Please Take This Walmart Mom Out of the Sarah Palin Box

This summer I was selected to be one of the ElevenMoms for Walmart’s YouTube campaign that is underway.  Once word got out to the press and blogosphere, I set up a Google Alert for “Walmart Moms” to keep track of any mentions of my involvement so I could easily add those to my press page.

Try Googling “Walmart Moms”.  Ever since Sarah Palin was tapped to be John McCain’s running mate, the media classified Sarah Palin’s likely voter-base as being the “Walmart Moms”.  At first I chuckled at this broad generalization.  Then, as more and more assertions of this assumption showed up in my Google Alerts, I started to get a little peeved.  Here I am, my picture and profile on Walmart.com, making it pretty explicit that I’m a “Walmart Mom”.  But…the problem is?

I don’t relate even one iota to Sarah Palin.

In fact, there are a lot of views that I wholeheartedly and unequivocally disagree with her on.  I won’t drill down to what those are because this post is not about my political views, this is about my frustration with being boxed in by the media.

I’ve been struggling with whether or not to write this post for a while now.  I’m finally doing it for two reasons.

1. I’m tired of the media packaging me into tidy little boxes, packaging my profile into a nice little demographic that makes for snazzy soundbites.
2. I’m hoping women everywhere will decide that it’s ok to think outside the media’s box(es) too and really look at the issues and vote for what they truly believe is right.

Please don’t get me wrong.  I’m not trying to convince anyone to vote either way, I just want women to vote based on who they are as an individual and not on who the media tells them they are.

Exit polls have provided us with insight into the polling outcomes based on demographics including age, gender, and political affiliations (or lack thereof).  However, when you start drilling down to voting habits based on brand affiliations or what kind of sport your child plays I think that’s being a little presumptuous.

So women, please.

Please register to vote (now because in some states you’re really cutting it close!)Please go to the polls on Election Day and vote based on your hope for the direction of our country’s future and not for any other reason.

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