Yes, Nancy Pelosi is turning into the new villain of choice, as Irin Carmon at Jezebel writes. Protesters this weekend had pictures of her-not Obama-with a Pinocchio nose growing out of her face. The Republican party has turned her into their fundraising demon-almost literally-in this Photoshopped picture that places her in the pit of hell . And this photo in the New York Times today, which makes her look unbearably smug and unattractive, does not help matters.
The question I can’t answer yet is: Is this sexist or is it a sign of feminist progress? The fact that there is a casual assumption on the part of the American right that a woman was pulling all the strings seems like forward movement. Feminists could do worse than have a woman stand in as the next Ted Kennedy. But it might be, if you dig a little deeper, that you’ll find some Salem lady-hatred under the surface, some notion that beneath the mask of controlled perfection there lurks some kind of witch.
