The XX Factor: What women really think.

My Own Private Sarah Palin Love Doll

Today, I received my Sarah Palin inflatable love doll in the mail. I'd heard about the "This Is Not Sarah Palin Inflatable Love Doll" a few weeks ago, and when Topco Sales marketing director Desiree Duffie offered to send me one, who was I to say no? This morning, I missed the FedEx delivery; thankfully, he left the box behind a potted plant. In my apartment, I removed the product from the packaging. From the cover, a busty brunette with an updo, wearing glasses and a blue business suit with the front falling open, stared back at me. "Cross party lines with your own inflatable running mate!" the copy read. On the back, a list of key points informed: "She makes sexism sexy." When I removed the deflated doll, I found the inflatable Palin doesn't look much like the real one. And it takes forever to inflate. But one question remained: Why is America so sexually obsessed with Sarah Palin?

From male fanatics to Alec Baldwin's come-on, an adult video spoof to Palin-inspired erotica, the ways in which the public sexualizes the Republican vice presidential candidate are never-ending. Some blame her for sexualizing herself -- her look is nothing if not sexy librarian goes to Washington -- while others blame misogyny; Feministing is conducting a "Palin Sexism Watch" and has declared the Palin love doll: "So disgusting." But is it? These days, this blog and its sister sites in the blogosphere are as obsessed with Palin as a man would have to be to order an inflatable version of her. Because of the complicated message the so-called VIPILF sends out, politics and sex -- and sexual politics -- are at the fore like never before, and for the first time in a long time, the debate isn't about male sexuality (Spitzer, Clinton, Vitter), it's about female sexuality. 

You know who Sarah Palin reminds me of? Gloria Steinem, back in the day, when she was a polarizing figure who captivated the public. Steinem's rhetoric was hardcore feminist, but she was a sexual lightning rod in much the same way Palin is. Watching Palin Slick Willie her way through her appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last weekend, I couldn't help but recall Steinem's "I Was a Playboy Bunny" gonzo journalism story, in which the feminist leader-to-be went undercover as a Playboy bunny at the New York Playboy Club. Without a doubt, the agendas of Steinem and Palin couldn't be more different, but there's something about the way they walk the line when it comes to female sexuality that seems deeply similar to me. They're both as aware of their sexuality as they are dead-set on focusing on politics over sex, but how can we be surprised when Americans respond in kind and sexualize the images of those women whose sexual complexities sit center stage in American politics?