Thursday, September 11, 2008

Caribou Barbie


I know there has been much to-do regarding the addition of Sarah Palin to the McCain presidential ticket. Most likely, if you know me at all or ever read my blog, you can already guess what I think of her. Suffice to say, she scares the shit out of me. However, though I might laugh as gleefully as the next person every time I see another picture (photo-shopped or otherwise) of the VP candidate in stars n' stripes bikinis, etc., I have to agree with some critics that the unnecessary focus on her looks/pageant past/potential sex appeal could be read as highly counter to feminist rhetoric. Don't get me wrong- I still feel a surge of hatred every time I hear much of anything come out of her mouth - but do we really need to be focusing so much on whether or not she's just a GOP wet dream? Now, one could argue that even her own words tend to draw attention to this: her attempt to differentiate herself from a pitbull via her use of lipstick is an interesting example. But honestly, this is not the way to get taken seriously in our critique of her stances. I know her selection was an attempt at pandering to lost Hilary supporters and women who just desperately want to see (apparently any) woman in a position of national political power. So instead of using her gender as a basis for detrimental remarks, shouldn't we be focusing on the issues?

That said, I still love calling her Caribou Barbie. Heh.

And for god's sake, what the fuck is up with this picture?

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