The XX Factor: What women really think.

The Obamas Do Not Have a Post-Feminist Marriage

Just one small response to Hanna's excellent observations in today’s DoubleX discussion of an alternate universe in which Hillary had become President: I can't resist disagreeing with her that the Obama marriage is post-feminist. I don't think any marriage where one spouse is gone out of the house to the extent that he was, and one spouse is left to raise the small children and hold down the fort, and, oh yes, make the money necessary for the mortgage payment, can be described as post-feminist. At least not in the ideal sense. It may be a post-feminist marriage in the sense that it's what a lot of women in her generation have struggled with—albeit an extreme version—but it's not post-feminist in the sense that it's the kind of set-up one would aspire to ... (Read the rest of this article in DoubleX.)

Enough Out of You, Young Levi

The juicy bits from Levi Johnston's article in Vanity Fair are now online. The most talked-about excerpt is sure to be that Sarah Palin wanted to keep Bristol's pregnancy a secret ... (Read more in DoubleX)

Sarah Palin Is Right About One Thing

The Car Seat Taboo

Sarah Palin: A Woman of Many Rocks and Few Skills

Sarah Palin on God and her "Throbbing" Thighs

Anyone who still thinks Sarah Palin isn't trying to use her enviable physique to her political advantage should read this Runner's World profile in which Palin says, "I knew my thighs were going to just throb."... (Read more at DoubleX.com.)

The Sarah Palin Saga: Why Doesn't She Get it?

Like Jessica, I devoured Todd Purdum's blistering report in the current issue of Vanity Fair about Sarah Palin that draws on sniping from former John McCain aides, shrugging statements of disownment from acquaintances in Wasilla, and sorrowful head-shaking from the Republican intelligentsia. The wide-ranging “profile” of the woman who almost stood second in line to the presidency pre-empts the forthcoming book that netted the Alaskan governor seven figures. And, having undergone the saga of the 2008 presidential campaign—particularly the post-Labor Day sprint that made up Palin’s first months in the public spotlight—it’s astonishing to think that there could POSSIBLY be more to the story.

And yet, writes Purdum ... (Read more at DoubleX.com.)

Sarah Palin's Uneasy Relationship with the Truth

There are many things that I find deeply upsetting about Sarah Palin. But in the new Vanity Fair assessment of Palin's current place in the political universe, the most disturbing thing Todd Purdum reveals is her inability to discern or care about the truth:

At one point, trying out a debating point that she believed showed she could empathize with uninsured Americans, Palin told McCain aides that she and Todd in the early years of their marriage had been unable to ... (Read more at DoubleX.com.)

Vice President Biden is Way Totally a Ladies' Man

This afternoon—between Specter defections, Clinton-Obama joint appearances and a rare Tony Bennett sighting, one of the strangest I’ve spent on Capitol Hill—it’s worth looking miles from the Beltway, to Austin, Texas, where Vice President Joe Biden toured the National Domestic Violence Hotline Center. Joined by Austin Mayor Will Wynn, Biden surveyed the complex that hosts the hotline and other programs designed to help women, especially those suffering from emotional and physical abuse, help themselves. From the press pool report:

[Biden] was guided to the crinkled paper on the wall with the 2-millioncalls’ notation. With a marker, he wrote above that notation: “Keep thefaith! You are changing womens’ lives one woman at a time” beforeputting his signature below his message. Folks in the room broke intoapplause. VPOTUS then hugged Cindy Loper, a staff member whose cubicleis near the crinkled-paper wall.

VPOTUS briefly held staff member Anna Truchard’s hand—saying “we’vealready met; we’re old buddies”-- before continuing his walk-through... Atthe south end of the room, he hovered over staff members taking callsin Spanish.

VPOTUS then crossed the hall into a room where about 20 people wereclustered in anticipation of a group photograph. The people includingMarta Pelaez, described to me later as president and ceo of one of thelargest women’s shelters in San Antonio, spoke quietly to him beforeVPOTUS said over the past 15 years, he’s often been approached by womengiving thanks for the act leading to the center. “It is a big deal,” hesaid.

“We need someone to advocate for us and you are that person,” Pelaez said.

“Wellbaby, I ain’t going away,” he said, adding that he’s lined up two womento fill administration positions focus on preventing domestic violence. 

What a guy! It’s easy to joke, as Sarah Palin did, about the vice president being dispatched to various funerals and second-tier conferences, but today Biden provided needed exposure for this increasingly critical resource and also provided an important reminder as to why these caricatures don't apply to him.

