Let me tell, you the lipstick jungle is a dark and dangerous place. That's right, I'm talking about sexism. This "ism," like all other "isms," is one of those concepts that appears by virtue of it's existence. By crying "racism" or "sexism," we perpetuate the mythical stereotype of the underdog. What's more, if a campaign is going to sound the alarm on an "ism," it must be prepared to back up it's whine with some cheese. Equal pay for equal work comes to mind?
Was Barack Obama's comment regarding "lipstick on a pig" aimed at Sarah Palin? Quite Possibly. Listening to the comment in context, Mr. Obama is explicitly referring to Mr. McCain's attempt to portray his campaign as a proponent of change. In this light, Mr. Obama's remark is clearly appropriate. Frankly, I think the analogy hits the nail on it's head. But when we take the comment out of context and portray it as "sexist," we not only demean the feminist cause, but we distract voters from the real point of Obama's message. In that regard, Obama's point has been negated, which is a shame because it should have been quite effective. I find it insulting, as a woman, that so much attention is being paid to the "scandal". In the year 2008 we are still associating women's issues with lipstick? Can we please get back to the candidates and their plans to put this country back together? Frankly, I don't care who said what and when. I don't want to hear another laundry list of all the Republicans who have ever used this phrase. Somewhere between all the "isms" in this campaign season, we need to find out what truly IS.
Just for fun: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lipstick%20on%20a%20pig
4 comments:
It's a product of the 24-hour news cycle. News has, unfortunately, become entertainment and stories like this, for want of a better term, are "sexy." I agree that there are better things that we should be focusing on.
Regardless of how it was intended, the comment was extremely stupid. If it was off the cuff, I can guarantee that there was a loud string of curse words coming from Obama campaign HQ. If the line was prepared in advance, then someone is probably out of a job today and it's just another example in a long list of dumb political moves made by the Obama camp (i.e. "personalized" POTUS seal).
I think the comment was perfect, Its about time the Dems started throwing back a little dirt and how better to do it than using Sarah's own joke against her. The comment made McCain come out after Obama and now looks like he was over reacting (considering his use of the SAME phrase) who ever thought up that line was brilliant and deserves a raise.
Good point, fuzzy. I think the bottom line is that at this point in the campaign, we are not going to be convincing any Republicans to switch their vote. It's those golden undecideds we want, and frankly a little dirty mudslinging might be what we need to attract them. It's kind of like the appeal of American Gladiator: everyone likes watching a good fight. I do think the comment was calculated; and sure there might have been an audible "oh s***" from the Obama campaign HQ. But, hell, it got us a whole lotta free press and McCain ended up looking like a hypocrite. Remind me where we went wrong again?
It has nothing to do with 24-hour-news. It has to do with the fact that none of the candidates are doing jack s**t right now, so people are looking for something to talk about. Something to bring to the watercooler.
As for "someone is probably out of a job today" at least the Obama camp actually punishes idiots in their campaign instead of promoting them.
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