So close yet so far...

"Women are systematically degraded by receiving the trivial attentions which men think it manly to pay to the sex, when, in fact, men are insultingly supporting their own superiority."
~Mary Wollstonecraft, Writer, A Vindication of the Rights of Women

How naive I was to think that the Hillary Clinton speaking at the DNC on the anniversary of the certification of the ratification of the 19th Amendment meant that women had come so far in such a relatively short period of time. The nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the GOP VP candidate made my heart sink. Not just because I believe her to be unbelievably unqualified to be the VP, let alone President, not just because of her stance on many issues that I care deeply about, not just because of the stunningly supportive response to her nomination and not just because it was a pandering, desperate act of a pandering, desperate man. But because of the focus on her physical appearance. How will women ever be taken seriously while a VP nominee is touted as the "Hottest VP from the Coolest State" by supporters and members of her own party?