Meghan McCain takes Maureen Dowd to task, but comes up short

Meghan McCain writes about the sexist double-standards women in politics face:

The brutal criticism of Sarah Palin-which will only increase when her memoir comes out-is yet another example of the double standard and cruel treatment of women in politics. Sarah has been attacked for everything from her hair to her clothes to the number of children she gave birth to. Maureen Dowd even nicknamed her "Caribou Barbie." I can't even begin to think of what that kind of judgment-criticizing parts of your life that have nothing to do with what you stand for or want to accomplish politically-feels like.

Now, I'm not about to deny that women in politics often face double-standards and outright misogyny in the way the media treats them.  They do, as I have often written.  And that's something that should be addressed more frequently, so I'm glad McCain has done so.

But Maureen Dowd calling Sarah Palin "Caribou Barbie" isn't an example of a double-standard in which Dowd only makes such comments about women, it's an example of Dowd being a nasty and utterly pointless columnist who relentlessly mocks politicians -- male and female -- she dislikes, often focusing on their personal appearance or what she claims is their deviation from gender norms.

Dowd has called Barack Obama a "debutante" and a "pretty boy" and "effete" and compared him to Scarlett O'Hara.  She repeatedly referred to John Edwards as "The Breck Girl" and a "Material Boy" and "Secretary of Hairdressing," and at least once dedicated an entire column to an Edwards hair cut.  Dowd mocked Edwards for visiting "the Pink Sapphire spa in Manchester, which offers services for men that include the 'Touch of Youth' facial, as well as trips 'into the intriguing world of makeup.'" (Dowd remained silent about John McCain's own foray into the "intriguing world of makeup" at the Pink Sapphire.)  And Dowd famously wrote that Al Gore was "so feminized ... he's practically lactating."  (See, Gore wore a brown suit, and ... uh ... Well, actually, that was about it.)

Of course, all of these insults from Dowd are fundamentally sexist in nature.  She belittles male politicians she doesn't like by, basically, calling them women.  The obvious underlying assumption is that being feminine is a bad thing.  So even when she obsesses over a male politician's personal characteristics, she often does so in a way that indirectly insults women.

But Dowd's reference to Sarah Palin as "Caribou Barbie" isn't an example of her singling out women for criticism over "parts of [their] life that have nothing to do with what [they] stand for or want to accomplish politically."  It's an example of her behaving like a mean-spirited seventh-grader with little of substance to say.

And it's a reminder that it actually understates the misogyny in Dowd's columns to suggest that she critiques the physical appearance of only women in politics.