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| Our lips are sealed. |
It never bothered former Mayor Gavin Newsom that his slick-back hairdo sometimes got more media attention than his policies. But Newsom, who is now lieutenant governor, says people need to tone it down when attacking a female politician's physical appearance -- even Republican ones.
In a
Fox News report this week, Newsom called the media's fixation on
whether Sarah Palin had breast implants "demeaning, and it would never happen to a guy."
Newsom never seemed to feel devalued by the media's fascination with his perfectly coiffed hair. (
SF Weekly even participated in the 2009
Comb Your Hair Like Gavin Newsom Day.) But Newsom says that's different -- he wouldn't stoop so low as to call out a lady for her potentially fake bosoms.
"We need a greater sensitivity to the way we portray women, particularly
in the news media. To watch the way Sarah Palin was treated -- to
discuss whether an elected official or former elected official has
breast implants -- is pretty demeaning, and it would never happen to a
guy," Newsom told Fox. "We need to disassociate ourselves from this party
ideology. It is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. This happens all
around and puts so much pressure on young girls."
Newsom
had a soapbox to talk about the portrayal of women in the media while
his wife,
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, was promoting her documentary
"Miss Representation" during
the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah this week. In Siebel Newsom's film, which
premiered to a sold-out crowd, she interviews dozens of women, including Katie Couric, Geena Davis, and
Gloria Steinem, about the portrayal of women in the media. Siebel Newsom
also examined the media's treatment of Hillary Clinton and Sarah
Palin during the 2008 presidential campaigns.
"The idea for the film came to me as I watched the 2008
presidential campaign and saw this sexism and double standard that was
directed toward Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, and some of the wives
whose husbands were running for office. It really upset and affected me
... I knew I wanted to have children someday and I was worried about
raising a daughter in a world that objectifies women to such an
extreme."
In a
Sundance Q&A, Siebel Newsom also said that Hollywood doesn't have the best role models for men, either.
"If you go to the Megaplex to watch a mainstream studio film, the
protagonist is usually a male figure that, for the most part, can't hold
a job, he's not that smart, he does drugs, he's lazy and apathetic and
it's a comedy and it's funny, but he's not a role model. And I think
we're sort of embracing these male characters and glamorizing them and
saying 'this is what it is to be a man.'"
But we already know that
Siebel Newsom doesn't go for guys like that.
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