'Sisterhood' bars women who achieve and believe

Published in Cumberland Times-News Letters on September 25, 2008.

"Liberals see now, as do the rest of us, a seemingly truly liberated American woman emerging to claim her place on the national stage: A mindful high achiever who is happy and grounded."

To the Editor:

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." Prophetic words, it seems, written in The Mourning Bride (1697) by then 27-year-old English playwright and poet William Congreve. I wonder what profundity young Mr. Congreve might pen today if he could describe the angst being acted out on the public stage by liberal Democratic women against Sarah Palin and the likes of her.

Now they claim, as illustrated in Ellen Goodman's column (“She just happens to wear a skirt,” Sept. 20), that Palin might be proven to be female only genetically; that she is a “good ol' boy (who) happens to wear a skirt;" that she represents a women’s movement’s ascendance to mediocrity alongside a man; that she has risen out of “nowhere” to launch an “insidious” attack on feminism and the liberal agenda; that she is a pathetic example, apparently, of a disdainful womanhood in America today; and that any woman who will cast a vote in her support betrays some sort of pact, or worse.

What an inane mischaracterization and disenfranchisement of bedrock, salt-of-the-earth, hard-working, God-fearing, family-rearing mainstream American women today. Since when should it behoove a woman to desire to belong to Goodman’s so-called “sisterhood” – an elite club, as Goodman paints it, that excludes and defames women who achieve more or believe more than they do?

Goodman laments in her column that now, as evidenced by Palin’s selection, “Republicans are fighting for admission credentials to the sisterhood.” What? It seems more likely that Palin and those of her mind or ability have never thought of or sought out a “sisterhood.” Seems these may be more the type of women who believe it is possible (and desirable) for a woman to stand on her own strengths and achieve on her own merits -- with practical assistance along the way, perhaps, from her family and friends and supporters who know and treasure her and her capabilities.

Not to minimize the heroic efforts of those who have been important in the women’s movement, but the bullying groupthink tactics and the outlandish lashings-out of these “sisters” are over the top. For too many years, every woman has had to live with the expectations that she should want to be like them: Angry, insolent, combative – unhappy, at the very least, and loud about it. Well, “sisters.” not all women are dissatisfied with their lives, or angst-ridden, or constantly grasping for something that eludes them, or desirous to take or destroy something that someone else has earned or accomplished -- because they have come to grips with their own and others' worth and dignity, and capabilities.

Goodman and her “sisters” are upended because Hillary is out and Sarah is in. Liberals see now, as do the rest of us, a seemingly truly liberated American woman emerging to claim her place on the national stage: A mindful high achiever who is happy and grounded.

Nancy E. Thoerig
Mount Savage

Palin knows who she is

"If she goes to the White House, Sarah Palin might liberate women and men alike who yearn for authentic feminity and masculinity...."

Alaska Governor and Republican Vice-Presidential running mate Sarah Palin is dubbed Zamboni by Ellen Goodman in her column in today's Cumberland Times-News. Goodman applies the term disparagingly to symbolize Palin's effectiveness in wiping the Republican slate clean of party members' comments regarding working mothers. The best party line, though, quoted in Goodman's article, is Palin's own: "To any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave."

Known for shaking up her own party, Palin didn't mince any words that time; and she surely seems to be shaking up the nation now as a political powerhouse headed for the White House.

She turns the liberal view on its head. Sarah Palin clearly can "think and work and carry a baby at the same time" -- we saw her do it on stage after delivering her blockbuster speech at the Republican convention -- and still be a woman. Her authenticity is appealing and attractive on levels rarely seen today.

The liberal left accuses her of contriving an alluring act: They say her unstylish eyeglasses and hair piled up carelessly or pulled back frumpily are blatant props to flaunt her latent sexualitty. They deride her genuine good looks and disrespect her attractiveness to men, who apparently find her to be beautiful. To women, she is a refreshing and real role model: Sarah Palin knows who she is; and her values are those of a massive population of women in our country who have repressed (or forgotten or denied) heir authentic innate qualities and exceptional contributions to society as women -- working or not, mothers or not -- under the oppression of extreme feminism and elitism.

If she goes to the White House, Sarah Palin might liberate women and men alike who yearn for authentic feminity and masculinity -- and the complementarity and mutual respect that come with them -- in our human relations. Could Palin's influence generate a renewal of civility in our society? Could she bring about a new feminism that treasures authentic feminity?

A Catholic News Service article published in the Catholic Review on September 4 quotes Palin as saying that she and her husband felt "privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives” in their consideration of her last pregnancy with a Down syndrome baby. The article notes that "more than 90 percent of women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to abort the child." Palin's decision to welcome her baby won her praise from Anchorage Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, quoted as saying that Gov. Palin gives "public witness to the fact that every child is a gift."

The article continues: "Gov. Palin's pro-life credentials received another test when the fmaily disclosed Sept. 1 that 17-year-old daughter Bristol, who is unmarried, was five months pregnant and planned to marry the father of her child." Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, is quoted as saying in a statement: "The Palin family is displaying courage and constancy...in welcoming this new life."

The CNS article notes that "Palin says she was baptized Catholic but has always attended nondemoninational Christian churches."

by Nancy E. Thoerig 09-13-08

Sexism is alive -- and well?

"Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life -- social, economic, cultural, artistic and political." Pope John Paul II

Sexism is alive and well; but one might argue that quoting Scripture to justify it is short-sighted, at best. Relying on his sole interpretation of a single Scripture verse from the prophet Isaiah, David Biser in his September 10 commentary in the Cumberland Times-News equates women with children in their ability to lead and says women in politics do not follow guidelines for a biblical life.

In a June 29, 1995 “Letter to Women” on the advent of the Fourth World Conference on Women of the United Nations, Pope John Paul II says, “I wish to consider the essential issue of the dignity and rights of women, as seen in the light of the word of God. ... Gospel contains an ever relevant message which goes back to the attitude of Jesus Christ himself. Transcending the established norms of his own culture, Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance and tenderness. In this way he honoured the dignity which women have always possessed according to God's plan and in his love."

JPII thanks God for women; and he thanks women for being wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and consecrated to the church. And he states in his letter: “Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life-social, economic, cultural, artistic and political. In this way you make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of ‘mystery,’ to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity.”

by Nancy E. Thoerig 09-10-08