# Is this Newsweek cover of Palin sexist? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 17, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941 "2009-11-17T18:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/121 "2009-11-18T18:17:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Can’t we just push her off on an ice floe? Isn’t that a euphamism for “kill”? As in “to wish death upon”? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/122 "2009-11-18T18:21:45Z")
She did make that video in which she had sex with the two Russian guys whose tank broke down outside her house, but that really wasn’t all that sexy either. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/123 "2009-11-18T18:21:46Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The post I was replying to seemed to take the position, “She has chosen to portray herself in a sexualized way, so she can’t complain when she is portrayed in a sexualized way even in combination with an unrelated, serious article.” To me, that’s edging uncomfortably close to, “She was wearing a low-cut top and a tiny skirt and high heels in this neighborhood and walking alone, plus she totally fucked my friend, so I know she wanted it.” Quite similar to how, when I’m at my dinner table in Oakland, CA, I am “uncomfortably close” to the nation of China. To liken a “blame the rape victim” mentality to the calling out of a public figure’s hypocrisy is categorically absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/124 "2009-11-18T18:25:00Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In what sense has Palin sexualized her image, **Dio**? He already addressed that. She winked. Oh, and she primped too. And to top it all off, she wears shorts when she runs. My grandma likes to wink too. I need to make sure to keep \*\*Dio \*\*away from her. I wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea… ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/125 "2009-11-18T18:26:36Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The post I was replying to seemed to take the position, “She has chosen to portray herself in a sexualized way, so she can’t complain when she is portrayed in a sexualized way even in combination with an unrelated, serious article.” To me, that’s edging uncomfortably close to, “She was wearing a low-cut top and a tiny skirt and high heels in this neighborhood and walking alone, plus she totally fucked my friend, so I know she wanted it.” That’s ridiculous. A better analogy is to point at a woman in a a short skirt and high heels and saying “look, she’s wearing a short skirt and high heels.” Nothing _more_ was done to her. > [@](#): > > Only if they **actually comment on the photo**. If it is offered without comment to make it relevant, it’s sexist. The fact that she posed for the photo already speaks for itself. It needs no further explicit comment. > [@](#): > > It’s portraying a female politician differently from how a male politician would be or has been treated in the same context. It’s using her physical appearance to draw readers into an article that has nothing to do with how she portrays herself. It has everything to do with how she portrays herself. Her use of sexuality is not something that can be divorced from her politics. That IS her politics. > [@](#): > > Show me a news magazine, newspaper, or television news program that juxtaposed an Obama swim trunks photo with a story about, say, his visit to China, and I’ll agree that it’s entirely inappropriate. This is an asinine criterion. The Palin article was a holistic article about her as a candidate, not a news story about a specific event. You’re also ignoring the fact that there aren’t any male analogs to this, because no male politicians (that I’m aware of anyway) have made a similar decision to sexualize their images on magazine covers. > [@](#): > > Can you find me an article from a news magazine that has a cover photo (or even an article photo) of Schwarzenegger half-nude and oiled up juxtaposed with a discussion of his policies? I can probably find some kind of juxtapositions from when he was a candidate, but the Palin article was not about her policies (she has none to speak of), but her right wing populism. Arnie also did the bodybuilder stuff long before he was a politician, and wasn’t oiling up for specifically for campaign pics the way Palin was.. > [@](#): > > I just read the article (thank you for the link). Aside from the parenthetical, there is no mention of the photo or how it relates to “How Sarah Palin Hurts the GOP and the Country.” In fact, very little of the article is about Palin, per se. It’s about the dangers of polarization, across the board. The cover image has literally nothing to do with the article’s subject matter–it’s eye candy. It’s a female politician (albeit a morinic, incompetent one) being used in a sexualized way to draw in readers, in a way that I’ve never seen a male politician used for a similar article in a similar medium. If the article were about how Palin uses sex to sell herself, I would 100% agree that it’s not sexist. But in an article about the dangers of political extremism, a photo of her in running clothes does nothing to exemplify that. > > As I have said, it is not sexist to recognize it… **if you recognize it**. They are not recognizing it. They are making no overt statement or commentary on Palin’s use of her own attractiveness to push her agenda. Once again, the selection of the photo exemplifies how Palin has chosen to sexualize _herself_. Comparisons to males will only have validity if you can cite a male politician who has made the same decision. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/126 "2009-11-18T18:29:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > In what sense has Palin sexualized her image, **Dio**? She dressed well - too well, as it turns out - on the campaign trail, but I don’t recall her ever having engaged in any activity I’d call sexy. > > I mean, she’s got a bunch of kids, so you know she puts out, but other than that… > > You can call Palin out for any number of idiocies both grand and minor, but other than being somewhat attractive - for which I’m disinclined to blame her personally - I don’t see what’s sexualized about her. Well, that picture, for one thing. The constant, inane flirting and winking for another. Let’s be real, she’s been MILFing it up from day one. Let’s not pretend she hasn’t, or that she ever would have been on ticket if it wasn’t for her looks. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/127 "2009-11-18T18:30:33Z")
