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“What's Wrong with Being Sexy?” Why Political Science Needs to Get Serious about Sexuality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2011

Alesha E. Doan
Alesha E. Doan
Affiliation:
University of Kansas
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Extract

From the infamous blue dress to lewd gesturing under an airport bathroom stall, the scandalous coupling of sex and politics generates a lot of buzz. Political pundits inevitably find themselves on the media frontlines, ruminating on the impact of a particular impropriety, its implications for the dishonored politician's career, and his or her ability to effectively perform his or her job. Comedians gather some of their greatest material from the collision of sex and politics. Their jokes and send-ups, however, are not limited to sexual scandal. Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin catapulted Saturday Night Live (SNL) to the top of the Nielson ratings map in 2008. The nation collectively busted a gut watching the mock “nonpartisan” television announcement featuring Sarah Palin (dressed in a brightly colored skirt suit and punctuating her statements with emotive winks or cutesy giggles) and Hillary Clinton (sporting a drab pantsuit and underscoring her statements with firm nods or a clenched fist pounding the podium) as they denounced the role that sexism played in the presidential campaign.

Type
Symposium
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 44 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 31 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

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