The Body Politic: Cutting Meghan McCain Down to Size

Regardless of whether or not McCain makes a serious mark in politics, she is already having an impact on the fight against society's objectification of women.

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The personal is political, but does that mean political pundits should critique the size of your thighs rather than your values and actions?

Meghan McCain was into the public eye when her father decided to run for president. Once the race was over, she made a conscious decision to stay in the spotlight, keeping up McCainBlogette.com and joining the Daily Beast as a columnist.

As a young woman promoting, and sometimes criticizing, the Republican Party, she had to see the hits coming. And when she went after GOP darling Ann Coulter, she pretty much painted the bull's eye on herself.

It doesn't surprise me that mud starting flying, but I am incredibly disappointed it was directed at her body rather than her brain. Laura Ingraham had plenty of criticism for McCain's beliefs, but the conservative radio personality couldn't resist taking a dig at her size as well. Which doesn't surprise me either, but it highlights the way our culture reduces women to physical objects.

What do McCain's curves have to do with it? Why did Ingraham think belittling her physical appearance was an appropriate way to criticize her political ideology? When will our words become more important than our weight?

In an interview with Glamour this summer, McCain shared a surprisingly balanced body image. "I got to a point where I was like, I just don't care. You think I'm fat? Fine. I don't care how much you weigh." And she is already fighting back against Ingraham's comments.

Despite the personal nature of the attack, McCain is keeping it professional, effectively focusing on an issue that goes beyond party lines.

Regardless of whether or not McCain makes a serious mark in politics, she is already having an impact on the fight against society's objectification of women.

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Anonymous March 30, 2009 12:31 pm (Pacific time)

I just looked at the video and the press release and I wonder if Ann is another horrible leader "Christians" have mistakenly anointed. http://anncoulterapology.com/ The evidence ARTL presents shows Ann supporting a pro-abort, homo marriage candidate and then dodging the accusation. Sad stuff indeed.

Diplomacy March 30, 2009 7:42 am (Pacific time)

I find the below quote by the below Hollywood actress sums it up for me and a growing percentage of other critics. We all should strive not to be so thin-skinned and realize that as a nearly 50-50 nation we are going to be polar opposites in our opinions. There may be a "backfire" in the works if we try to stifle these opposing viewpoints. Angie Harmon is not afraid to come out and say she doesn’t like how President Obama is handling the job — but she’s sick of having to defend herself from being deemed a racist. "Here's my problem with this, I'm just going to come out and say it. If I have anything to say against Obama it's not because I'm a racist, it's because I don't like what he's doing as President and anybody should be able to feel that way, but what I find now is that if you say anything against him you're called a racist."

Indie March 29, 2009 5:20 pm (Pacific time)

Ms. Neumann, shall I assume that when Laura Ingraham was being mocked by the left with vicious jokes that exploited the fact that she was a cancer survivor, that you were there to defend her? I doubt it. Its kind of obvious that people like you are using Meghan McCain, who is unfortunately too naive to see it. If her father had won the election, and someone called her fat, you would have been laughing along with the rest of them. The only reason she is your darling right now is because she said she was mad at the Republicans. You would never have paid any attention to her if she hadn't. Hypocrites are BORING.....

Snoozer March 28, 2009 4:29 pm (Pacific time)

LOL! Let me remind you that Tim King's largest criticism of Rush Limbaugh is that he's FAT. The hypocrisy, and intellectual vacuum here is so obvious, it hurts.

Tim King: Snoozer, you're out of touch with reality. For the record this character lives over to the right side of Atilla the Hun and thinks he should be able to pollute our site with his fascist dellusions Sorry Loser, I mean Snoozer.

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The Body Politic: Cutting Meghan McCain Down to Size

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