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Sometimes, ovaries are all women have in common.
That’s something Sarah Palin should tell you, Mr. McCain.
We don’t all like chocolate. We don’t all like shoes.
We don’t all dislike guns, as evidenced by the lifelong NRA member you’ve chosen as your running mate.
Some of us love having doors opened for us. Others of us like opening them ourselves.
Some of us will believe you when you tell us our eyes are like pools of sky blue water. Some of us will roll our baby blues.
Some of us want careers. Some want kids. Some want husbands. Some want it all.
Some of us believe beauty pageants, like the one Palin placed second in, are empowering. Others see them as demeaning displays.
We’re complexly wonderful.
Gloria Steinem, Carrie Bradshaw, Oprah Winfrey, Ellen DeGeneres, Paris Hilton, Margaret Thatcher, Sylvia Plath.
All women. All different.
Some of us cheered at the idea of you choosing a woman as your vice presidential pick. Others felt like she was the ultimate pick-up line.
“Hey, ladies. One of your sisters is my running mate. Girl power!”
Some saw her as a huge step forward for women. Others think Palin is the equivalent of “Wow, you have beautiful eyes” or “What’s your sign?”
We’re complicated, Mr. McCain. Very complicated.
We don’t have a secret handshake. “I am Woman, Hear Me Roar” is a nice song, but it isn’t our national anthem.
For every woman who thinks it’s great Palin is running, another will question how the mother of five can juggle both jobs.
For every woman who admires your wife’s beauty, another will say something catty about a Barbie doll.
We don’t all think Palin’s “What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull” joke was funny.
(Answer: lipstick. Ha ha.)
What most of us love, Mr. McCain, is being treated as individuals. We don’t mind being wooed. We just want the wooing to feel genuine, to feel like it’s meant just for us.
We can’t be won over by someone just because we share anatomy.
But who I am to say? I’m just one woman.
Käri Knutson may be reached at kknutson@ winonadaily
news.com or (507) 453-3523.
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