According to a Fox News Poll (via Salon’s War Room), a plurality of Americans think housewifery should, in fact, be Sarah Palin’s next job:
About a third of Americans think the best job for Palin is homemaker (32 percent), while nearly one in five see her as a television talk show host (17 percent). Vice president of the United States comes in third (14 percent), followed closely by college professor (10 percent), with president coming last (6 percent).
This is not just sexist but bizarre, given that Faux News has been one of Palin’s biggest cheerleaders. You’d think they’d want to build up her credentials instead of stereotyping her. As Alex Koppelman at War Room notes, the “housewife” option would never have been posed for a man. Seriously! Imagine asking whether Dick Cheney ought to become a househusband! Sure, lots of us would like to see him return to his underground cave – just as I fervently hope Palin will stay in Wasilla – but no one is suggesting Cheney ought to be baking cookies.
Also: WTF made Faux News offer the “college professor” option? And what makes 10 percent of American think Palin would be even remotely qualified? Attending five different colleges isn’t quite the equivalent of earning a Ph.D. What would she teach – public policy? She showed her policy chops in the Couric interview. Geography? History? Sports journalism?
Myself, I like the idea of the Palins starring in their own reality show, which Levi Johnston mentioned as a real possibility.
Patron cat of Kittywampus (1985-2001)
If you are gonna have five kids (count em, five), expect a good lot of the conservative electorate to say this about you.
Hey, it’s HER side that believes that stuff, remember? She who lives by Marabel Morgan, dies by Marabel Morgan.
(really dating myself with my Marabel Morgan/Rev. Ike mentions, lately)
Ohhh I’d positively eat up the reality show, I’d make it a staple of my blog: THIS WEEK ON SARAH PALIN!
I am confident she’d never let me down.
Palin could teach transcendental geography. “We can see Russia from Alaska” – she could specifialize in Russian studies. So many other possibilities.
The notion that she could be a college professor is almost as offensive to me as the homemaker proposal. In other words, anybody can teach. Wouldn’t that be anti-intellectualism?
Daisy – the shameful thing is, far more Democrats than Republicans envisioned her as a homemaker! That lends support to the idea that those who chose “homemaker” saw it as shorthand for “just go away, now!” But it also gives the lie to the idea that Republicans are automatically more sexist, on every occasion. They’re sexist when it *suits them.*
As for covering the reality show, we might have parallel posts on that.
Hysperia – She already *is* a specialist in Russian Studies, dontcha know?
And yes, thanks for not mincing words about the anti-intellectualism. It’s a staple of commentary – and maybe also reporting – in wingnuttia. But that doesn’t make it any less offensive. It makes me think I could have just skipped all that silly grad school.
In the comments on the Shatner-reads-Palin post, Euchalon Grandy suggested she might have a future as a poet. (Or would that be poetess, to Faux News?) If so, maybe she could teach poetry, too!
I can’t tell what the complete range of choices offered were, but of the ones listed — homemaker, talk show host, VP, professor, and president — doesn’t homemaker seem like the most appropriate choice? I mean, she’s clearly not competent to handle any of the others. As a homemaker, any damage-due-to-incompetence she could do would be pretty limited.
Actually, “househusband” should be a standard avocational option for these kinds of things.
I think Cheney should be baking cookies, although if I were living in his cell block I probably wouldn’t eat them.
Goodness! Raising children, surely one of the “duties” of the “housewife” can do only limited damage?
I agree with Hysperia that parents can make a real hash out of it. In some ways, I think “talk radio host” is a good pick because Palin would likely flame out quickly – and return to private life. But I think the poll also offered “other” as a choice.
Ballgame, on second thought I don’t think Cheney ought to be baking cookies; yellowcake would seem more up his alley.
Um, this is nothing more than sexism on the part of democrats!
Average 32% said she should be a housewife, but only 18% of republicans said housewife and 46% of democrats said housewife.
Yes, more Democrats than Republicans wanted her to be a housewife. This almost certainly reflects a mixture of sexism with just wishing she’d disappear from the public eye. If respondents had been offered the option of “return to private live,” you’d have seen fewer “housewife” responses – probably from members of both political parties. But I agree that sexism is an irreducible element. Democrats still have plenty of sexists and racists in their race. I wrote about this in spring 2008, when a Pew study showed a disturbing level of racism and a less striking but still unacceptable amount of sexism among Democrats. (Comments on that post are now closed.)