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Your thinking is the same kind of prejudice that's called racism, when directed at a black person you don't personally know. Aren't you a bigger, kinder person than this?
Uhhhmmm....this whole breaking through the glass ceiling thing...Sarah Palin broke through more glass ceilings during her time as Governor than most MEN politicians ever could (if they actually had any ceilings to break through...why don't we just look at accomplishments)! CERTAINLY more than Obama.
I'm with Terri: "I don’t think it is Sarah Palin who has set back the women’s movement, but those women who decided they don’t like her for ‘whatever’ reasons."
If you're going to talk about someone in a "mean" way, I would suggest offering some legitimate FACTS as to "why" she is so mean. Other than "she reminds me of..." or "Well, they said (fill in the blank)...", or the female "feelings" thing. Etc., etc.
Oh, and I love the comment about her nickname "Baracuda" - "One does not get nicknamed 'Baracuda' when one is a teen for strength of character." Why is it men can be tough and it's a good thing but when a woman is tough she is attacked, not just by men, but other women? It's kind of like the several double standards that exist in this society, except woman buy into this one. ??
And for those of you who think that "Pam" is actually Sarah (this is the "girl who stole Ann's coat and we're so sorry she did that" thing)...re-read the article. Missing the ball.
This article is beautifully and cleverly written. It's entertaining. Ann has truly incredible talent. A person with these skills has an opportunity to "sell" people, just like Obama (a great communicator with charisma...that's about it, in my opinion, but that's another whole topic). Because of this, I think it's more responsible to substantiate what one is saying. Unless the article is for pure entertainment. But I don't think in this heated election that is the purpose.
But it's you blog, Ann. And this is just my opinion, after all.
I don't think it is Sarah Palin who has set back the women's movement, but those women who decided they don't like her for 'whatever' reasons. Hillary didn't make the final cut to run for President. Everyone was devastated...for about fifteen minutes. We now have another woman selected to run for VP who has drawn and quartered for any number of pseudo issues. Who among us could withstand a legion of lawyers and investigators being sent out with the sole purpose of digging up dirt on us? I'm sure they would have no trouble finding someone who doesn't particularly like one of us only too willing to throw some lighter fluid on the flames.
For those who have climed onto the 'let's crucify Sarah' band wagon....may the 'trooper' who finds tazering his stepson stop your car the next time you are speeding. I'm well beyond Sarah and Ann's 44 years and am sorry to say this is the ugliest election I can ever recall. The hatred and vitriol that has being going on for the past eight years is not likely to simply go away at the end of this election. It truly is sad to watch.
Can a woman truly be so "mean" yet have an approval rating from her entire state that is in the 90's (pre-this race)? Is it that easy, really, to fool people (who know her better than any of you)? Wear something shiny, toss the hair and smile? Gee, if it were that easy, I'd be in politics. God forbid.
I don't understand why other smart, successful women have this need to discredit her and ....well, be very mean to her. The mirror is in the other room. Get it?
- Not a Victim
Great article and well written. Like others, you've put into word part of something that bothers me when watching Palin.
The other part is the offense I take to her not minding being the "chick" and seeming lack of desire to project herself in a way that will be taken seriously and professionally.
I have passed my 40's and am in the new adventure of being 50-something. Like you and others, I really, really want to like her. But I feel she is doing more to reinforce that glass ceiling than help shatter it.
As a side note, I read some of the comments and find statements like "I’m frankly terrified by the prospect of a charismatic troglodyte like Sarah Palin in the White House" and multiple remarks about manipulating the public, and have to say that is exactly the thing that frightens me about Obama. Not that I'd call him a troglodyte. lol
He, too, is not all he seems and is doing a great job of trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Could it be? Do we recognize him from Jr. High, too?
I am not fooled by either of them, and our choices are frightening in an election that has so much at stake.
Thanks for the good read! And, thanks to your buddies at Marketing Profs for gushing - I will be around alot!
~Lisa
When I saw Sarah Palin in the debate, I saw toughness, empathy, savviness and a determination to find the right answer and work for it - whatever feathers she ruffled. Yes, she may have a net worth of $2 million, but what about Obama? Does her current status separate her from where she came from, knows and empathizes with.
Too many women and so-called feminist men are eager to pan this woman who is clearly charting her own path, doing things that few of us have the capacity and grit to get done. And like every politician out there, she's applying the same ingredients of charisma and controlling the conversation to win the crowd over.
