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It's not about sexism, stupid. It's about Barbie.
That's why a lot of women are gaga for Sarah Palin.
Women closing in on the big four-O -- the McCain-Palin target demographic for voters -- grew up role-playing endlessly with Barbie. They spent hours dressing dolls in sexy lingerie, stewardess uniforms, business suits and evening attire while pretending their Barbie was a CEO, a pilot or even -- gasp -- president.
Sarah, as she's called by her female fans, is a 21st century walking, talking, breathing brunette Barbie. Women long to be her friend and have her as a confidante -- the very role Barbie played during childhood. Naturally, women won't admit that Sarah is like Barbie because to do so seems unsupportively shallow and well, sexist, toward the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket.
But Sarah has lived a life very similar to Barbie's.
What girl didn't want to live in the enchanting, ever-changing world of Barbie? Sorry, Hillary, but Barbie was the first to crash the glass ceiling. After all, Barbie was an astronaut in 1965, five years before Neil Armstrong and crew landed on the moon and long before Sally Ride's space adventure. Barbie even ran for president in 1992 -- 15 years before Hillary, the first serious female contender in modern presidential politics, announced.
According to Mattel, Barbie has enjoyed more than 100 careers. In fact, the doll was designed by Ruth Handler in 1959 to assume many roles in life other than fashion model. Sarah followed Barbie's path and has repeatedly reincarnated herself in adventurous arenas that mirror those of the celebrated doll.
Sarah was a high school basketball star, and so hard-core on the court that she was nicknamed Sarah Barracuda. Imagine Barracuda Barbie with her knee-high jock socks and sexy short shorts showing the girls -- and boys -- how to score the winning jump shot. Props to Palin. She beat Barbie onto the court: Mattel didn't premiere a Basketball Barbie until the 1990s.
Mattel premiered a Miss America Barbie in 1974 when Sarah was still a child, and for three years, the doll, complete with her crown, sash, corsage and scepter, sashayed across toy chests in suburbia.
During the 1970s, the Miss America Pageant was one of the most watched televised events hitting its peak in 1970 with 22 million households. Even as women like Hillary Clinton rallied for the Equal Rights Amendment, little girls in Sarah's generation were ignorant of the protests and anticipated the annual dreamy ritual of the swimsuit parades and evening wear extravaganza with a hint of talent thrown in for scholarship.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Sarah transformed into a beauty queen during the big-hair '80s. She was second runner-up in the Miss Alaska contest and also named "Miss Congeniality." Barbie would have been proud.
After graduating from college in 1987, Sarah became a sportscaster in Alaska. Barbie beat Sarah into the newscaster seat by only two years. Mattel premiered its TV News Reporter Barbie in 1985 when journalism was at its glamorous heyday in the 1980s, thanks in part to trailblazers like Barbara Walters, Jessica Savitch and Connie Chung.
See more stories tagged with: barbie doll, sarah palin
Suzi Parker is an Arkansas journalist. Her work frequently appears in the Economist and U.S. News and World Report. She's the author of the upcoming Sex in the South (Justin Charles & Co.).
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