On Vanity Fair, Sarah Palin and Gender Politics
There's a new article on Sarah Palin in Vanity Fair magazine that calls the Alaska governor the "sexiest and riskiest brand" in the Republican party. Writer Todd Purdum cites "top aides" on the 2008 presidential campaign questioning her mental state and whether her behavior might indicate she's suffering from post-partum depression.
I'm not going to attempt to address who Palin truly is, what motivated the article's author and editor and whether there's a Republican family feud being played out in the media.
Instead, I'll ask the question I often ask in cases like this: would they say that about a man?
Would they call a man the sexiest brand in any arena? Would they describe aggressive behavior as potentially unhinged? Would they endlessly describe clothes and what color shoes accessorized an outfit?
I think you can guess my take on it. What's yours?
Update: on July 3, Palin announced she would step down as governor by month end. Vote in the poll about her motivation for quitting.
Photo credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
More:
Comments
If Sarah Palin were:
1. A man
2. A Democrat
She/he would be regarded as the ’savior’ instead of the clown holding the title currently.
Yes, these things HAVE been said about male candidates–Obama is repeatedly referred to as a hot tamale, handsome, sexy, and so on; John McCain was branded loony because he was erratic, and speculation abounded that his war experiences had unhinged him. And how many articles have there been on the Obamas’ clothing??? So get over it–it’s not that Palin is female, it’s that she is an idiot with a sub-par IQ, a messed up family, poor judgment, lousy communication skills, and complete lack of a sense of proportion.
I say this as a woman and a feminist. How dare anyone hold up such a fool as an example of a feminist cause!
No doubt. This woman is a fool and no role model for politicians, women OR mothers. She’s screwed up every thing – her candidacy (lost, ethics violations), being a mother (pregnant, unwed mother – the very thing she has preached against her own child did), and she does not support women’s issues either politically, financially or idealogically. Her 15 minutes are over and now she’s going to cash in and live large like she’s always wanted to.
I think this article is somewhat incorrect. No, they wouldn’t say those things about Palin if she were a man. And there are many things you would say about a man and not a woman. There are differences in the genders and that allows for different speculations.
She is a fool. The republican party kept her quiet during the campaign for a reason. She’s her own worse enemy. Look for a different leader.
If she were a man, she wouldn’t have been John McCain’s running mate. She had no qualifications other than her gender and her personality.
No one is discussing Judge Sotomajor’s hair and shoes because she’s actually got qualifications for her job to talk about.
John McCain did women a real disservice by putting her on the national stage and pretending that she deserved to be there.
Sarah Palin got as good as she gave: even at yesterday’s very bizarre news conference, where she resigned as governor (check it out on YouTube), she stuck it to people in the media who criticized her son with special needs.
I would be on her side had it actually happened, but it didn’t. Nor did Letterman make a joke about her daughter being raped.
She simply played the victim to capitalize politically, and that makes her fair game for others to do the same.
Like my grade six teacher said, “If you want to be treated like a professional, you should act like a professional.”
One more thing:
Vanity Fair didn’t call George W. Bush sexy, because he’s not.
What qualifications did the loser community organizer have? God help the USA! God Bless Sarah Palin and her family!
The VF article has nothing to do with sexism Mrs. Lewis. It’s about recognizing that if it walks like a [lame] duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck (i.e. Sarah Palin is a nut job at best and the voters figured that out WAY before this article was published). End of story.
“As Palin makes her way slowly across the crowded ballroom—dressed all in black; no red Naughty Monkey Double Dare pumps tonight—” OK- THAT is a little sexist.
Oh nonsense Carol. All this PC stuff has gotten out of hand. If SP wants to ‘run with the big boys’, she better put her ‘big girl’ panties on. This is the kind of stuff that comes with the turf. Do you think they granted Clinton any passes when the whole Monica thing went on? They [media] called him everything in the book, short of slapping a pimp label across his head. Sorry but “Little Miss Perfect” SP has no more business being in the oval office than an atheist does being a preacher.