Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Showing authority

It seems strange to me that the writings of JB Priestly - the essays & novels, though not so much the plays – are so deeply unfashionable. This is one of those things I should quite like to keep coming back to check up on – see whether he has come back in to high regard

The following, from Over the Long High Wall (1972) gives food for thought in the case of Sarah Palin:

When women who have suddenly been given authority seem ill-at-ease & perhaps rather comic, it is usually because they have been forced to play the role in a masculine style: they are not being themselves, & it is society itself, with the masculine principle & its values high in the saddle, that is at fault. It can make women feel as awkward in high office as men feel in dress shops


As Gerard Baker said in The Times, It's hard to make a reasoned and fair judgment about the Alaska Governor, because of the cacophony of press comment, not least about her clothes.

The fair minded bit of me says Give her a chance, though to do what? On the basis of what I have read or heard of what she has said, the thought of her stepping suddenly in to the President’s shoes gives me the vapours. But then she reportedly has done a pretty good job as governor & may, away from the campaign trail, have a lot of sound common sense & good judgement to bring to bear on the issues