Sarah Palin

[pecunium]

Insomuch as I am not personally acquianted with her, I don't like her.

I don't like her in the same ways I don't like Rudi Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Trent Lott, etc (Dick Cheney and George Bush get a different level sort of dislike, with them it's personal). Which is to say, her policy positions, and public statments on things are strange to the point of incoherence. She preaches hate and practices, "IOKIYAR". All of which are bad, some of which are vile.

But that doesn't justify the things being said about her becuse it's a her.

Her being a woman isn't material. David Letterman was out of line. People who said it was funny, were out of line. Stuff like this: Rachel Sklar: Wow. Sarah Palin. Was it something that Todd Purdum uncovered but didn’t publish? Was it those really tight spandex pants in Runner’s World?

John MacNamara

Because everything I'm now going to write about you in this public forum is a total lie:

Ready?


...You should wear longer skirts because your legs are an embarrassment.


And in the future, the words "quitter," "diva," "crybaby," "psycho," and "Little Miss Pouty Pants" will never be used against you.

I hate your hair, especially when it's kind of down and loose and... y'know.

There were a lot other gibes in there, which were legit, but those... no. They weren't about her actual behavior, they were about her being female.

It seeps into even otherwise straight treatments. Andy Ostroy slips this little corker into his piece. The most famous MILF in America,

What? Would he drop, "Obama, the most famous Young Buck in America?"

I hope not. Yeah, that's over the top. So is reducing a female public figure to a fantasy object for wankers.

That she's a reactionary republican is no reason to abandon treating a woman on her merits, not her plumbing.

We can do better than that. We should do better than that. To do otherwise is to be hypocrites.

Comments

[calimac.livejournal.com]

There are so many legitimate things to criticize her for, why invent illegitimate ones?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

[urox.livejournal.com]

As an occasional cyclist, I don't consider the spandex pants comment to be sexist, but it isn't even remotely related to the way she carried her self and spoke.

I think more should be said about doing a disservice to women in general with the comments.

[baron-elric.livejournal.com]

Yep. I dislike Sarah Palin and Mike Sanford, as I dislike Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, not because of their reproductive plumbing, but by the fact that they seem to have typified themselves by another orifice south of their belts, common to both genders.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Yes. to me spandex pants are simply practical -- for running or cycling or other athletic activities, especially for longer distances/times. Guys that get off on them -- they have the problems.

I would never criticize anyone for their gender

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

and that includes ANYONE.

That she's shallow, strangely incurious about the world, incoherent, and possibly easily convinced of her super powers, yes. Oh and a quitter.

And I really like baron_elric's summation. Yep. She's that, too.

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Sarah Palin makes me cringe as a woman only because she does give the many talented, hard-working, intelligent, committed women politicians (of all political stripes) a bad name.

And the reasons why I abhor her are her words and her actions and her expressed political views. I'd feel the same about a male politician who acted the same.

I completely agree that using sexist insults against her is a) morally wrong and b) stupid.

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

Dislike the lady for her politics, yes.

Criticise her taste in clothing, sure, as long as you do the same to other politicians.

The most famous MILF in America -- hell no. That's beyond the pale. In the not-too-distant past, men were called out for far less than that.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it sometimes looks to me as though Mrs. Palin does rather capitalize on Being Female, but OTOH she's not sufficiently ostentatious about this that the approach taken by too many critics seems to me to be merited. But then, neither (IMHO) were the sexist remarks made about Mrs. Clinton -- which had a significant effect on rendering me ... not so much pro-Democratic as anti-Republican.

Maybe my annoyance at these recent bits boils down to the fact that I really want people who share my basic attitudes to display better taste, and a better sense of proportion, than /t/h/o/s/e/ /k/n/u/c/k/l/e/h/e/a/d/s/ people on The Other Side do.

[sylphslider.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see awareness of this nature from a man. Thanks.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Criticise her taste in clothing, sure, as long as you do the same to other politicians.

Except people don't, generally. At least male politicians.

But yes, I agree with you.

[katherinesummer.livejournal.com]

Obama, the most famous Young Buck in America?

Well...for arguement's sake, maybe

http://www.tmz.com/2008/12/22/barack-hard-abs/