Believe me, if it comes to high school references, Barak Obama reminds me of plenty of sweet-talking boys who promise you the world to woo you. But will he deliver? Can he deliver? How many of us are just swept up in the romance and charm of him - that connects to our fears and desires - without any tough examination of the reality? Just like many a high school girl who makes life-altering decisions based on the promises of Prince Charming.
While there are many women in politics, it is primarily a male-dominated arena. There is no way it is going to be easy to be effective politically and be a good wife and mother - especially with a special-needs child.
The aura Palin carries is not so much about being mean as it is strength, grit and a bulldog (couldn't help it) tenacity to do both - to be "mommy" and face down the "good ol' boys", to protect the privacy of your family and battle the incessant prying and harassment from a biased media, to be a supportive wife and face the hatred of those who are angry with anyone who does what they only wish they could do.
Sarah wasn't "anointed" with positions and fame because she was cute, a great orator, charming or conniving - she fought great odds at each level to get where she is at. That is why she is celebrated.
Unlike you, I wasn't shy in school. I was the one who called out these girls. If I were your friend in school, I would have grabbed that jacket right out of your hands and marched right over to that toothy witch and forced her to take off that coat. I would have made her see the error of her ways.
For me, I had no patience for the phony. Those who came across as sincere but we all knew really weren't. I would do whatever it takes to enlighten them. That was just my way.
Thank you for finding what it was that so bothered me about Sarah Palin. Now I get it.
Dana
Hirshman's pigeonholing of men, like all attempts at generalization is inaccurate & disagreeable. I don't feel Palin is that acronym I won't reference here, by any stretch of the imagination.
I think Palin has a mean streak & your comparisons to Pam are spot on. At the same time she's like a robot that is being used by the men running that campaign, a tabula rasa they can write anything on.
She does have a special way of making the attacks written for her, her own though, doesn't she?!
In some respects the relentless coverage of her ascent from not knowing what the VP office does (June '08 interview) to lecturing Joe Biden on the need to look forward (with no understanding of history...) to confessing her desire to out-Cheney Dick Cheney in his claim that the VP office is essentially a 4th, separate and equal body of government like Congress - WH- Supreme Court (when they shoulder their responsibilities, anyway)....is akin to our nation's own cool yellow coat and Governor Sarah Palin seeing it.
She wants it. She took it. She's wearing it.
And she thinks no one noticed that her yellow coat of folksy joe-six pack rap isn't really hers. The one with the stains on it...(the bridge to nowhere, troopergate, her wanting to bank books, needing an administrator to help her run a town of 5000, shooting wildlife from planes, claiming foreign policy expertise for living next door to a foreign country, imaginary trade missions...etc) is hers. But she thinks if she literally snows us with her 'hey sailor' wink and her gosh-darn it, stiff upper lip folksy charm like the smile with your teacher...no one will notice she stole our coat.
People like her always need our permission. You were kind and compassionate, seeing her need to have that coat and realizing...you can bear that cost: her wearing your coat. (Hats off to you for being able to do that...)
But now, in this election, we can't give her our permission to take our country and turn it into something no one recognizes...Honestly, I doubt she'd recognize it one way or another. And we need to make sure (I'm beating this metaphor to death, sorry) she goes home wearing her coat.
Thanks again for the great post. Funny, educational, insightful, well-written...I loved that sentence: "She had feathered brown hair that bounced around her shoulders as she walked down the hall, surveying her domain, left to right, like the felted nodding-dog dashboard ornament my grandfather had in his car."
Special thanks to Zane for that incredible comment.. "But she thinks if she literally snows us with her ‘hey sailor’ wink and her gosh-darn it, stiff upper lip folksy charm like the smile with your teacher…no one will notice she stole our coat." Love that.
Shannon: Anti-anxiety fashion must-have! (ha!)
And I wish I went to school with Dana. She would have kicked Pam hard for me, I have no doubt....!
What a great piece of work! I love the way you wrote that. Very clever and certainly remarkable.
Nice work!
Ed
And because you did, I was fortunate enough to catch this blog post. Well said!
I am with you - I keep wanting to like Sarah Palin, but just don't, time and again. Maybe it's recognition of a Queen Bee or maybe it's because she's just not ready for the role she has situated herself for.
Whatever it is, your post put me back in 7th grade, with all of the angst and thrill of it. I remember thinking back then that I was the ONLY person who felt odd and socially inept. I wish I knew then what I know now - that MOST of my peers felt the same way, and that it gets infinitely better!
