Reply #24: It seems to me I've heard the "Our women are hotter"

[vixengrl]

from the GOP more often, which sounds positively tribal.

"Our women are hot; also we fashion many arrows. We travel by night and attack like wolves on the fold, and our God is bigger than yours. Respect our various totems."

I think Palin and Bachmann represent fertility totems in their culture because they are both mothers. Fertility goddesses are supposed to be insane and encourage men to fight. They are like sirens--what comes out of their mouths draws unsuspecting men in, but can destroy them. What comes out of their mouths doesn't have to actually make sense. I think there is something archetypal about their appeal.

Also, when I read comments like "starbursts!" or see Palin winking, I am turned off because I'm seeing a female not only being viewed solely through her femininity, but "working it". Her emotional "appeal" actually turns me off. But it might be a turn-on to traditionalist males who expect women to be emotional creatures, more attractive than competent. What I can't quite grasp is why that = leadership. Unless certain supporters feel that because Bachmann and Palin don't seem to possess a lot of sense, a capable male might be able to take them "in hand"--a concept that revolts me on a visceral level, but strikes me a probably true all the same.

Give me Janeane Garofalo, Rachel Maddow, Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Pelosi, anyday. They think. That's hot.