Sarah Palin and Her Masculinity Complex

Sarah Palin and Her Masculinity Complex



In spite of her outward feminine characteristics, which the press keeps reminding us are devastating in a closed room meeting, Sarah Palin might actually feel deeply at odds with her being a woman. Her physical self aside, she is clearly in a rush to ‘prove’ herself and to show the world that she can play with the big boys. Whether it be shooting, fishing or being a politician Ms. Palin clearly demonstrates all of the characteristics of having a serious masculinity complex. Add a dose of narcissism and off she goes.

To fully appreciate the depths of this dysfunction, put aside any notion that it means being a big tough guy or gal, but that the mental manifestation that springs in her consistently is that of a competition among men and herself and can no doubt be traced to her earlier years. Consumed with ‘being equal’ or ‘as good as’ men in her life she clearly becomes deeply uncomfortable, even anxiety-filled, when perceiving a routine question as a challenge to her ability to answer. Not just to answer but to answer as good as a man.

The early life experience in the masculinity complex gets set up by the view a young woman has as she grows and perceives that men can do anything, get away with more, are stronger, can accomplish enormous feats and all the rest culminating in an envy of men and a serious desire to equal their independence and ability to manipulate their world as they see fit. This on either a physical or a mental level. In turn, the young woman embarks on a long journey of actually competing with men in an effort to be as good as or better than securing the freedom she sees that men have in their world and deeply envies. A perpetual flight from womanhood, forever falling short of manhood.

Running for office, mayor, governor, VP are all a means to prove her self worth. Hunting, fishing and all the outdoor adventure-sports found in Alaska serve as an ideal medium to express her desperate ability to compete and to be seen to compete successfully against what she perceives to be real men doing real manly things in what she believes is really a mans’ world. Being photographed with real army men, real guns and wearing camouflage clothing is yet another expression of the same dynamic. And, after all, Trooper gate is really just another attempt to dominate a man armed and in uniform and bring him to her will. The details really don’t matter here for this discussion as it is all the same dynamic. The notion of attacking patriarchal Russia is yet again another and most disconcerting expression of Ms. Palins’ masculinity complex.




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So then, where exactly does the swimsuit competition and the oozing femininity fit into her thinking? Easily, it is another weapon, an alternate one, for her to use if she feels cornered in some way and the perceives a threat against herself and her delicate mental framework which she herself has constructed as a means to cope with, control and manipulate her outside world. Bottom line, if she can’t beat you outright she will dazzle you with her beauty and fancy privileged eyeglasses designed to make her look smarter than she is. When her feminine mind-construct falls short she calls out her body. Under the pressure of this anxiety the ‘girl’ now takes refuge in a fictitious male role.

Doubt this? Probably not. We see her in every photo op showing a lot of leg. Not inappropriate by today’s standards and welcome as a natural expression but not in Ms. Palins’ case. Still doubt this? Look at the interviews with McCain in the same room with her. She is as bundled up as an Eskimo sitting in front of Ms. Couric in full length man-like trousers and a high reaching collar albeit in histrionic red. But don’t show too much skin with Dad around. But oh how it feels so good to be in a room with an interviewer as along as Dad is sitting next to me..,..Honestly she appeared to want McCain to get up and smack Couric if she could have it her way. Palins’ disdain for women is well documented and, of course, has it origins also in her personal self-image and her utter frustration with being a woman at all. Why else would she want to control so many women by making abortion a crime but to curtail women from freely enjoying their sexuality? Her desire to constrain women springs from her personal discomfort with her own inner woman and manifests itself as punishment towards other women in the form of serious and painful legal restrictions that she would apply to all women by abolishing abortion. How better to distance herself from her gender schism than to ban the natural instincts of other women as would a conservative Calvinistic man. Ms. Palin is known for pontificating from a pulpit in church about the evils of progressive society acting more like an elder pilgrim than a modern day woman. This is a glaring admission of her inability to reconcile her inner dialogue with the outer world and present day reality. Also, not to be underestimated, is the safety she feels speaking from the podium. The distance creates a river of safety between her and her constituency. In fact, between her and real self.

