I don’t know why I read some of the comments at this piece on Feministe about Sarah Palin’s (former dead horse, but now apparently revived) pregnancy hoax.
The comments range from the usual “Shut up, leave that alone already” (with which I tend to agree) to a lot of judgmental stuff that doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, it is no news or certainly no surprise that I loath Palinesque politics and ideas. However, I do take issue when people say something like this: “On a personal level, I dislike it when someone with a wanted pregnancy engages in actions that might result in fetal harm/distress (like smoking, drinking, doing drugs, and ignoring valuable medical advice, and flying late trimester)”.
O really? You dislike it and your contribution to the debate is to share said dislike with the world at large? Many other comments echo the “how dared she fly while in labor?”. And those annoy me to no end because I wonder how many of those uttering such words have actually spent any significant time traveling in a non tourist capacity. If I had to choose the times of my life when I felt the loneliest and most defenseless, it would be during the long periods I had to travel for business. If I had found myself in labor while on one of those trips you can bet that I would have done anything (anything, of course, within the boundaries of reason) to get back to my loved home in time to have a baby in a familiar environment, supported by my local network.
I mean, of all the possible issues to attack her on, people, and most specifically, feminist women who should be open to a variety of human experiences, are attacking her for that?!
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