My husband and I love to dance and even though we don’t make it a habit to watch a lot of reality TV we used to love watching “Dancing With The Stars.” But when the show’s producers decided to glorify Bristle Palin by making her one of this year’s contestants I found it difficult to watch. Everyone knew it was because her mother was the famous or infamous Sarah Palin and would bring sky-high ratings. As the Palin legions of right wing supporters helped to keep Bristle on the show way beyond any sort of justification, especially after Brandy was eliminated, I refused to watch anymore.
My husband couldn’t understand my total disdain for Bristle and my eventual avoidance of the show. So, when I tried to explain it to him I actually surprised myself with my answers.
Firstly, I strongly resent that Bristle has been made the poster child for sexual abstinence. I also resent that she earns fifteen to thirty thousand dollars every time she speaks on a subject that she never practiced. What makes her an expert on this topic? You may be asking, “What make me someone who is qualified to speak about it? Because I was a virgin when I married at the age of twenty. It is precisely this sort of hypocrisy that makes me lose respect for the religious right. It reminds me of all the religious leaders who rail against homosexuality and then leave their pulpit to meet their gay lovers in a nearby motel. It is not that I am advocating sexually abstinence. I believe people have a right to do what they want with their own bodies. What I do abhor is having unplanned children out of wedlock.
Also, how can she speak about raising a child out of wedlock when she is so busy doing everything but raising her child? Between her speaking engagements and her stint on “Dancing With The Stars,” when has she had time to properly take care of her child? I never saw her child on the set? She is no longer living on her own and is now living with her parents. Her mother doesn’t have time to raise her own infant son let along Bristle’s son. I suppose a nanny has been employed to help with these duties. How many unwed teen-mothers do you suppose have the where-will-all to hire a nanny? How many are rewarded for their indiscretion by getting paid hundreds of thousands a year speaking about it? And finally, how many of them become famous dancing badly in front of millions every week? It’s simply mind-boggling and I applaud the man who shot a hole in his TV set!
This type of hypocrisy is permeating every aspect of our society. It doesn’t matter if something is right or wrong…it only matters if it makes money or brings attention to your point of view. I am sure that Bristle is a lovely girl and I am in no way blaming her personally. I am reacting to what she represents and how her mother, the right wing establishment, and finally “Dancing With The Stars” have used her.
