Sarah Palin on God and her "Throbbing" Thighs

Anyone who still thinks Sarah Palin isn't trying to use her enviable physique to her political advantage should read this Runner's World profile in which Palin says, "I knew my thighs were going to just throb." The throbbing thighs are accompained by a slew of cheesecake shots of Palin in close-fitting running gear.

More entertaining than the snaps of Palin in spandex are the pot-shots she manages to get at both McCain and Obama.

On McCain's staff: "A great frustration I had during the campaign was when the McCain staff wouldn't carve out time for me to go for a run. The days never went as well if I couldn't get out there and sweat."

On Obama as a runner: "I betcha I'd have more endurance."

But she also manages to work a big-up to J.C. in an interview that's supposedly about running: "First and foremost, like my Mom's inspiration has always been, I have my faith in God."

It's masterful! Oh, how I've missed those dulcet betchas in these long winter months!

Photograph of Sarah Palin by William Thomas Cain/Getty Images.

Tags: runner's world, running, Sarah Palin, trig palin, XX Factor

Jessica Grose is the managing editor of Double X and the co-author of Love, Mom: Poignant, Goofy, Brilliant Messages from Home. Click here to follow her on Twitter.

Comments

Runner’s World magazine has a

By: XavierM | Sat, 07/11/2009 - 05:07

Runner’s World magazine has a very interesting interview with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accompanied by a photo spread that’s sure to make her detractors apoplectic. The news wires are buzzing about the Sarah Palin Runner's World interview. The Sarah Palin Runner's World interview is getting attention especially since the news broke just after it ran that Palin Quits, as governor of Alaska, same as the Palin Vanity Fair spread. Some claim it's so she can concentrate on a Palin 2012 run for President. Her comments in the articles get a bit confusing – although many people have come close to throwing unsecured loans into distilling anything Palin has said into something that resembles a statement that makes sense. Still, a lot of people might look into pay day loans to get their own copy of the Sarah Palin Runners' World interview.

I retract.

By: Starling | Fri, 07/03/2009 - 21:31

If, as Palin's brother alleges, it is this sort of unfair media criticism that has resulted in Palin's resignation, I completely retract my earlier objection. This isn't cattiness, it's public service.

Meow

By: johngasper | Fri, 07/03/2009 - 20:33

Jessica, do you read any of these comments? Do you ever step back from it and ask yourself why you and women like you so shrilly denounce Sarah Palin? I mean, if she is so dumb and irrelevant and on and on and on, why do you even acknowledge her? But you don't JUST acknowledge her, you carry on as if...well...as if she stole your boyfriend.

Very telling. Very unbecoming.

Meow.

To Usama

By: Gmama | Fri, 07/03/2009 - 12:46

And I see your point but would argue with the dried up feminists on this site that just because someone looks "sexy" to a man (that is any woman who is reasonably healthy and attractive) doesn't mean she herself is pandering or is "using" her sexuality for something. Like I said, I am not a Palin fan, but Grose and the others who criticize her for the reasons noted in this post really just sound like the catty ugly girls in school. And, like my husband said, she really is pretty irrelevant, so, why all the attention from these lefty women? That underscores the cattyiness...gee, let's pile on Sarah Palin. Blech.

Mary Jane, I neither implied

By: Usama3 | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 17:08

Mary Jane, I neither implied nor concluded such an outrageous and immoral allegation. Your exclamation is outright offensive. I am son to my mother, a father to my 2 daughters, a brother to my sisters, and a loving husband to my wife. I am further from your claim than you can imagine.

The mention of male reaction to female physical stimuli is consideration of the MALE perspective in human relations. If you have a son, I hope you one day observe that as he goes through puberty, he will struggle with coped with this reaction, and that you do NOT condemn him and villify him for it.
Good day madame.

Jessica Grose is clearly not

By: lauren_f | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 13:48

Jessica Grose is clearly not a runner and has no business commenting on this interview. I freely admit I demonized Palin during the election and I still think she should be kept far away from the White House, and the Runner's World article is the first thing I've seen that makes me think of her as a decent human being.

Her comment on her throbbing thighs is using "her enviable physique to her political advantage"? Come off it. She's talking about doing hills and any runner would know that. And the "political pot-shots"? Ha. If you're used to running daily and you don't get time to get a workout in, it bothers you. There's nothing in that interview that you might not hear from any other runner, famous or not.

Go back to reading Vanity Fair. Stay away from worlds you obviously aren't capable of understanding.

Embarrassing

By: j6172708333 | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 12:09

I get that you hate Sarah Palin, but this is just cheap. The photos are less revealing than the average in Runner's World.

Eh, not so much

By: Starling | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:13

I've got to concur with some of the comments here: I don't see this as a particularly sexualized article, or the photos as anything to criticize. I just don't see what we expect Palin to do when she's being pictured in Runner's World--wear a burqa? Maybe just sweats? Although those shorts of hers aren't so far from being sweats, now I think about it. Teeny fitted running clothes, they're not.

I'm also not seeing a reason to freak out about the thighs comment. It's not as if Palin was making indiscreet references to her lady parts. Running generally involves the legs, so mentioning them isn't out of bounds. I might have raised an eyebrow if she said something about her butt--but thighs? Nah. What do we expect her to do, refer to her lower appendages as "limbs" in the manner of a Victorian spinster?

Ultimately, this doesn't pass a test of gender neutrality: an identical article, including similar photos, of Gov. Romney or President Obama wouldn't raise a single eyebrow. So is the problem Palin sexualizing her public image, or is it our inability to see her without viewing her through that lens?

Usama, you sound rather like

By: mary jane | Thu, 07/02/2009 - 07:36

Usama, you sound rather like the people who say that a woman "is asking for it", rape or date rape, when she is looks good and wears a nice dress. If a man loses control over seeing a woman in her running gear, who's wrong, the woman or the man?

He Gets Playboy and Maxim for the Articles

By: Usama3 | Wed, 07/01/2009 - 22:49

Of course he won't be reading it. But IF he has some attraction to her, he might flip through it, or check it out online for photos.

Double XX was RIGHT to observe Palin's physique. She may NOT have had an ulterior, political motive, but the editors and photojournalist most definitely valued the photos for their aesthetic sexual appeal.

As someone who was once a skilled artist, male artists (that includes photographers) have been sculpting drawing picturing and painting the female physique from head to toe, or for the Willendorf lady: from knees to neck, because men see numerous dimensions in a woman's appearance.

It seems a lot of readers are in some kind of denial. As if wearing that tight blouse in summer doesnt attract more attention. And so on.

And by denial, I dont mean a river in Brazil.