can I call you Joe?…

Posted on Friday 3 October 2008

The Wink
by: emptywheel

For the record, I hate when male politicians wink too. Someone in the Senate–it might even be Joe Biden (though he certainly didn’t do it last night), or maybe Chuck Schumer–does it, and it infuriates me that a politician would diminish his work by incorporating such smarmy body language into his shtick. But it especially pisses me off that Palin did it.

It may not be fair, but as one of the trailblazers for women in politics, all women will be judged by the manner with which Palin approaches her campaign. And it is equally unfair, but a wink from a woman means something totally different than a wink from a man. From a woman, a wink is flirtatious…

And so, from being a trailblazer that finally brought the Republican party to the place the Democrats were at in the mid-eighties, Sarah Palin has demeaned that trailblazer role, mobilizing all the tired notions about trampy women who will use sex to get power.

How dare you, Sarah Palin, take the responsibility you’ve been given and use it to cheapen the work that all female politicians do.
I don’t much like the hair tossing and the winking either, but I think my reasons are different from emptywheel‘s. That kind of "come on" betrays a level of insecurity that isn’t comfortable in a potential leader. There’s a term – "false self" – that describes people who present themselves as being what the audience wants to see. While it tempting to think that what is underneath is devious, the truth is that what’s hidden is most often insecurity and depression. Something like, "I’m not okay as I am, so I’ve got to doll it up."
  1.  
    Smoooochie
    October 3, 2008 | 12:24 PM
     

    It makes me trust her even less. Like she’s in on a joke and just wants to let everyone know that you are in on it too. I don’t like that. It’s not a joke. It’s serious and I don’t want the candidates winking at me.

    She comes across like “that” neighbor that lives across and weeds her yard in too short shorts and apologizes for her friends that come over and block your driveway but doesn’t ever make them stop. I don’t want “that” neighbor as my vice-president. I want someone that I can feel confident to be well spoken on the world stage. I want someone that while they understand middle class America they also have a deep understanding of the Constitution that protects America and how to present themselves on a world stage so as not to embarrass those that they represent. I don’t want Sarah Palin.

    There is no winking in the White House.

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