After all the anger this year about how the presidential races were sexist against Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin (which I *know* they were, I’m not contesting that at all), followed up by examples of Hillary Nutcrackers and Palin sex dolls and earnest assertions that the sexualization of a candidate would never happen if that candidate was a man–I was really interested to read the following article in which the sexualization of Obama (and McCain as a consequence) is examined:

Comedian Bill Maher appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to plug his movie, Religulous. Although the segment was taped before the debates, Maher summed up what a lot of people were thinking. He called Obama the “Jackie Robinson of American politics” and said that much of the Republican pundits were couching their discussions in veiled racism, playing off his funny-sounding name or going so far as claiming Obama has a “big, black uncircumcised penis and it smells like curry.”

I hadn’t been aware of many of the examples listed–but now that I am, it makes me wonder if the proper assertion isn’t “It never would happen if it were a man” but rather instead, “It would never happen to a *white* man”?

What do you think?