Biden’s authorship of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 1994 was a remarkable piece of legislative doggedness, as chronicled by Fred Strebeigh in the New Republic last summer. The bill’s passage also depended in large part on the work of a group of female lawyers that Biden trusted and heeded at key moments in the fight to keep its provisions legal (a tale that Strebeigh also relates in his new book, Equal). Biden takes the thought of abuse so seriously, apparently, that people think he's been affected himself.

VPOTUS said everybody thinks he has a family member who was the victimof violence. “Thank god they weren’t,” he said. “I was raised by areally gentle decent man who thought the single greatest, the cardinalsin for real of all cardinal sins was the abuse of power. The ultimateabuse of power was for a man to raise his hand to a woman, or for awoman or man to raise their hand to a child. That’s the ultimate,that’s the serious abuse of power that can exist.”

With that kind of empathetic statement, I’d say that the vice president could stand to be known for more than verbal diddles and a prizefighter’s honor—his support of women’s rights makes far more of an impression.

ALSO: Via the White House, some background and additional resources:

Since the hotline center’s founding in 1996—spurred by congressionalapproval of the VPOTUS-sponsored Violence Against Women Act in 1994—thehotline has fielded more than 2 million calls. Its number is800-799-7233 (SAFE).

The Love is Respect hotline, focused on teen-agers, has handledmore than 25,000 calls and online chats since it started as ahotline-center project in November 2007. The hotline is called theNational Teen Dating Abuse Hotline; it’s 866-331-9474. Both hotlinesare open around the clock 365 days a year. The teen online chatsite—www.loveisrespect.org--is live from 4 p.m. to midnight Sundaythrough Friday, year-round.

Why Levi Johnston Is Great For Sarah Palin

Alaska's most famous heartthrob was down in the lower 48 last night, talking to Larry King about his association with the Palin family. Even though Sarah Palin, through her press agents, has repeatedly denounced Levi and his family's fame-whoring ways, she should actually be thanking him, and here's why.

First of all, he's keeping her name in the press, and not in an entirely negative way. On Larry King, Levi said, "[The Palins] always treated me like a son. They were real nice to me. And I thought of her [Sarah Palin] as like my second mother. You know, Todd was always a great guy and helped me out with a lot of things." Though Levi says that he is not allowed to see his son, Tripp, from his family's appearance on the Tyra Banks Show, it is clear that the problem is with Levi's bratty sister and not necessarily with Bristol, Sarah, or anyone else in the Palin camp.

Secondly, the self-proclaimed red neck and his publicly embarrassing mishaps help place Sarah Palin firmly in the pantheon of American politics. Let me explain: There is a long and storied history of political figures with completely humiliating, ne'er-do-well relatives. From Roger Clinton, Bill's hapless half-brother, to Billy Carter, who bragged about smoking pot at the White House, our century's political lights have almost always come with baggage. My favorite tale of political-relative embarrassment was told by Miami Herald reporter Edna Buchanan in her excellent memoir, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face. Buchanan happened upon Sam Johnson, LBJ's "problem drinker" brother, while he was holed up in a Miami hotel with a platinum blond.

He and the blonde were delighted to have photos taken. Then he insisted that I pose with him. She helped him to a bedside chair and took my camera. I sat beside him. She found us in the lens. I said, "cheese." He lunged, grabbed me around the neck, and planted a big mushy kiss on my cheek. Then he tumbled back onto the bed, rolled over, and went to sleep in one violent motion.

When the story ran, it did not include any of these hilarious details—Buchanan said her editors decided to run it as a "perfectly straight interview with the president's brother." And that's the big difference between Levi's public speaking tour and the hijinks of previous political relatives: If that happened today, TMZ would have plastered photos of drunken Levi with a blonde as soon as they had been taken. In our current media environment, Levi has the power to take control of his own story, but even this "redneck" is smart enough to know he shouldn't be spotted out doing anything even remotely licentious. And that's the third reason Sarah Palin should be grateful for Levi: She could have it so much worse.

Sarah Palin's Dream-Lawyer

Sarah Palin attracts national scandal so effortlessly, it starts to look as if she does it on purpose. Courtesy of Max Blumenthal at the Daily Beast, here’s a little background on her pick for state Attorney General, Wayne Anthony Ross. Some of these claims are disputed, but Ross has allegedly called homosexuals “degenerates” and is rumored to have said in a 1991 speech to a fathers' rights group, “If a guy can’t rape his wife, who’s he gonna rape?” and “There wouldn't be an issue with domestic violence if women would learn to keep their mouths shut."

