Posted by: Disgusted with Republicans on: September 30, 2008
I admit that Sarah Palin is pleasant to look at – most women are fascinating to look at when they are speaking about politics because there is so darn few of them. Even Madeline Albright is more fun to look at than Henry Kissinger.
But looks are superficial. Beliefs, power, confidence, a BIG following and action are what counts in politics, and while a politician is espousing those beliefs, what do we have to go on? Voice. While I look forward to the Biden-Palin debate, it’s going to be painful listening to Palin’s squeaky, infantile voice.
While the McCain boys are pumping her head full of acceptable sound bites for the Oct. 2nd debate with Joe Biden, it would be oh, so pleasant for the rest of us if they brought in a voice coach to tone down her Minnie Mouse, fingers-on-a-chalkboard voice. Even if Palin was qualified to be VP or future President (which even Republicans now admit she is not), it would be a very painful four years listening to her.
[...] as sounding like “Minnie Mouse.” (It’s posted by Disgustedwithrepublicans on McCainSucks.“) This to me is a great example of what I discussed earlier in the year regarding the sound [...]
September 30, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Palin’s voice is an interesting subject. I completely agree with you that while we are listening to politicians espouse their beliefs we are also assessing their voice, and the voice does tell us a lot about them, whether they want it to or not. For example, we equate power with strong voices, and even low ones. We equate happiness with lilting voices, and we equate strength with steady voices. The problem I have with your comments is not that I don’t agree with you that we have a problem with Palin. I do. But I think people listening to women in politics are going to have to get over the fact that they have higher voices than men and I don’t think we’ve done that yet. I absolutely believe, and teach, that there are ways to create a sound that is pleasant to hear, and there are things I think Palin could do to improve her production and her vocal image. But I also believe that as a woman, she is at a disadvantage, just as Hillary was, when we hear her voice along side a man running for office. Especially, if we hear her next to someone like Barack Obama who has a voice that by the very nature of its sound, is everything we want to hear…strong, pleasant, friendly, powerful, confident and reassuring!