Making an issue out of nothing

I was talking to a friend about the U.S. presidential election and she commented on the news stories about Sarah Palins clothing. It was widely reported Palin, who was republican candidate John McCains running mate, spent $150,000 on clothing for the campaign trail. Apparently, she needed clothing reflective of her position instead of her usual garb of sweat pants and hunting jackets. Anyway, my friend pointed out if this had been a man, clothing would never have been an issue. Men dont care about things like that, she commented. My friend is absolutely right. A large percentage of men (respective of those men who are clothing aficionados) dont care about clothes. In fact, unless their job requires specific types of clothing, most men stick to a basic wardrobe of two or three pairs of footwear, some jeans, T-shirts, and maybe a few cotton dress shirts. Many women, on the other hand (and, again, its not my intention to generalize), are far more influenced by clothing. I dont know a lot of women who havent got at least 10 pairs of shoes and a closet stuffed full. Ive used the excuse myself on many occasions that I need lots of clothes because I have to dress up for my job. Heres the kicker, though: Women arent really dressing for men - were dressing for other women. How do I know this? Its simple: if we were dressing strictly for men wed all be naked (relax, Im just kidding). Seriously, though, if men dont worry about their own clothing, they probably dont really care about womens clothing either. Granted, $150,000 is a massive clothing budget, but if Palin had worn more modest outfits, shed have likely been criticized for being miserly or out of touch. What it comes down to is this: During one of the most historically significant elections of our time, Palins clothing became international news. Was it because some woman somewhere looked at Palins outfit and wondered who designed it? Conversely, would any man have ever looked at John McCain and said, Oh my Gawd! Look at that jacket - I wonder where he got it! Whether its clothing, business, or politics, sometimes we women are our own worst enemies. Instead of applauding each other for our individual accomplishments, we often nitpick over shallow things like clothing or hairstyles. The feminist trailblazers before us who paved the way for Palin to run in a presidential election have got to be shaking their heads. The bottom line is: As women if we want true equality, then it starts with us. We need to respect and value each other instead of sabotaging ourselves with petty jealousy. Susan Belliveaus column appears on Friday.