THE Republican nominee for vice president talks to People magazine about juggling breast pumps and BlackBerrys and the Mommy Wars begin again. This time, however, it is tough to tell which side you are on.
Working mothers who champion a woman’s right to find fulfillment outside the home are looking at Sarah Palin’s five children — one on his way to Iraq, one pregnant and unmarried, and one with special needs — and thinking that she can’t possibly run a family and a campaign.
Stay-at-home mothers who feel so strongly that young children need the nurturing and attention only a mother can provide are looking at the complexity of Palin’s work and family life and saying it is proof that she can handle the job of vice president.
The Alaska governor’s labor was starting last spring, but she gave a keynote speech in Texas anyway. She went back to work three days after son Trig was born, putting his crib in her office and discreetly nursing him at staff meetings.
And the stay-at-home mothers who might have been appalled are beaming with pride in her.
Meanwhile, the working mothers whose maternity leaves might not have lasted as long as a beach vacation — and who know how crazy Palin’s life is because it is the same life they are living — are wondering why the woman isn’t over the edge.
When you have female Republican surrogates out there saying that it is sexist to wonder if Palin can do it all when Barack Obama has never been asked who is minding his kids, you know the world has been turned on its head.
It is clear that we, as a country, still aren’t sure how we feel about working mothers. Maybe the question we are asking should not be: Can a woman multitask well enough to be a mother of five and a vice president? Maybe the question should be: Why does she have to?