**Dio** , it looks like we’re just talking past each other here. I think you’re being obtuse, and I’m sure you feel the same way about me. Don’t see much point in repeating ourselves over and over. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/128 "2009-11-18T18:30:46Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > It’s portraying a female politician differently from how a male politician would be or has been treated in the same context. It’s using her physical appearance to draw readers into an article that has nothing to do with how she portrays herself. And, potentially, it’s obliquely discounting her for using sex to sell her politics, instead of discounting her politics on their own merits (or rather, lack thereof). Are you acknowledging here that she used sex to sell her politics? If so, you’ve got no beef with Newsweek. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/129 "2009-11-18T18:31:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, that picture, for one thing. The constant, inane flirting and winking for another. > > Let’s be real, she’s been MILFing it up from day one. Let’s not pretend she hasn’t, or that she ever would have been on ticket if it wasn’t for her looks. The latter is not evidence of the former. She did not have any input into the selection criteria for McCain’s running mate. I don’t consider “winking” to be a sexual act… and can you point to any flirtatious comments she’s actually made? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/130 "2009-11-18T18:31:46Z")
Another thing, if the picture isn’t sexualized, then she doesn’t have anything to bitch about. If it’s sexualized, then she’s the one who posed for it. If it’s not, then it’s not sexist. She can’t have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/131 "2009-11-18T18:31:49Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > Isn’t that a euphamism for “kill”? As in “to wish death upon”? Only in a non-serious way. Someone as opposed to capital punishment as I am would never advocate killing anyone, even such a waste of carbon as Sarah Palin. If this is against the rules, my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/132 "2009-11-18T18:35:55Z")
> [@Sinaijon](#): > > My grandma likes to wink too. I need to make sure to keep \*\*Dio \*\*away from her. I wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea… Which VP debate was your grandma involved in when she winked? Did Rich Lowry write about your grandma’s wink in orgasmic terms too? Wait, is your grandma Geraldine Ferraro? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/133 "2009-11-18T18:38:18Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t consider “winking” to be a sexual act… and can you point to any flirtatious comments she’s actually made? You’re alone in your opinion. Here’s what Rich Lowry said, as I alluded to previously: "I’m sure I’m not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, ‘Hey, I think she just winked at me.’ " If you need a history lesson on the role of winking in sexual flirtation, we could do that too. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/134 "2009-11-18T18:39:16Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Much as I despise the guy, I suspect he was likely the fittest president we’ve ever had. Ran several marathons substantially under 4 hours. Too bad he wasn’t fit for his job. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/135 "2009-11-18T18:40:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The latter is not evidence of the former. She did not have any input into the selection criteria for McCain’s running mate. > > I don’t consider “winking” to be a sexual act… and can you point to any flirtatious comments she’s actually made? It’s not a “sexual” act, it’s a _sexualized_ act. The flirting in the debates, whether you want to call it sexualized or not, was certainly un-serious, a conscious attempt to play on her own sexuality (let’s not pretend here), and self-stereotyping as a female political candidate. The issue is the picture, though. If you want to argue that the picture (with the oiled up legs) isn’t sexualized, then it can’t be argued that there’s anything sexist about _Newsweek_ choosing it for the cover. No matter how you want to characterize the picture, it is not debatable that it’s an image SHE CHOSE, therefore she has no case for complaining that a newsmagazine referenced an example of an image she had already self-selected. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/136 "2009-11-18T18:42:25Z")
Again, _what_ flirting? Did she blow Biden a kiss? Make lingering eye contact with Gwen Ifill? What? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/137 "2009-11-18T18:42:27Z")
The latest talk is a Palin/Beck ticket. Our conservatives will boner up about that. How much better could it get? They would have to find a way around presidential debates. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/138 "2009-11-18T18:46:08Z")
Well, stupid people deserve representation too. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/139 "2009-11-18T18:46:51Z")
Open Letter to Sarah Palin: You are undeniably hot. But what you fail to realize is that you are no longer a politician - you’re just a celebrity. A photogenic talking head. Think Michelle Malkin. I specifically want to address a quote from you, which I post below > [@Sarah Palin](#): > > When it comes to Sarah Palin, this ‘news’ magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant," Palin wrote. I’ll forgive you for referencing yourself in the third person, but darling, you haven’t been relevant since you stepped down as governor. What was with the “If you’re going to be mean to me, I’m taking my ball and going home” thing anyway? Politics is a full contact sport, sweetcheeks, and if you can’t deal with that you don’t need to be playing. But you resigned your office, didn’t you? Face it, you have turned yourself into just a pretty face that says things. An actual politician wouldn’t have relinquished power because they don’t like the press. Bush didn’t do it, Clinton didn’t do it, and both of those guys were vilified. But you did it. You resigned your relevancy when you resigned your office. You’re not a power player anymore. You’re just a celebrity. The E! network is on line one. They want to do a reality show. I suggest you take the call. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941/140 "2009-11-18T18:47:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Much as I despise the guy, I suspect he was likely the fittest president we’ve ever had. Ran several marathons substantially under 4 hours But could he walk 50 miles in a day? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-newsweek-cover-of-palin-sexist/517941.md?page=8)