Newsweek Releases Outtakes from Bachmann Photo Shoot
Newsweek’s cover photo of a wild-eyed Michele Bachmann has drawn criticism from both the right and the left, with some feminists accusing Newsweek of sexism for choosing that particular image.
Today Newsweek has published more of the photos taken for their Bachmann feature: Michele Bachmann Newsweek Cover Shoot Outtakes.
Said Newsweek editor in chief Tina Brown in a statement, “Michele Bachmann’s intensity is galvanizing voters in Iowa right now and Newsweek’s cover captures that.” Many of the photographs taken for the feature showed Bachmann with similar intensity. Here are more images from the shoot, including some used inside the magazine, showing Bachmann in the nation’s capital and on the trail in Iowa.
The outtakes do indeed show Bachmann with the same glazed stare; anyone who’s observed her over the years knows that she often has that strange, robotic look. And yes, it does make her appear demented.
But is it “sexist” to use this photo? I don’t believe it is. There’s no gender-related element here, unlike the time when Newsweek used a photo of Sarah Palin in short shorts; now that was sexist. But calling Bachmann the “Queen of Rage” (when she personifies the angry Tea Party right) and using a photo that accurately portrays her disturbing fixed stare has nothing to do with her gender — it has to do with her fanaticism.