Sexism and Sarah Palin's Legs

Tennessee Guerrilla Women complains that photographers covering the McCain/Palin campaign--particularly those from Reuters--keep taking pictures of Gov. Sarah Palin's legs, which the blogger asserts is sexist and demeaning toward her. She writes:

Reuters sure has a thing for Governor Sarah Palin's legs. Will Reuters photographers soon be bringing us some close-ups of Governor Sarah Palin's breasts?

Who exactly are these photos for? Are they for Sarah Palin's voters? Or are there some serious sexist cretins over at Reuters? How do they say it? Oh, yeah. Reuters is a leg man.

The Sarah Palin Sexism Watch (yes, there's actually a blog devoted to it) has the same complaint. "The photographer was apparently unable to take pictures of Palin's supporters without including her legs in the shot," it noted.

I thought it was funny at first, but now I have to admit both ladies have a point. Searching through the Reuters archives and on the Web, I found several photos that utilize Gov. Palin's legs' to focus on one or more spectators in the audience and a few that seem to have no other purpose than to focus totally on her legs or feet.


Is it demeaning--even disrespectful--for cameras to focus there rather than on her face? Sure. This photo seems especially inappropriate, making it look like the kid's at a strip club:


Are news photographers blatantly sexist? I really don't think so. Maybe they're trying to convey a "woman in power" aspect by focusing on the governor's high-heeled feet and calves. I don't know. Being a male, I personally don't have a problem with it. But would I want photographers to start focusing their lenses on John McCain, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden's legs and feet? Or on worse places?



...Like Obama's big ears and ugly wart? Yuck. :)