Time for some girl talk, news media.
I will be the first to admit that this could be perceived as kind of petty, but I'm proper peeved right now. Y'know why? Two words: Paul Ryan.
Paul Ryan is not handsome. I'll be the one to say it, and I want the news media to stop telling me what a hunk this guy is because it's absolutely irrelevant to the race, does not help discuss his possible impact on our country and it's not even true.
Let's be real. Dude's eyes are droopier than Bachmann's, and I'm pretty confident he could use his nose as a sail if he tilted his head back. I'm sure the risk of brisk wind gust catching those nostril-chutes and blowing him away must be a terrible daily stressor. Now, I'm fully aware that our cabal of congressfolk are generally not the prettiest people in the country, but that does not mean talking heads on television screens get to waste airtime by fawning all over some dude and acting like the rest of us American women should all be swooning at the sight of him just because he's younger and still has his hair. No. He has no lips, his ears are a good inch too low, and I've often found myself wondering whether those neck folds are actually connection points where the cyborg's head is fitted. I imagine there must be some release mechanism in there to allow the Koch Industries Repair Team to remove it if he goes on the fritz and needs to be recalibrated. Either that, or he is just a few short centuries away from becoming Gollum.
The media has absolutely no place chatting up this guy's looks. This isn't a beauty contest, it's an election. I am deeply offended when I see some anchor telling me what I should find physically attractive, and that somehow, that could create "a connection" with female voters. The media is not the arbiter of sexual taste, and it is profoundly insulting to say that women voters are so easily swayed by a "pretty" face. It is demeaning and it makes our political discourse shallow. Tell me about what he is saying and doing, and stop wasting words, pixels and airtime with vapid anecdotes about how he's the young, good-looking counterpoint to Barack Obama because he's so dreamy.
Furthermore, isn't objectification wrong regardless of gender? Wasn't there a whole hubbub about Sarah Palin in too-short shorts and did we learn nothing from what Hillary Clinton endured in the primaries? Slow your roll, stop hyperfocusing on looks and get to the actual substance, please.
Also, who in their right mind thinks announcing your running mate on a SATURDAY is a good way to get voters buzzing about you? Most voters are already pretty sick of this election, and will gladly make excuses to ignore it. So, either Romney's campaign really has no concept of the basic truths of media consumption patterns (i.e. Everyone is out doing fun, weekend things on Saturday and doesn't care to tune in) or they're really just that out of touch with everything.
Paul Ryan is not handsome. I'll be the one to say it, and I want the news media to stop telling me what a hunk this guy is because it's absolutely irrelevant to the race, does not help discuss his possible impact on our country and it's not even true.
Let's be real. Dude's eyes are droopier than Bachmann's, and I'm pretty confident he could use his nose as a sail if he tilted his head back. I'm sure the risk of brisk wind gust catching those nostril-chutes and blowing him away must be a terrible daily stressor. Now, I'm fully aware that our cabal of congressfolk are generally not the prettiest people in the country, but that does not mean talking heads on television screens get to waste airtime by fawning all over some dude and acting like the rest of us American women should all be swooning at the sight of him just because he's younger and still has his hair. No. He has no lips, his ears are a good inch too low, and I've often found myself wondering whether those neck folds are actually connection points where the cyborg's head is fitted. I imagine there must be some release mechanism in there to allow the Koch Industries Repair Team to remove it if he goes on the fritz and needs to be recalibrated. Either that, or he is just a few short centuries away from becoming Gollum.
The media has absolutely no place chatting up this guy's looks. This isn't a beauty contest, it's an election. I am deeply offended when I see some anchor telling me what I should find physically attractive, and that somehow, that could create "a connection" with female voters. The media is not the arbiter of sexual taste, and it is profoundly insulting to say that women voters are so easily swayed by a "pretty" face. It is demeaning and it makes our political discourse shallow. Tell me about what he is saying and doing, and stop wasting words, pixels and airtime with vapid anecdotes about how he's the young, good-looking counterpoint to Barack Obama because he's so dreamy.
Furthermore, isn't objectification wrong regardless of gender? Wasn't there a whole hubbub about Sarah Palin in too-short shorts and did we learn nothing from what Hillary Clinton endured in the primaries? Slow your roll, stop hyperfocusing on looks and get to the actual substance, please.
Also, who in their right mind thinks announcing your running mate on a SATURDAY is a good way to get voters buzzing about you? Most voters are already pretty sick of this election, and will gladly make excuses to ignore it. So, either Romney's campaign really has no concept of the basic truths of media consumption patterns (i.e. Everyone is out doing fun, weekend things on Saturday and doesn't care to tune in) or they're really just that out of touch with everything.