah Palin was selected as the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate, it turns out that her 17-year old daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. As soon as Palin announces that her daughter will be keeping the child and marrying the father (clearly a shot-gun wedding), Palin is held up as a prime example of “family values” in action.

Ironically, none of the Republicans appear to notice that Palin’s staunch stance against sex education doesn’t appear to have kept her own daughter from engaging in premarital sex.

I am sure that the same glowing accolades would not be accorded the Obama family if they had a teenage daughter who became pregnant out of wedlock. The Republicans would denounce the family, accusing them of loose morals and bad parenting. And, they would probably attribute the girl’s premarital sexual activity to exposure to sex education in school. No doubt there would also be rumblings about how promiscuous African American teenagers are.

Similarly, the Republican Party is crying “sexism” any time anyone questions Palin’s capacity to take on the position of Vice President in light of the fact that she has five children, one of whom is an infant with Down Syndrome and another of whom is 17 years old and pregnant. But, were Michelle Obama to be seeking that same office, she would be condemned for abandoning her two young children.

What is also disturbing is that fact that Palin herself portrays taking on the position of Vice President along with her family responsibilities as a piece of cake. As a feminist, I want mothers to be able to make choices – whether to stay home and take care of their children full-time or to work outside the home full-time. However, I’m not going to pretend that it is easy to combine the two. As a single Mom, I know that juggling spending quality time with my 12-year old daughter and managing my own independent business is no piece of cake.

Palin’s failure to acknowledge the difficulty working mothers face minimizes the tough choices that we are forced to make and the superhuman efforts we must engage in to be seen as equals in the work place.

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