Rachel Kramer Bussel on Sarah Palin Erotica

Friend-of-YourTango Rachel Kramer Bussel is on one of our favorite blogs, TheFrisky, giving an interview about.....drumroll, please!......Sarah Palin erotica.

We've already established some people think Palin is hot.  (Others are driven wild by her First Dude!)  An enterprising Bussel, an erotica writer and former sex columnist for The Village Voice, started the web site, Sarah Palin Erotica, to quench that polar bear-sized thirst.

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Here's Bussel's response on why people are so hot for the Alaskan governor:

I think first it was because of her looks, but almost immediately her story, wild as it was, entranced people. Even those of us opposed to her politics couldn’t help but be captivated, and part of that captivation is her sexual allure. That doesn’t necessarily mean we all want to have sex with her (just to be clear, I don’t), but we want to know more about her, including what she’s like in bed. I read a UK reporter likening her to Princess Diana in terms of her appeal to the crowds. She’s brash, outspoken, gutsy. She’s a woman and a mother, in so many ways highly traditional, and yet totally not. I think she set off a lot of hot buttons around women’s roles in the home and workplace, as parents, and as sex objects.....

I think we were fascinated by her, too, because she was so sure of herself, even when, perhaps, she shouldn’t have been. The sheer gumption she needed to push her way to the top is part of the charisma a good politician has, and that’s sexy. For many of us, her accent, her pushiness, her look were all things that made us wonder what made her tick. I think for any public figure, or authority figure, we wonder whether their sexual persona, what they do in private, what turns them on matches or is opposed to their public persona. For some of us, they’re exactly the same; for some, they’re different.

Even her appearance on “Saturday Night Live” showed that she was a good sport. She almost seemed in on her own joke. I think that made her even more attractive.

"In so many ways highly traditional, yet totally not...."--- well put!

Yet despite Bussel's articulate explanation of Palin's allure, I'm on the fence about Sarah Palin erotica.  One the one hand, what people are attracted to should not be policed -- and I've spoken with enough men who are genuinely turned on by the Alaskan governor. 

But on the other hand, I get this icky feeling when I think about a female vice presidential candidate being praised for her looks rather than her accomplishments.  (Nevermind what I actually think about her accomplishments....)

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This conundrum of mine gets down to that nitty-gritty feminist debate about whether sexualizing someone is always objectifying -- and if objectification is so wrong or if that's just the Puritans talking.

In the Frisky interview, in which she thoroughly addresses allegations of sexism, Bussel points out that women like Palin aren't the only sexualized politicians.  Bill Clinton is a notable example -- but of course, I can't say that reputation did any good for him!