Let the Sexism Begin!

So, the first emergent misogynist narrative of the 2012 election is not really a narrative as much as it is a habit: The inability of journalists to talk about candidate Michele Bachmann without comparing her to Sarah Palin.

To wit: Time's Mark Halperin, answering "Why Bachmann?"

With her impressive New Hampshire debate performance, Bachmann has gone from a conservative Sarah Palin—lite curiosity to a potential game changer. For two hours onstage with her GOP rivals, Bachmann appeared polished, serene and in command. Her smooth performance was partly the work of a top-shelf team of veteran advisers (manager Ed Rollins, pollster Ed Goeas, forensic coach Brett O’Donnell). They sanded down some of her rough edges but let Bachmann be Bachmann, complete with zinging anti-Obama applause lines and sunny-side-up conservatism.

Emphasis mine.

Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin are both straight white Republican women with brown hair.

Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty are both straight white Republican Minnesotans with brown hair.

It's actually pretty interesting that a former governor and sitting congressmember from the same state and the same party are running against each other in the same election, but that rarely even gets a mention.

And, weirdly, what does get mentioned (if implicitly) over and over—that Bachmann and Palin are both women—really isn't interesting at all.

At least not to anyone who considers "women are individual human beings" to be settled fact.