Today, as Iattempted to carefully explain the Republican and Democratic platforms to my 15-year-old daughter, I found myself stumbling to express supportive understanding of male family members who are seemingly able to ignore what the election of a Republican president and vice president may likely mean to women — to her.

Oh, but to have the luxury afforded to men in this country to vote with nary a thought directed at their “inalienable” right to retain control of their bodies.

Yet again, I am confronted with the knowledge that the Republican Party has become so extreme as to consider moderation unacceptable.

How, then, to explain to an impressionable young woman that issues guaranteed to remain in constant cycles of flux (the economy, foreign policy, energy policies) are often deemed substantially more important to men than something that could permanently affect their daughters, sisters, cousins, mothers and aunts?

So as I explain the Republicans’ proud aversion to “big government,” my daughter is left with the comprehension that while religion-based policies seeking to end or limit any personal choices (read “sins”) are not viewed as big government by Republicans, personal retention of the almighty dollar is to be protected at all costs. Nice.