I thought it was pretty hilliarious, and I laughed through my tears when I read at the end of the mutivolume tomes by Francis Parkman, France and England in North America, that it was “the fatuity of Louis XV. and his Pompadour that made the conquest of Canada possible.” Yes, “America owes much to the imbecility of Louis XV. and the ambitious vanity and personal dislikes of his mistress.”

Well, I guess that clears everything up, doesn’t it?

At first I wondered why FOX would be so eager to throw the chum to the media sharks. Upon further reflection, I realized that it makes *perfect* sense: Our guy would have won… had it not been for trying to put a woman in a position of power. It’s her fault (for all the archetypal feminine reasons).

As historians, we should recognize this: women in positions of authority can be used to explain the failings of a hero, or the fall of a dynasty. I’m no fan of Palin, but if “unity” is built on “we can all disparage women and discriminate against teh gayz,” then I’m a bit saddened.

I don’t watch much T.V. but the one sequence of post-election Palin coverage I did see was indeed set in the kitchen. But it was interesting to watch her answering the interviewer while basically keeping eye contact with the things she was doing in and around the sink and stovetop. My first thought was that not too many standard issue blue suit politicians would have been willing to violate media conventions about eye-contact and body language in such a situation. Plus, the First Dude was standing there, arms full of babes. So it wasn’t a TOTAL Betty Crocker or even a Donna Reed sort of moment.

I liked Hillary’s comment-it was honest. And I would like to think that some things have changed since then, and women don’t need to be afraid of condemnation if they reject traditional gender norms.

I do think that some women emphasize their femininity and adherence to gender roles to assure others (especially men) that they’re not “that scary”, and in doing so, I think they affirm the very gender roles that women are fighting against. I think we need to give Palin credit for being the savvy politician that she is-this stuff isn’t accidental-neither is the enormous Alaska pin on her lapel.

The problem is not Palin’s “choices” about how she’s presented. The problem is that there are so few prominent women in politics that they get overanalyzed to death and objectified beyond belief. I bet if Joe Biden let a camera crew into his kitchen to show him making pancakes for his grandkids, it would be an “awwwwww” moment. Whatever men do is okey-dokey. Whatever women do is leapt upon as evidence of their monstrous ambition (if they present themselves as too serious) or of their ridiculous ambition (if they’re pretty, young-ish, and/or show themselves at all in a domestic role).