Palin is Our Voice.

In the 70's I thought of myself as a feminist. I believed that women were as capable as men in education, work, and in sports. To me it was about self confidence. It was about not letting anyone tell you that you couldn't achieve what you wanted to achieve. It was about independence and self reliance.

In the 80's I realized that the feminist movement had moved beyond those things into the man hating, abortion loving, radical movement that it is today. Feminists lost women like myself and apparently women like Sarah Palin, long ago.

What many women like me love about Palin is that she represents not only what we believe to be true about the equality of women, but also the gift of being a woman. We know that it isn't the same as being a man. We know that there are different gifts. And the most wonderful gift we are given as women, as opposed to men, is the gift of carrying our children within us and giving birth. We love this essential part of our being. We love the men who share our life and help us created these incredible wonderful creatures we call our children.

Feminism seemed to reject that and that is why we rejected it. Growing into womanhood in the 70's and 80's, we were strong independent women who also believed in a strong and loving God. We believed in the sacrament of marriage and the miracle of birth. We weren't the subservient housewives of the 50's, but we certainly weren't the bra burners of the 70's. Like Sarah, we were athletes who competed with the best of them, and never admitted defeat. We were students who excelled as well as the boys in our classes. We were the girlfriends who didn't let the boys take advantage of us. We were the ones who worked hard, but never let work consume us. We were the mothers who saw our children as the greatest of gifts.

We could no longer call ourselves feminists because we saw the advocating of abortion as the horror for what it is. We didn't see men as patriarchal, but as partners in life. We saw ourselves as independent, but understood that marriage was a shared experience. We saw ourselves as strong, but understood our need for God. We embraced our faith and our strength together.

This is why women like me connect so deeply with Sarah Palin. She stood up to the good 'ole boy network in Alaska, but as she did it, she never forgot that family and children were the most important thing and that faith was what she would rely on to get there.

Sarah Palin believes in the things I believe in. She fights for the things I fight for. She is strong and she celebrates being a wife and a mother. She knows the heartache that comes with life and she still stands up and gets back to work. She seems to view her life, full of love, family, work, and the kind of problems we all face, as the gift that it is. Our lives are wonderful and messy and we love it. And that is why we love her.

For me and for so many women, she is our voice.