My first reaction was of course, yay, someone is finally putting a woman on the ticket. My second reaction was, hang on a minute, she is conservative, pro-life, anti-environment, and maybe not so experienced, although maybe I should support her anyway (see yesterday's post). Now that Sarah Palin, after all of four days in the public eye, has dropped this bombshell that her seventeen year old unwed daughter is having a baby, I'm having a third reaction. And this one, folks, is not about Palin but about the media.

A political cartoon from today's Israeli newspaper, Yediot. As McCain marches with a bikini-clad "Miss Arkansa", Obama says to Biden "How do you look in a bikini?" Is this blatant sexism that turns a governor into a sex object reason enough to put a woman in (or near) the Oval Office?  

  Rebecca Waring, Washing Dishes www.rebecca-waring.com

What is it about the word “feminism” that makes some women squirm and some men shudder? Even people who believe in much of what feminism stands for – human dignity for all, repairing social injustices, offering equal opportunities and respect for women – often prefer not to call themselves feminists. Why is that?

You Want that Degree? Sleep with the Professor   I will never forget the day I first learned that no matter how much I develop my mind, to some people I am just a woman.   The year was 1996, I was a young, obviously naïve, master’s student in Jewish education at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and my adviser suggested that I meet with a certain professor – call him Y – about taking a tutorial with him. Since I was