stupid girls

So, by now we all know that Delaware’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Christine O’Donnell, may or may not know where in the Constitution it says that religion and government should be separated (here’s a hint – right here). Maybe it was taken out of context – to be fair, the exact phrase “separation of church and state” actually originated in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802, and does not appear verbatim in the Constitution. Or maybe O’Donnell really is so far down the right-wing, conservative Christian rabbit hole that she thinks she can re-write centuries-old documents to suit her whims and beliefs. Either way, the point is, every time O’Donnell and her female political ilk wind up playing dumb, intentionally or unintentionally, on the national stage, I die a little inside.

From Abigail Adams to Hillary Clinton, smart, capable women have always played a large, if overlooked or under-appreciated, role in American politics. However, there’s still a long way to go, and beauty-pageant politicians like O’Donnell and Sarah Palin are not making the road any shorter or smoother with their vapid rhetoric, bumbling statements, and blatant, almost blissful ignorance.

Maureen Dowd of The New York Times wrote a great op-ed piece this week exploring this issue,  comparing O’Donnell and Palin to Marilyn Monroe, who built a career and became a legend by being sexy and playing dumb.

“At least, unlike Paris Hilton and her ilk, [Monroe] had a firm grasp on one thing: It was cool to be smart,” wrote Dowd. “But now another famous beauty with glowing skin and a powerful current, Sarah Palin, has made ignorance fashionable.”

Although she knew she’d get more mileage out of playing the sexy-but-stupid bombshell on-screen, Monroe strove to educate herself. Palin, on the other hand, is content to remain mired in ignorance, buoyed along by being the prettiest face in politics, and that’s a dangerous game, not just in the political realm, but for women in general. What kind of message does it send – “I’m attractive, so I can call it a day?” Dowd refers to  ”the false choice between intellectualism and sexuality,” because what Palin fails to see – what Marilyn Monroe knew – is that intellectualism is sexy.

I mean, I guess I shouldn’t complain too much – I’m not in any hurry for Palin or O’Donnell to fire up the cylinders in their brains and actually start making sense and being legitimate – but I have to bemoan the opportunities they’re wasting to show women that you can be more than just a pretty face. Marilyn Monroe got it – why can’t they?