There's been a lot of uproar in the news lately about whether this week's cover of Newsweek, which shows Sarah Palin in a runner's uniform, is sexist.I'm a subscriber to Newsweek, and though I was interested in the debate, I decided to ignore it until I got MY Newsweek because I wanted to judge the photo for itself, without any prior knowledge. I usually get my Newsweek on Tuesday, but for some reason it didn't come this week until yesterday.
I don't see the problem with the photo.
It's not sexist at all. It's (very) mildly sexUAL, but that's not the same thing. The photo was originally taken for Runner's World magazine, and it shows Palin in a runner's outfit in what looks like a political office holding a couple of smart phones. The text that accompanies it asks, "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?," a reference to The Sound of Music. The accompanying article is about the difficulties that Palin presents for the Republican party.
The photograph is perfect for the story. It encompasses everything that is problematic about Palin. It is extremely difficult to be both a celebrity AND a politician, and that's what she's trying to be at the moment. Many have argued that Newsweek would NEVER have put a photo of Barack Obama standing in a jogging suit on the cover of its magazine, nor would they have put a photo of Hillary Clinton dressed similarly on their cover. And those people want to scream that the fact that they put Palin on the cover dressed like this is an example of their bias against Palin.
But that's simply not the case. The reason that you'll never see Obama or Clinton on the cover of the magazine in such a pose is that they never would have posed for the photo in the first place! National politicians are necessarily famous, but you can't straddle popular celebrity and politics and get away with it for very long. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger has dialed his celebrity appearances WAY BACK in order to effectively govern. Palin has taken the opposite approach, resigning from the only major office she's ever held in order to write and promote a book.
Despite all of that, Palin is extremely popular with the most conservative part of the Republican Party, but the vast majority of Americans thought she was unfit to be VICE-President, much less President. So what does the Republican Party do? It's a conundrum for the party, and the photo summarizes nicely exactly the absurdity of the situation (So does the song, by the way). That's all that Newsweek meant by the photo.
4 comments:
Certainly you jest. The liberal media has been attacking her since she was selected as a running mate for McCain. You truly glossed over what it really said on the cover; "Bad news for the GOP and EVERYONE ELSE" Who is everyone else? For some reason a strong good looking woman is a threat to the nation. Will Lisa be the next "Bad News" for everyone? And just think if Obama were on the cover what idiot would try and SOLVE the problem? You sure missed this one, but still the best blog around.
Bill Clinton and both President Bushes were photographed all the time in their running gear, but those images were not used to diminish them professionally. This isn't about the GOP, or racism or anything like that. A woman in our country is not taken seriously if she is beautiful. There's probably an exception or two to a statement like that, but this photograph is on the cover to show her as sexual, not as a politician, or a writer, thus it *is* sexually biased. I think Palin's professional missteps (quitting her job, stumbling through interviews and blaming others for it, etc.) speak to her weaknesses sufficiently without purposefully publishing this photo out of context. It's an appropriate photo for Runner's World. Newsweek wants to sell magazines, and this sexist crap sells.
Oh you've opened Pandora's box with this one...
I think Palin has made herself a target for these sorts of pictures because she goes the extra mile to make herself attractive. Clinton (of the Hillary variety) would most likely be very happy to run around with dirty hair and no make-up all day but Palin is that ex-cheerleader from high school who still wants to be the hot one. Newsweek has simply dialed into that. But alas, Mrs. Obama (with her arms) has certainly made her fair share of appearances on magazine covers. And I think Obama was photographed in swimming trunks while on vacation (admittedly, not as hot as his wife). While perhaps Newsweek may have lowered their standards a bit ( I would expect to see the photo with attached caption in something like "The Onion"), I have to assume that Mrs. Palin brought this on herself.
She is just a woman that wants to look nice and is very attractive anyway if she were a liberal democrat would the media have anything to say except what a great person she is. What is everyone so scared about? You want comething scary look at the health care bill, don't try to lift it you will get a hernia.
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