I woke up in early September to a barrage of exciting news on my TV. A woman was nominated for vice president. Every channel was talking about this historic moment, conveniently forgetting that the country had been through it before in 1984.

As a woman, watching TV got suddenly difficult. The daytime shows talked about Palin’s fashion choices and hair color. They seemed to be under the impression that the country found her glasses fascinating. It wasn’t just Palin. The fashion choices of the future first ladies were also being analyzed. I now know about their shoes, cookie recipes, and how Paris Hilton feels about them. The country’s issues were brought up in passing, an afterthought.

This gossip aura around our female politicians is scary. More women vote then men, it’s been that way since the ’80s. We put Regan in office, and the gap has increased since then. This past election 60.1 percent of women voted versus only 56 percent of men. That’s 9 million votes. We have the power to change this country but we aren’t treated like it. We are treated like women that are influenced by the check out line headlines. In those thirty seconds of scanning the gossip covers they think we will believe that Lohan is gay, Palin has battled Russia and that Batboy is on the loose!

When Palin was picked, I thought “it is insulting that they think that having a woman on the ticket will change my mind.” I’m not going to vote based on party/race/gender/sexuality. I’m going to vote for the candidate that will make sure my husband has a job, that I get to keep my house and that gives my child the best education possible. It appears, though, that some women aren’t voting based on issues. They are voting based on gender, and the media is loving it. The interviews with angry Clinton supporters came pouring in. I had to read quotes saying that they “believed that it was more important to take a stand for their gender than to vote on one issue”.

How must it feel to be Hilary? She thought that these women believed in her message, her plans for the country. Instead they were following around her lady bits.

I started this campaign season with a sense of hope and optimism for my country, as both candidates seemed like a good change. Now, I feel like my future will be decided like the American Idol’s, who is the cooler candidate with a baby face and a cute butt.

Wait, this may work out for me yet.

This post was submitted by Rachel Martin.