Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Palin Matters and Gendered Politics


Bloggingheads discusses femininity, gender, and politics in this clip.

It's getting more and more surreal that gender is being perceived and discussed is such a congealed way in 2008. Check it out and see what you think.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think she will make more sense and come across better if she dropped the winking, the betcha's, and the gosh darn it-s.
Oh, and the hair flipping.
Especially the latter is sth Biden can't really compete with.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps this is just me, but I do see her style of rhetoric a step back in gender-related progress.....

Anonymous said...

And I agree with Becca, the betcha's and winking's are a bit too bizarre.
I guess, she's nervous or something when she talks, but still.

Anonymous said...

The winking doesn't bother me as long as it's accompanied by substance.

Sra said...

I think if you take a candidate seriously as a person, gender becomes a non-issue. Obviously the gender differences are there, but to be quite honest I've never looked at either Palin or Hillary as anything other than candidates, and I judge them according to how I perceive their substance and fitness for the job.

I don't care if Palin grabs a baby after the debate. Plenty of male politicians hold babies for PR too. And you know what? Palin has charisma, no one can deny that, and that probably has a lot to do with her you betchas and winking and hair flipping, in that she comes across as personable. You know, she's such a Maverick and all. Do I think she is fit for VP? No, not really. Will the world fall apart if she's in office? No, probably not (what does VP do anyway?). I'm more worried about what McCain's going to do.

Anonymous said...

I kind of think that we were on the way to bigger and better things re: gender perception and understanding and then this happens.
Also, can somebody explain to me why it's 'cool' to be a populist? I mean, don't most of us expect more from those who lead? It could be that I have hangups about populism, but still......