Ms. Palins’ facial expression which flash subtlety from defensive when looking at her interviewer to one of a relaxed safe admiration when looking at McCain sitting next to her. The change in lability is astounding, obvious and a bit disconcerting. Her inability to contain herself until the question is finished is another dead giveaway. Ms. Palin is in such a rush to ‘prove herself worthy of the boys club’ that she actually talks over the question never allowing it to just stand-even for a moment. Desperate to show mastery she foregoes the quality of actually having a thoughtful answer; for having a thoughtful answer is not what she herself is seeking. Preoccupied with the compulsive need to show an ability to master the question put to her, it is doubtful Ms. Palin actually has the cognition required to hear the question-as it is-in the first place. So inadequate are her feelings and so strong her need to display self-efficacy, that she has inadvertently made the McCain campaign her personal campaign taking on an inordinate and unmanageable amount of responsibility in doing so. Serious face when acting in her man role. Smiling when acting in her woman role. Clearly she views women as meant to be charming, manipulative and men as more meaningful.
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Sadly, she puts her needs ahead of yours in doing so, which speaks to a co-morbid behavior of narcissism alongside her already problematic complex with both men and women. The end result is an individual with a serous lack of content. A high-octane machine that views male vigor and garrulous responses as reasonable; never mind the actual line of rational, Queen Non-Sequitur.

Could you imagine Joe Biden doing such a thing? Of course not, it is simply not necessary for Biden to act in such a way to defray his anxiety about being VP as he has none and is rightly comfortable being in an Obama presidency and moreover in an administration and not feeling as though he –and he alone-is expected to ride to the rescue in order to distinguish himself. Although Joe Biden will talk you to death.

Just like Bush, the preoccupations of deep feelings of inadequacy arise when they bump up against something they know is bigger then themselves. In the case of Bush it has long since been documented that he ‘loves’ mountain biking and pedals the dirt trails at Camp David more frequently than he is actually in his office. No doubt his office brings up deep feelings of inadequacy and he flees to the hills with secret service men in tow where he feels at least he can beat them on the bike trail. Not unusual in a lot of offices but do we really need someone in the Oval Office who feels the need to flee be it Palin or Bush?

This behavior is not unusual for the average person but it is definitely not vote worthy. Most just meander through life attempting to reconcile their inner dialogue and the outer world with a variety of practices; hunting, fishing and biking in these particular cases. Fundamental religion is also a cornerstone for those who cannot accept even a moment of uncertainty because it offers them the solid construct of a very definite and exceedingly simple answer to the duality of our lives. All is either black or white, good or bad, friend or foe and so on. Comforting perhaps to a simple mind yearning for peace but not at all suitable to a leader in a complex world where tolerance and understanding are absolutely essential to survival. Each of these, sadly including religion, is merely another attempt to ‘butch up’ and gird oneself against the onslaught of an overwhelmingly complex world. Jesus did not practice his faith in this way.


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What to do? Foremost, get therapy. There is no crime in finding yourself suffering these conditions. But not addressing them is a crime and likely to affect everyone around you as we have seen here in this presidency and are presently threatened with in a feminine flip-flop of the same dynamic but in the form of Ms. Palin acting as Mr. Bush. Sarah Palin is in fact simply an upside down Bush. Or, inside out if you prefer. Reading press accounts equating Bush with Palin are more accurate than they know but in a much deeper and more meaningful way than just political views and representations. This is not just a political representation, it is a pathology.

Therapy might allow her to discover what she perceives as shortcomings to be nothing more than a psychological dynamic present in a lot of motivated women. And once the dynamic is recognized a healthier contribution can be made to the life of true public service and in a much more meaningful and useful way than that which we are presently witnessing. Therapeutic intervention would reorder the dynamic not make it go away. No loss of power results from a better understanding of oneself. It would, in fact, make her
stronger, healthier and move closer to becoming the strong individual she is desperately seeking in herself. She is highly motivated but for the wrong reasons guaranteeing an adverse outcome for those around her. Everyone involved with a disordered person gets hurt.

To be fair, Ms. Palin has probably come by her mindset honestly but lacks the analytical mind to be able to deconstruct and then reconstitute herself as a whole person. However, we clearly need to have a whole, healthy and complete individual in the White House.

To hold Palin responsible alone for her debacle thus far is wholly wrong. McCain is the seasoned veteran whose judgment we are supposed to be trusting, whose experience and insight we are to yield to as superior than our own and guaranteed to rise when needed to see that we Americans are all secure, safe and have the rights we have recognized for all of our short time here in this country. Washington is a hall of mirrors for narcissistic personalities who are power hungry and equate their own self worth with money and stature. Sending Palin to Washington would be like waiving a fully loaded needle with heroin in front of a junkie in withdrawal, leaving it on the table and then exiting the room. What do you think would happen?