Did you know that science can teach you all sorts of amazing things about how the world works and why it works that way and how the dinosaurs probably all had feathers? Did you know that it can also teach you things that you never wanted to know and now not-so-secretly wish you didn’t?
I am referring to a recent study out of the U.C.L.A. Department of Psychology that determined that the women of the Grand Old Party have more feminine faces than those of their female Democratic colleagues. …
The researchers call it the “Michele Bachmann Effect.” Funny, but that’s exactly how I refer to the tingly feeling that overtakes me when I read or hear something so profoundly ridiculous that I briefly consider living the rest of my life in monkish isolation on a mountaintop with only the cold wind for companionship. [cont.]
Samantha Bee (NYT)
I think this study should be commended, not condemned, for bring to light the fact that the republican base has deeper-seated, stricter gender roles than the democratic base. Why is this so surprising? Have you watched fox news lately? Is it news or a beauty pageant? I am glad this form of sexism within the republican party’s base has been unearthed. This study does not speak to the competence or the beliefs of the republican candidates themselves, it speaks to the preferences of the voters who elect these more feminine women.
I never thought Samantha Bee as ‘mannish’. To the contrary, I’ve enjoyed both her trenchant wit and symmetrical womanly bits. But now, having read this rant, I’m wondering if she might have recently suffered some sort of sharp blow to her thinky bits. 1. Findings that you don’t like aren’t ‘stupid’ or ‘useless’ on that basis. 2. The present finding does not paint a flattering portrait of the GOP–far from it, the study shows that the ‘Fox News Hottie’ phenomenon extends into Congress. It’s surely fodder for comedy but Ms. Bee apparently missed the punchline. 3. Seriously, the fact that you find a scientific result off-putting has no bearing on its worth. Grow up.