Covering Her Hair - Why Reporting on Sarah Palin's Hairdresser is Sexist..and Silly
Not so with Sarah Palin. And because of this, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
We only focus on the hairy issues of male candidates when they do something egregious, like stupidly pay up to $1250 for a haircut. But where's the sin in Sarah Palin's simple (albeit slightly outdated) updo? From day one, Palin's hair has received as much attention as her stand on economic and environmental issues, possibly more.
And now the New York Times has tracked down her hairdresser and done a feature on her. (Of course they went with it - the shop is called the Beehive Beauty Salon - how much more folksy can you get?)
Granted, it's a cute little feature, but it bothers me because this is what this year's election has come down to - hair, nails, and beauty shop gossip.
I have stayed away from saying anything about Sarah Palin's french manicured toes peeking out from her open-toed shoes. I have avoided comments on her lipstick, makeup, jewelry, clothing, footwear because that's the kind of superficial judgment call women are subjected to every day - what my 14-year-old daughter describes as "the scan" - when you're examined head-to-foot in a cursory way.
I haven't talked about this because it's irrelevant to the kind of job she'd do as VP. I think it's silly...and sexist. I'm not interested in how she looks, but how she would govern and what exactly she would do to further the causes most important to women.
But I guess I'm in the minority, since there are women willing to pay dearly for Sarah Palin glasses. It's a manifestation of the need to emulate the women we admire and place them on a pedestal, an impulse currently being spoofed by Chicago actress Robyn Okrant in her experiment to follow what Oprah says and 'Live Your Best Life.'
If you admire Palin, vote for her. If you don't, then don't. But let's not dress like her, style our hair like her or buy her glasses to be more like her. That plays into every lousy stereotype about women that so many of us have fought long and hard to overcome. We're better and smarter than that and we need to prove it in this crucial election.
I don't vote based on hair, makeup, nails or clothing. I vote based on the issues. And I trust you do too.
Comments
Of course, the hair stylist traveling with Sarah is an awesome stylist from Los Angeles, not the folksy neighborhood stylist from Alaska….
Obviously, looking at your photo, you would find all of this sexist and silly. Women who don’t put any effort into their looks always hate women who do. Women who look good are smart, bright and strong. Where did you learn the opposite. How miserable you must be.
I think if Palin would give more intereviews and actually answered the questions, then there would be something more to talk about. But with her ignorance about foreign policy, extreme views on various topics, and lack of even basic knowledge about John McCain’s record, there is only her hair to talk about. At least talking about her hair is positive and not controvercial. And in this case “sexist” has positive connotation because it just underlines that she can be beautiful and yet taken very seriously in spite of it.
Wow, George. Ass, much?
Agree with Andrew, there’s nothing else to talk about, unless it’s her crazy religious views. Unfortunately, most journalists do not seem to know how to ask the kinds of nuanced questions about religion that would enable the average reader to understand the difference between Palin and mainstream Christianity. And the only talking heads invited onto television news programs are wackjob evangelicals. (Not that all evangelicals are wackjobs.) When was the last time you saw a Jesuit, a Presbyterian, an Episcopal, or an American Baptist on television? Simplistic idiot zealots make better tee-vee, so we almost never see anyone who’s actually been educated to read the religious texts they’re opining about. Similarly, Ms. Palin’s hair is more interesting than anything else about her.
The whole damn culture is so awash in misogyny* it’s easy to see it everywhere, but Ms. Palin in her token status is such an ardent cheerleader for women’s oppression it seems that coverage of her hairstyle is appropriate. After all, there’s no way anyone could get a full article out of her thin her academic credentials.
*Oh, and get your hair out of your eyes.
Funny how all you republicans thought it was very newsworthy to talk about John Edwards hair cuts. The face that Palin’s hairdresser is the highest paid staffer on McCain’s staff says loads about these 2 hypocrites.