Bring on the girls: The rise of spokesmodel politicians.

In the past few years, there has been a trend in the media and politics that I believe no one will contest.

Several pretty, fashionable, spunky, and well-put-together women, in the field of politics, and political philosophy, are now at the very forefront of the world stage in American politics.

Michele Bachman, Sarah Palin, Christine O’Donnell, and others. are now part of a wave of  over-groomed, well-coiffed talking heads,  that are passed off on the public as “philosophers” and “Politicians” despite the fact that they possess  no rudimentary knowledge, nor functional conversational understanding of  either.

The individuals I have mentioned here, have proven themselves time and time again to be Politically, philosophically, and geographically illiterate, and  the majority of them got their start with help from the now infamous FOX television network, and all of them look similar, and speak in the same vague, populist and nationalist terms, that offend  anyone with a passing knowledge of English or political science.

What  is really offensive to the learned, and to those to whom logic, science, and civil liberties are important, is that the new pretty talking heads are only a small reflection of a larger problem, that being the dumbing down,  dolling up, and reconstruction of the American female archetype.

American women have achieved great things, and without their demand for full participation in the political process it could easily be argued that some distinctly American things,  ranging from sexual and political equality to civil rights, and the humanitarian movement, would simply not have existed without their full participation. In science, the arts, politics, the humanities, Language, and philosophy, women in this country have a great deal to be proud of.

However the media is not interested in these examples of womanhood. They are not partaking in a historical remembrance of all the things achieved by women, they are saying something quite different altogether.

“Shut the hell up, while we bring out the hot babes. Not a hot babe? Then we’re not interested”

Whereas in the past decades,  where Heroines like Amelia Earhart, Mary Pickford, and Harriet Tubman idolized for their bravery and personal risk-taking in the name of progress, and posters of hardcore female political icons like Gloria Steinem, and Angela Davis adorned the walls of college students, now, in the wake of the women’s liberation movement, and the post-civil rights generation, the women that young girls are more likely to have on posters on their walls are Lady gaga, and Amy Winehouse, and a mention of Earhart, or Tubman will get you blank looks from the vast majority of college students, on both the right and the left, male or female.

Somewhere in the corporatism, and mass commercial sexualization of  women, something that has gone on for centuries, but never more than in the past 50 years with the rise of new media technologies, along the way, along with the drop in educational standards, and original thinking, a relatively new phenomenon has occurred.

Spokesmodel as politician.

It is a by-product of commercial sexualization, and 30 years of soft porn, (and more and more hardcore porn as well) in every part of the media, that now, all you have to do to get attention, is to look pretty or handsome, sexy, and fashionable, and you will be showered  with praise for so much as putting together a badly arranged sentence in proper English.

This is also true with men, as it has been for centuries, and especially in the past 50 years, when the post of President in this country is now more an artifice of acting, rather than political skill, and only relatively handsome leading men get the job.

Now the same thing is occurring in political circles but with a marked difference.

People are “crushing” on good-looking female politicians, in a big way.

A way that wins votes.

None of these new “female politicians” are anything less than very attractive,  all of them are white, all of them have a Midwestern homecoming queen quality about them, with their “natural” looking hair, their good skin, and their tendency to dress in what can only be called “conservative chic”.

it doesn’t take a discerning eye to see what they actually are, these new Spokesmodel Politicians”,  it is obvious to anyone with knowledge of media and history: They are the new mouthpieces for both the right and the left  in this country, and when you challenge their  words, or attack their points in debate, men and women alike, come to defend them with an emotionalism usually reserved for the heroine of a soap opera.

How could you? can’t you see that she’s “cute?

The right hasn’t traditionally had very many hot female superstar sex idols to fawn over, and these newly minted fresh ingenues give a face, and emotion, to the normally cold and calculating right-wing image in this country, and Americans who are conservative politically, but now sexually indoctrinated commercially, are turning out on droves to worship their new soft porn girl politicians.

Not like the left hasn’t done this for decades. There are no fat or ugly female political superstars remembered by the left either.  From “Tania” to Angela Davis, to Gloria Steinem, the left too, puts a premium on sexual appeal, good features, and a nice voice, and both sides have a vast history of allowing lies, ignorance, racism, nationalism, illiteracy,  and just plain dumbness, so long as the face it is coming from is reasonably attractive.

Most ironic about this is that the rise of this, is practically an all-male corporate affair, with the top media outlets, political parties, and power positions in  the Democratic and republican, parties, and on the Left and Right  being owned, controlled, and run by men.

I won’t go into  all the things wrong with male perceptions about female beauty, strength, virtue, and the completely ridiculous and idiotic associations we often make between looks and  values, much to our own demise, in relationships, picking an evil “hot babe” over a-plain looking female saint all the time, and then decrying the cruel fates, when we discover that um, no. Beauty and virtue have zero real definable associations, and a pretty face is not an assurance of an equally pretty intellect or set of ethics.

I myself, have made myself victim to this on several occasions, and know well from first hand experience that there is a segment of the female population, that is resigned to the idea that men actually do not respect them in the slightest,  and so they ply what they have, (beauty)  to get what they want, (money and power) and are probably not surprised when droves of men rush in to justify their worst opinions of male behavior,doing what many men often do,  plying what they have (money and power) to get what they want. (beauty and youth)

With all the attention on glamor and billion-dollar advertising budgets, television long ago decided that no matter what the message, be it a Coke commercial to a political ad, they they’d choose beauty over virtue, and looks over smarts, every time, with nearly no exception I can detect in 35 years of watching and studying media. it’s all about looks. It first occurred in movies, then in product advertisements, then in music, so it should come as no surprise that it is now firmly a part of modern American politics for many people, since showmanship is the hallmark of any good political campaign.

Looks equals votes, and the modern politician must be a consummate entertainer.

This “Glamor equals intelligence” is not only dangerous to American politics, but also to the lives of young Americans, whose entertainments now seem largely focused on reality TV shows, stripper poles, wild spring break parties, junk food, and some of the most depressive, pornographic and violent music that modern history has yet produced.

It sends them the clear message, that appearance is more important than education. That to be too smart is unattractive.  That aggressive ignorance and racism is acceptable so long as its “Hot”. Now, our own weaknesses for the western ideal of beauty are coming back to haunt us in some very ugly ways, and we are all a party to that, with our fixation on looks, fashion, status, power, sex, entertainment, and diversion.

I watched some of these talking heads on television today (A rare occurrence) and was astonished that an organization would choose to so much as allow them speak on collecting seashells, much less American and global politics, when it seemed clear that to put anyone like this in power, would be a simple act of lunacy.

And its our own fault. We allow men and  women in the this society to think that being beautiful makes them intelligent, worthy, and clever. That being hot is a hall pass for being an idiot.

It’s a great political strategy when your base cannot stomach the lies and stupidity.

Works every time.

Just bring on the girls