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A note from the editor of "The Maternal is Political":
As the editor of the anthology about motherhood and politics, "The Maternal Is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood and Politics," I’m often asked, “So, how is the maternal political?” I usually pause when confronted with this question — not because I don’t have strong opinions on the subject, but because it still surprises me that this is a question we ask in our society.
How is motherhood political? It seems more reasonable to ask, How is it not? Because, of course, every act of mothering has a political dimension. And every political act impacts every single mother, because every act shapes the world in which our children live.
Right now in the U.S., political motherhood is getting a tremendous amount of press because Republican VP candidate Governor Sarah Palin is getting a lot of press. When she got off the plane in St. Louis last week for her debate against Senator Joe Biden, she held her baby son Trig in her arms.
The media is fascinated with her children, with how Palin manages (or doesn’t manage) to “do it all.” Gone are the days when the acknowledgment of mothers in our political landscape was a token nod to “soccer moms” or “security moms.” Today, we have the “hockey mom,” who the GOP would like us mothers to think of as our peer, our voice. Motherhood has arrived on the political stage!
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But for me, getting a mom into office, while desirable, was never the point. I had hoped that having a mom on the ticket (I presumed months ago, that this would be Hillary Clinton) would bring mothers’ interests into clear focus in this presidential election. But despite all the recent attention given to a small town mom from Wasilla, this hardly seems the case. The candidates speak in generalities about health care reform and education, but the moms I know are looking for specific, impassioned answers about what McCain/Palin or Obama/Biden will do for our children.
So as we move into the final weeks of the election, I’ll be listening for details, and watching carefully to see what the candidates have to say about the issues at the top of my list: Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, reproductive rights, health care, and education.
To read more from Shari MacDonald Strong, see the Seal Press blog.
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