What's undisputed is that Ross has a voluminous collection of writings, frequently penned in the key of Limbaugh. He opposes, among other things,  animal rights activists, environmentalists, legalizing marijuana, allowing Alaska natives to maintain their lifestyles, and abortion. He supports guns, fathers' rights, anti-government militias, and has defended a college student who created an “art project” featuring "a hooded and robed stick figure of a KKK member, bearing a cross in one hand and a flag in the other." Lauding the artist’s “courage” Ross then berated the African American student who objected to the work: “It might have been more fun to see Ms. [-----] try to remove the display. Then she could have been arrested and her future as a student of the university could have been resolved through the university disciplinary proceedings.”

Remember back in October when Gov. Palin couldn’t recall a single Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed, other than Roe v. Wade? Probably not a surprise, then, that her pick for the state AG says “his big remaining task on Earth is to help stop abortion, a practice he sums up as ‘killing kids.' ''I feel I have a good relationship with the good Lord (but) if I could overturn Roe v. Wade, I figure I got my ticket.”

Levi Johnston Talks Tattoos and Tripp With Tyra

Palin Party

Sandra Day and Feminist Foils

Emily, I've been mulling over your question all morning: Does it matter that Sandra Day O'Connor won't call herself a feminist? My gut instinct is that actions speak louder than words, and as a feminist I would vastly prefer better work policies for women than widespread embrace of the term. But I suspect that O'Connor's reticence to self-identify as a feminist is for different reasons than later generations' reaction to the word.

Though you say that Sarah Palin doesn't call herself a feminist, she actually flip-flopped on the matter: She initially called herself a feminist to Katie Couric but refused to label herself when interviewed by Brian Williams. She's even a member of a organization called Feminists for Life. I suspect that deep down, Sarah Palin does think of herself as a feminist, and that's precisely why I think women of later generations may be uncomfortable with the term: Its meaning has become completely muddled.

So many things have co-opted the language of empowerment and feminism—from the pro-life movement to cardio striptease classes—I wonder if women of generations X and Y are afraid to call themselves feminist because that self-definition is more confusing than illuminating. Sandra Day O'Connor may have been defining herself in opposition to the bra burners, but today's young women don't have such a clear-cut foil.

The Enduring Attraction of Sarah Palin

The Fairfield Weekly has an interesting piece on the public's enduring fascination with Sarah Palin: "The Porn Identity." It opens in a strip club where adult film star Lisa Ann, who played Palin in Hustler's XXX-homage to the once aspiring VP, "Who's Nailin' Paylin: Adventures of a Hockey MILF," takes the stage dressed as Palin to perform a striptease. Acccording to Hustler Video, "Who's Nailin' Paylin" is one of their all-time best-sellers, proving so popular they're producing a follow-up this spring, "Hollywood's Nailin' Paylin," which "will parody Palin's imagined new career as book author and talk-show host and, of course, put her in bed with a bunch of spoofed celebrities." Hustler says there's just something about Sarah:

"There aren't many franchises in the adult world. It's a one-trick pony," [Hustler Director of Operations Jeff] Thill says. "It's really different with her. She's not really in the news right now and yet we can't keep the title in stock. Assuming the second one goes well, we'll continue on forever if we can get away with it."

In an interview, the Weekly asked her impersonator about Palin's sexual mystique. The woman who's walked a mile in stripper shoes as Palin responded: "It's a distraction from politics. I hope people wouldn't be swayed either way by sex appeal. People vote for all the wrong reasons anyway, but if we throw sex appeal into the mix we'll have [a disaster]." But is she right? Months after Palin's disastrous run, we're still intrigued. She's the anti-Hillary who won't go away, and judging by her stickiness, I can't help but wonder if Palin has some strange hope in her rumored possible run for the presidency in 2012. Maybe Palin's sublimated-yet-paraded brand of sexuality is the key to her success—and the farthest thing from a disaster.

Would an Ugly Palin Have Fared Better?

Sarah Palin, Loser Sex Goddess

And now, an answer to the question we asked once upon a time: Did Sarah Palin's sex appeal help or hurt her as a VP candidate?

