The XX Factor: What women really think.

If You Liked It Then You Should Have Put a Ring On It

Well, XXers, let it never be said that we women don't get results. On the heels of last week's hideous and inopportune MLK-day revelation—that the hands of Barack Obama's ubiquitous cardboard cutout were, gasp, white—I realized that "Barack's" left paw is also like, totally single. (FLOTUS Michelle can't be too happy about that)

For better or worse, Barack's "Look—I can talk to the Muslims!" coloring and his "rock"-solid marital status became two of the more compelling characterological arguments for his election. In speech after speech over the course of the campaign, the hypnotic glint of the real Obama's thick wedding band told me that it was all going to be OK (and that "my taxes ... will not ... go up"). And for many former racial cynics, his "golden" hue helped seal the deal. Making it all the more terrible that the cutout could have been so obviously white, and so clearly unfaithful, for so long.