And that's all fine and well in high school, at the mall or, perhaps, in the mayoral office of Wasilla. But when we're choosing world leaders, marginally wily manipulation loses all its charm. I'm frankly terrified by the prospect of a charismatic troglodyte like Sarah Palin in the White House.
Hey Pam, since you were mean & a thief when you were young, your response to Ann's story is exactly what I would expect. 30 years later & you are still being nasty to Ann. Go away! Nobody here is buying your lies anymore.
Once a bully, always a bully -- and bullies never admit they are bullies. They are very adept at lying to themselves & whatever part of the rest of the world they can scam.
There is plenty of evidence that Sarah Palin is a bully. One does not get nicknamed "Baracuda" when one is a teen for strength of character. It's an aspersion not a compliment. There are people from Alaska who went to school with Sarah in Wasilla who have said she was already vindictive when young. There are multiple first person stories attesting to her abusiveness toward city employees when she was mayor of Wasilla. People who know her well from Wasilla say she lacks intellectual curiosity & she has always been ambitious.
Anyone who has ever been a victim of a bully recognizes Sarah Palin is not strong; she's a bully.
Ann, my wife said "high school mean girl" within minutes of the end of Palin's convention speech -- and I could see her point, even though as a McCain supporter, I was in the mode of trying to make the best of what I thought from the start was a bad choice for VP. I was wowed by Palin's convention speech (typical man that I am, I suppose), and my wife and I discussed the his-and-her candidates phenomenon in the wake of that speech, in the comments at http://kirkpete.blogspot.com/2008/09/so-thats-w...
I don't want her as a friend and I certainly don't want her as our VP or -- heaven forbid -- our President. We've had enough nastiness in the White House these past 8 years.
For the record, though, I do think Palin fought hard to get where she is. Setting aside her positions on the issues for a minute, what I'm objecting to in this post is the manipulation I noticed -- of the voters. As Richard Cohen said, can you imagine if Bill Clinton -- or any man, really -- stood up there and winked at the camera?
Great insight into the Palin problem. I recently came across a brilliant essay on Sarah Palin by Eve Ensler and thought you might appreciate it (if you haven't already seen it):
http://tinyurl.com/6n8fve
Drill, baby, drill.
-Jo
I never feared McCain as much as I do now that I know his VP pick. My husband and I decided we had to do something to help the cause and so created this for undecided voters. It's funny, but informative if you follow the links:
http://www.areyouundecided.com/Movie_2.html
Also, a friend of mine, who is convinced people aren't REALLY taking the possibility of a President Palin seriously made this: http://mypresidentpalin.com/
I think you'll find it interesting.
I love your writing.
Amy
This is no homecoming election. There are real consequences at stake this time.
The preppy, cheerleader type. Very scary indeed. Thanks for this!
Could I please work with you on a short film adaption of "Pam and the Yellow Ski Parka"? (I'm serious).
The Mean Girls always get shown up in the end - you win: http://immediateinfluenceblog.com/50-of-the-mos...
I like the comparison to the mean girls - it's a fact that they are in all schools. One thing, though I that could be considered: everyone thought they were being tortured in school (especially if you were not in the clique). We were all geeky, awkward and strange which made us all easy targets; both to admire their lithe behaviour and to hate them.
Well, obviously I agree with the latter. Then again, it's my blog. And what do I know..? ; )
Nonetheless, I appreciate the opposing views here, and I admit that Joanie's suggestion ("Tide stick!") really cracks me up. Perhaps we all need a Tide stick for our emotional stains. Love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMyNk8J1c8g
You had me going for half the page... until you admitted your Sarah was named Pam. Oh how funny it would have been if you made this story into two parts, cutting it at the right moment...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26war...
My favorite quote:
"In other words: women will truly have arrived when the most mediocre among us will be able to do just as well as the most mediocre of men."
As for Palin, you're right -- I _don't_ know her personally, but I am (and everyone else is) being asked to elect her, to choose here, which is to say... to judge her.
And what do we rely on to do that? What she tells us, what others tell us, and--among other things--what associations our mind comes up with when we consider her as VP: Who does she remind us of? What feelings does she bring out in me? Do I identify with her? Do I identify her with someone else?
In short, we contrast and compare. That's all that we can do with public figures, as opposed to people we know or can potentially get to know on a personal level.
So how is that unfair or mean? That's how you treat the presidential candidates, too. So if you dislike Obama you're necessarily racist? Or if you dislike McCaine you're necessarily ageist?
Nice seeing you in AZ last week!
From your Canadian friends, we've all got our fingers crossed for you on election night.