Another SNL skit I can't resist

Yes, yes, yes...it IS another skit mocking Sarah Palin (sigh).


Please...send me references to skits mocking John McCain--I'll gladly post them!

[note: this is a totally partisan blog, so don't bother sending in anti-Obama/Biden material]

I do think that these skits are part of a larger issue regarding sexism and politics. I had this conversation last night with some friends at dinner. As you can probably guess, my friends are of the elite, liberal ilk (and many of them are professors to boot) and they were talking about the thrashing Sarah Palin was going to suffer through during tomorrow's debates with Joe Biden. This is a common theme I have been hearing around town among Obama supporters--that they expect tomorrow's debate to be a verbal smackdown.

But I'm not so sure. And I think that one of the things I've been hearing, that Biden has to be careful about his "tone," that he can't be too "mean" towards Governor Palin, that he can't appear to be "sexist," well, what all of this means is that there is this idea that as a woman, Sarah Palin needs to be handled in a certain way.

And this belief, that a man can't treat a woman as an equal, is a sexist attitude. I think it's something we ALL do. Like the legacy of racism, sexist attitudes are embedded in our daily lives in ways we often never recognize. And they often go uncommented on. Case in point: a friend who is a mother notes that when one of her male colleagues brings his infant daughter into the office, people note what a good Dad he is for taking care of his daughter and taking part in child care. Whereas NO ONE ever says the same of my friend, who also brings in her infant daughter to the office (academia allows this more easily than other spaces) from time to time.

But getting back to Sarah Palin and the Vice Presidential debates tomorrow, I don't know if it will be the thrashing that so many folks seem to think. I haven't been impressed by her AT ALL. Certainly not her record as mayor or governor. Nor the rhetoric she has used in her speeches. And definitely not during her interview with Katie Couric or with Charlie Gibson. I don't have high expectations for her, not because she has ovaries but because she seems unprepared and underqualified to discuss issues of foreign affairs and domestic public policy in our current time, nor does she seem to have a grasp of history and how we feel the effects of history right now (and I'm thinking of the current financial crisis most especially).

However, Palin could surprise us all. By just hanging in. By just being competent. There is so much extra expectation of how well Biden will do and so much speculation about whether or when Palin will fall on her face. All she has to do is show up and hold herself well and she will be granted the winner.

And this, too, is part of sexism I believe. That we are deciding to hold her to a different accountability because of her gender. No one, of course, is saying this. But I feel it everywhere implied. And quite frankly, I wish people would stop worrying if they are seeming "hard" on her and just treat her the way they treat any other male politician. That seems the most respectful thing to do.

A Mixed Race Medley--Multiple Plugs

So for your viewing pleasure this morning, and to get the week started, I've got 3 plugs that also have 3 video shorts:

MUSIC PLUG: J.G. Bocella & the Modo Midi Band have released a song that they are distributing gratis in the hopes that it will help to inspire dialogue about race in America. Here is a link to the band's website (click here)--I recommend viewing the video--it's low tech but gives a good history lesson in terms of America's legacy of race relations and the lingering after-effects of racial oppression that we're still coming to terms with.

And for an Op-Ed piece written by J.G. Bocella in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where Bocella opines about the presidential elections, Obama, and the need to have real conversations about race, click on this link.

RESOURCE PLUG: Mixed ROAR (Mixed Race Organizations Against Racism) has joined with a host of organizations (including the MAVIN foundation, iPride, MASC, and others) to launch a campaign in which people of mixed heritage answer the following question:

"What are you?"

For more, here is an explanation by Louie Gong, MAVIN foundation VP:



If you haven't visited the Mixed Heritage Center, I recommend paying a visit--there are many great resources for anyone wanting to explore more about mixed race issues.

INFORMATION PLUG: Finally, this isn't so much a plug as a newly found piece of information and something to provoke thought. The infamous SNL skit that Clinton referenced during last Tuesday's debate with Obama featured Fred Armisen in "black face" so to speak, playing the role of Barack Obama. This CNN article (click here) details the controversy over having Armisen portray Senator Obama (and you can also watch the original skit). I say this is controversial, because I personally think it is, at the very least it should provoke discussion about cross-racial representation, although truthfully I think few people seem bothered by Armisen's portrayal (and at least to date, it seems fairly respectful for SNL) but what I found most interesting was the racial background of Armisen and CNN's own brief mention of Armisen's mixed-racial heritage.

In the article, it notes that Armisen is half white and half Asian. I did a google search and found the trusty Wikipedia entry (click here) for Fred Armisen, which describes, in slightly more detail, his ethnic profile--he is Venezuelan on his maternal side and he is also part Japanese. Wikipedia lists him as both the second Latino actor on SNL (Horatio Sanz is the first) and the second Asian American actor (Rob Schneider, of part Filipino heritage, is the first).

There is more that I'm mulling over regarding both Armisen, Schneider and the idea of their mixed-Asian heritage being all but forgotten/glossed over, as well as the appropriateness of Armisen donning darker makeup to play Barack Obama. I suppose one could say that since Armisen seems to be of part white ancestry as well as his other mixtures, that perhaps it's the "white guy" inside him that gives him the authenticity to play a fellow mixed-race American who also has white heritage?