Can Vanessa Williams be a senator now, please? I love her.

[Duncan Grant]

Senator-elect Scott Brown "America's Sexiest Man - 1982"

McCain's wife and daughter support gay marriage and Scott Brown is the first Senator with a nude centerfold to his credit (that we know of). Some days, I wonder what planet I woke up on -- honestly!

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. What about Traci Lords?

She was in the same issue of Penthouse that Vanessa Williams was.

Vanessa was the supposed "scandal" at the time the issue was published, but that's because Bob Guccione and friends didn't know that Traci was only 15 at the time!

[NeeDeep]

2. I'd like to be Traci's Aide of some kind

[Duncan Grant]

3. Maybe I should be more direct: How sexist is it? Would a female candidate be treated differently?

Full frontal sexism: A woman who posed nude like Scott Brown did couldn't have won a Senate seat

By Jeremy Mayer
Special to NYDailyNews.com

Wednesday, January 20th 2010, 1:05 PM


To all the post-mortems about the significance of Scott Brown's shocking Senate victory, I'd like to add one more: Brown's victory means that sexism is alive and well in American politics.

No, Martha Coakley didn't lose because she is a woman. But had Scott Brown been one, he wouldn't have won.

In the Massachusetts Senate race, we know sexism was there the same way Sherlock Holmes once found a killer; because the dog - in this case, the dog of the media - didn't bark.

Consider: If Coakley had posed nude for Playboy, as Scott Brown did for Cosmopolitan back in 1982, she would have been famous around the country, and not in a good way.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_full_frontal_sexism.html

[joeybee12]

4. Absolutely agree...

it's a double standard that the MSM seemed to ignore...they're treating him like he's some sort of hero for showing his family jewels.

[closeupready]

5. I didn't quite get your point at first, but now, yes, I agree.

She is certainly far more intelligent than Brown. I would love to see her kicking some butt in the Senate.

[ThomCat]

6. You are absolutely right that this shouts out the blatant sexism.

He appeared in a centerfold and it wasn't an issue at all.

He wasn't the butt of constant jokes in the media because of it. It wasn't laughed about in every late night show for weeks. Every article published about him didn't mention it within the first few paragraphs, suggesting that he was a freak candidate or asking if he could overcome this huge PR disaster to be taken seriously. He wasn't subjected to constant comments about his sex life, or suggesting that he needs to be raped or sexually assaulted. It did not derail his campaign. In fact, it seems to have helped.

(Coakley got frequent comments suggesting that she should be raped or sexually assaulted. x( She was frequently physically bullied on the campaign trail.)

He is a handsome man, and it only helped his campaign. Nobody assumed that he was an airhead because of it. Nobody suggested that he slept his way to success.

He just needed to own a truck to be qualified. His opponent needed to prove she has qualifications and credentials.

Anyone who looks at this election and thinks that sexism doesn't exist, or thinks it is trivial and minor seriously hasn't been paying attention. It can't get much more blatant than this. :(