The Palin Paradox

Dana Stevens writes on Slate: "With the staggering news that Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, all I can think about are the nuttily mixed messages that Palin’s selection (and the media presentation thereof) sends out to women. It’s a cornucopia of paradox: Her candidacy is somehow supposed to be a glass-ceiling-shattering inspiration, even though she actively opposes feminist causes like equal pay and reproductive choice. Her bearing of a Down syndrome baby while governing a state makes her a praiseworthy mother figure — but don’t forget that she’s also a tireless workaholic (more than one profile has noted with awe that she was back at work three days after the birth of Trig in April.) Now the pro-life, devoutly Christian (yet sexy!) supermom has a knocked-up teen daughter … but since we’ve already established that keeping your baby no matter what is a badge of moral honor, this development may actually enhance Palin’s standing with the evangelical base."