Why 'Girls' Aren't Taken Seriously
When Sally Heath describes her daughter as a 'remarkable girl' in the CBS interview, it conjures up impressions of Sarah as an intrepid Nancy Drew-like figure, discovering diaries in clocks, solving puzzles, and enjoying exciting adventures meant to entertain other 'remarkable girls.' Yet in this gender sensitive age, it's politically incorrect to call a woman a girl; that went out with the 1960s and Marlo Thomas' flighty "That Girl" character in a world unaffected by the upcoming women's movement. (Mary Tyler Moore's independent career woman Mary Richards was still years away.)
No 'Girls' At the Top
A remarkable girl may be endearing, but she can never compare to a capable, talented, strong and ambitious woman. A remarkable girl may temporarily blind heads of state upon first glance, but can she face down some of the toughest world leaders? Hammer out intricate agreements in trade, nuclear proliferation, and peace keeping? Palin may well face this if elected, and she's already experienced gender bias during her UN visit in late September 2008. The almost inappropriate delight of Pakistan's information minister and president -- who were all too happy to spend time with the candidate -- became fodder for reporters and broadcast journalists who covered the meeting.
Attempting to correct this bias often exacerbates the issue. When Sally and Chuck Heath expressed frustration at their daughter's portrayal in the media and agreed to do the CBS Early Show interview, they had every intention of setting the record straight. But they were unable to curb a bad habit the media had developed during the 2008 election year -- the overwhelming need to prettify and wear down sharp edges of the female candidate (or, in the case of Michelle Obama, the candidate's spouse) and make her 'one of us.'
It's wrong, it's sexist, and it wasn't an issue for the male candidates. Media reinforces male stereotypes and frames men as strong, experienced and unyielding. And women? They need to be soft and appealing so other women can better relate to them.
Woman vs. Girl
Yet strong attractive women don't have to submit to a media makeover for the public to accept them, as evinced by another member of John McCain's campaign team -- former Hewlett-Packard head Carly Fiorina. Certainly she did not endure anything in the corporate sector quite as embarrassing as what Palin has endured. So why does Fiorina and the rest of McCain's campaign allow this to happen to their VP choice?
Fiorina, like presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Clinton and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, are better able to ignore the media pressure to remake themselves because of experience. Their reputations stem from a body of accomplishment. Until Palin achieves that state of grace, she'll have to balance image with substance. And she'll need to resist every attempt by the media to portray her as anything less than a capable and influential woman, which she has not done in the first half of her campaign.
Subconscious Complicity?
In fact, the media's tendency to play up her gaffes as a sort of adorable naiveté has not escaped notice. The long-running NBC late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, which often skewers politicians during election season, parodied this tendency during an opening sketch.
In a segment mimicking Palin's interview with Katie Couric , Tina Fey impersonated Palin and Amy Poehler portrayed Couric; Poehler, who repeatedly asked questions that the charming but clueless Fey could not answer, finally inquired with quiet exasperation, "Forgive me, Mrs. Palin, but it seems to me that when cornered, you become increasingly adorable. Is that fair to say?"
"I don't know, is it?" Fey squealed appealingly as she shot off imaginary guns and winked at the camera.
The SNL parody stripped away layers of political correctness to expose what may be at the heart of the issue - a candidate's subconscious yet willing complicity in being portrayed as a powerless but plucky and eager-to-learn Nancy Drew-style 'girl' candidate.
Calling Out Gender Bias
How can any of this change? It has to begin within the McCain/Palin campaign. Sarah Palin's running mate John McCain has to stop treating her like fragile arm candy, keeping her by his side and restricting media access to her. She needs to campaign on her own, even if the larger crowds attending her appearances mean smaller crowds for his events and possible embarrassment for him. He must acknowledge that there is no place for a 'girl' in a credible presidential race, and start calling the media on their gender biased coverage of Palin, even when it's done under the guise of the human interest story. He needs to challenge those who shape opinions by filtering Palin's image until it's softened, weakened, and reduced. Even if she makes mistakes as a neophyte, she will have stood on her own.
Because when it comes down to averting a war, solving a financial crisis, reaching a compromise in a deadlocked Congress, or setting a course for the nation in a time of change and volatility, her hockey mom image won't matter. What will matter is her decisive approach to problem-solving and her skills at separating the essential from the non-essential. We have yet to see that part of Palin, and the longer it's hidden, the more it puts the legitimacy of her candidacy in peril.