Hurt, psychologists Nathan Heflick and Jamie Goldenberg find in a new paper. Summary below from Miller-McCune magazine:

[the researchers] took a group of 133 undergraduates and assigned them to write a few lines about one of two celebrities: Palin or actress Angelina Jolie. Half of the participants in each category were asked to write “your thoughts and feelings about this person,” while the other half were asked to write “your thoughts and feelings about this person’s appearance.”

The participants were then asked to rate their subject (Palin or Jolie) in terms of various attributes, including competence. Finally, they were asked who they intended to vote for in the upcoming election.

Those who wrote about Palin’s appearance were more positive in their assessments than those who assessed her qualities as a person. But they rated her far lower in terms of competence, intelligence and capability, and were far less likely to indicate they planned to vote for the McCain-Palin ticket.

This is Republicans and Independents making this judgment, according to the researchers. Apparently they didn't want a Sexy Puritan a step away from the White House. More proof that Palin helped sink the GOP ticket. As if we needed it.
 

Wake up, Mr. Summers!

I'll be the first to admit that I can't turn down free stuff. It's an impulse that defies logic. I hate key chains, and I don't really like ice cream, but I still find myself grabbing the tacky keychain at the convention booth because it's free and I religiously wait 45 minutes every Earth Day in line at Ben and Jerry's on free cone day. Something about those four letters messes with my brain.
 
Thankfully, there are people out there with more will power. Today, the gorgeous and brilliant Dambisa Moyo is arguing that the temptation to accept what's free at the expense of what's best is wreaking havoc in Africa. In her book Dead Aid she argues that one of the best things that could happen for the continent is for leaders to start defying the impulse to accept free aid from the likes of Bono and the U.S. government. In her fabulous interview with the NYT she gives a Capitalism 101 lesson that should be required reading for celebrities and congressmen who might have slept through economics class. (Or if you are Lawrence Summers, Obama's head of the National Economic Council, that would be sleeping through last week's "Fiscal Sustainability Summit." He literally was asleep on the podium.)

A handful of Republican Governors are also resisting temptation. Govs. Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Sarah Palin of Alaska are refusing—or at least talking about refusing—to take some of the free money from Obama's massive stimulus bill. They're essentially echoing Moyo, arguing that the money will only leave them dependent down the road. In this moment when corporations are asking for handouts on the order of billions, this level of restraint should count as saintly.

Where Bristol Went Wrong

Lauren B.'s essay on abortion that Rachael found so appalling may have been a bit crass, but at least it made a point. Which is good: As a writer, she has a responsibility to say something substantive in her piece. As an 18-year-old mother—even one with a celebrity mom—Bristol has no such responsibility. She can go about motherhood as quietly as the media outlets allow (and they have been pretty quiet since Tripp's birth), and the public would have no right to demand that she use her situation to promote safe sex or abstinence education or a pro-life or pro-choice agenda. But Bristol made the decision to call herself an advocate. At that point, I think it's fair to expect a little more.

So what was her mistake? Saying she wants to be an advocate against teen pregnancy but dodging questions about abstinence and safe sex. Well, that and the obvious mistake, if it's true that she wants to break out from the shadow of her domineering mother: naming her child Tripp.

Was Sarah Palin Wrong To Appear in Bristol's Interview?

Bristol, Bristol, Bristol—can we talk about Sarah Palin for a second, the public figure with whom we'll have to live for at least the next four years?

I thought her drop-in to Bristol's instant-classic Fox interview was creepy, domineering, and inappropriate. Greta Van Susteren established that doing the interview was Bristol's decision, and that she pointedly made it on her own: She didn't even tell Mom about it until the day before it happened. Agreeing to the interview—her first post-birth sit-down on national TV—had to be one of those major moments in late-adolescent life when a kid breaks off from his parents and dramatically establishes his authority to run on his own steam and do it alone. When I was 19, I unilaterally decided to move to Brussels and, for a reason I couldn't identify at the time, didn't tell my mother until after the plans were set in stone. She was upset, but she didn't buy a plane ticket and announce she was crashing my trip. That's what Sarah did by horning in on her daughter's interview. Even if Van Susteren asked Mom to come, she shouldn't have shown up.

And the way she showed up. Ick. Fast-forward to 8:20 in this segment. Sarah lumbers right into Bristol's frame and doesn't even sit down but rather hovers weirdly over Bristol, wearing a heavy coat, a bit like a subtly threatening mafia don. Obviously, any publicity Bristol gets complicates Sarah's already complex political image. But her responsibility as a mother was to stay clear of Bristol's moment, even if, as a (notoriously controlling) politician, she felt desperate to do damage control.