Sarah Palin - Are the "double-standards" unjustified? Hardly So

Barely days after she was announced as the Republican's running vice-president, Governor Sarah Palin is already hogging the headlines. Accusations of corruption have become ubiquitous. Her daughter Bristol is 17 years old and five months pregnant. And if all that isn't enough, claims of her being little more than a cheap political ploy to win over the "female vote" are fast becoming prevalent over all forms of media

From the way things are looking, it certainly does seems that the Senator Mccain might be starting to regret his hasty and arguably reckless choice of a running-mate.

Yet what about the current debate questioning if she will be able to juggle family matters along with national issues? Significantly, Sarah Palin is a mother of five children, three of which are below the age of 15 and with her most recent child diagnosed with Down syndrome.

She is undeniably going to have a lot of parental responsibility to live up to. Many have hence raised the question of which if she will be able to handle running the country at the same time, leading women all over the globe to cry foul and pointing out that male candidates had never been questioned so frivolously on such private issues.

Are double standards being placed on Governor Palin? Definitely so. But are they really unjustified and wrong? Probably not.

Forget the accusations of chauvinism or sexism. It is undeniable and scientifically proven that man and woman are profoundly different on both a biological and psychological level. More importantly, men and women have been playing significantly different gender roles since time immemorial and still do today. With economic liberalisation, it's often easy to forget how women are still the major caretakers of the household or how that they are the ones children instinctively turn to in times of need. Who can deny that the role of mothers, while extremely time consuming, are still today irreplaceable in raising children to grow up and for them to develop healthily? Motherhood is something that Sarah Palin cannot escape from.

Equal rights is one issue. Assuming that man and woman are equal on all levels is another. Each will ultimately have their own respective gender roles that they are obliged to fulfill - and that is a responsibility which both sexes must come to face.