Oh, Ross Douthat. I can always count on you to bring me a weekly dose of unpleasantness. Witness your latest column, in which you ‘analyze’ the Palin fallout and place some of the blame on her enemies. These enemies sound so nefarious! So venomous! Like they’re the evil bastard child of a three-way between Voldemort, Sauron, and Emperor Palpatine. Or, you know, not. She’s also a woman, in case you hadn’t noticed. Something that Douthat pinpoints as the exact reason why people can’t stand Palin:
All of this had something to do with ordinary partisan politics. But it had everything to do with Palin’s gender and her social class.
Yes, there was sexist and outright misogynist shit slung at Palin. Still, saying that opposition to Palin was based solely on gender and social class is a clear falsehood. And social class? Last I checked, Obama was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, nor was Bill Clinton or even Ronald Reagan.
Douthat is also convinced that “any aspiring politician who shares her background and her sex” will face “female commentators [who] will attack you for not staying home with [your children].” Douthat apparently does not believe that any male commentators will do this, nor does he believe that there are any women out there who might actually relate to the issue of balancing career and family. Oh, and anyone with Palin’s background and sex will have their religion “mocked and misrepresented” — because nobody ever did the whole “Obama’s-a-Muslim (not that there’s anything wrong with that!)” spiel, amirite? It’s touching how much Douthat seems to care about sexism on the campaign trail . . . or at least it would be if he was sincerely offended by sexism directed at all women and not just those on GOP tickets. I won’t hold my breath.
You are a braver woman than I. I simply don’t read his column because I know it’s thinly veiled–or not-so-thinly–veiled misogyny and privilege and general dumbassery will make me stabby. (I feel the same way about Maureen Dowd, too, FWIW).
I can see why the Times thinks they’re being all fair and balanced by having him–or Bill Kristol in years past–write a column, but honestly, they should just give it up.
I wonder if he only criticized Al Sharpton on policy points during the 2004 primary.
I have to come out and say that I am not sure that the misogynist shit flung at Sarah Paliln is any worse than the shit flung at deserving male politicians. Look at the shit they threw at BILL CLINTON. It was absolutely based on this stereotype of an ego hungry powerful male narcissist with a mommy complex. Of course, Bill fit the, urm, bill, but so does Sarah Palin fit the airhead ex beauty queen stereotype. If I hurt Sarah’s feelings she should just imagine the shit I flung at David Vitter!
@Becky: You know I have a masochistic tendency. Douthat drives me up a wall and I do not understand the Times‘ rationale for giving him space.
@BearDown: Oh yup, ol’ Ross totally is an open-minded soul. Dontcha know?
@J.D.: What boggles my mind is that Douthat singles out women as apparently being the only ones who criticize Palin for not being home with her kids. I’m sure there are a few who feel that way, but the bulk of those criticisms come from the good ol’ boys of the patriarchy. Let’s not fool ourselves.
As I recall, it was the white boys in the GOP who were slavering over Palin’s intellect…wait, I mean, looks. the convention was just disgusting in that way-they could hardly stop themselves from drooling into their collars. So Douthat, don’t tell us about sexism. She played the woman-as-victim role to the hilt, winking and mugging in front of the camera and whining every time someone called her out for her Neanderthal beliefs. She’s the Lucille Ball of politics.
Oh, and I expect another column from Douche-hat on the sexist attacks on Hillary any minute now.
@mischiefmanager: For real. She’s going to need to take out a restraining order against Bill Kristol–he’s such an obsessed fanboy I’d be surprised if he wasn’t trying to break into her house and steal her panties. He just goes on and on about her looks and her charm and how clever she is and it makes me want to puke.
Why is it so hard to believe that we hate her because she’s a fucking imbecile? I honestly think that the misogyny Hilary got was worse, and that’s because it’s really hard to attack Hilary for being a bad politician (because, shockingly, she’s good at what she does). With Palin, people don’t even need to waste their time attacking her because she’s a woman (although of course some do). They can attack her because of her idiocy, or her numerous ethics violations, or her hypocrisy…why take the low-hanging fruit when the higher is so much more satisfying?
This column was just FULL of goodies. From a great comment at Ta-Nehishi’s:
“But it’s also been tarnished by the elites themselves, in the way that the media and political establishments have treated HIM.
Here are lessons of the BARACK OBAMA experience, for any aspiring politician who shares HIS background. Your WIFE will go through the tabloid wringer. Your religion will be mocked and misrepresented. Your political record will be distorted, to better parody your family and your faith. (And no, gentle reader, OBAMA did not insist on SWEARING IN ON THE KORAN, REFUSE TO WEAR A FLAG PIN, OR INJECT SOCIALISM INTO THE ECONOMY.)
Male commentators will attack you for HAVING A STRONG WIFE. Female commentators will attack you for BEING A WIMP. You’ll be sneered at for how you talk and THE EXCELLENT colleges you attended. You’ll endure gibes about your “MUSLIM” looks and your “YOUR TERRORIST FIST JABS,” while a prominent female academic declares that your “greatest hypocrisy” is the “pretense” that you’re AMERICAN.”
Fixed. Kinda illustrates just how blind Douthat is.
@Sarah: D’oh! I totally forgot to link to the TNC post! Yeah, that comment was a hell of a gem.
@Baraqiel: Because they hate women, so they assume we do too.
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