Virginia Postrel recalls visiting the National Cowgirl Museum and seeing an aspect of American history that helps explain Sarah Palin’s appeal:
The Cowgirl Museum showcased women of no-nonsense character, pioneer (and pioneering) achievement, physical daring, and unapologetic femininity. Full of inspiring role models, the museum presented a piece of feminist history that gets left out of the city-oriented accounts most of us learn…
This all came back to me when I heard Sarah Palin’s convention speech and thought about how so many smart–but parochially “cosmopolitan”–miss the enormous appeal of her persona. She may have wrangled fish rather than cattle, but she shares the cowgirl tradition.
This all came back to me when I heard Sarah Palin’s convention speech and thought about how so many smart–but parochially “cosmopolitan”–miss the enormous appeal of her persona. She may have wrangled fish rather than cattle, but she shares the cowgirl tradition.
I think this both smart and, more usefully, right. Palin represents a certain ideal of American womanhood. It is easy to joke about moose-hunting and all the rest of it, but she taps into an ancient American tradition.
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