The cast of the eleventh season of Dancing With the Stars (premiering Monday, September 20th at 8 p.m. EST. on ABC) was revealed a few days ago during The Bachelor Pad. Of course, gossip blogs went crazy with the news and soon-to-be ballroom dancing contestants were interviewed by people obviously pretending to really love watching celebrities new and forgotten dance their hearts out on television.
But before we get into anything else, let's take a look at the entire cast for season 11 of Dancing With the Stars. We have...
On the women side, there's platinum-selling R&B and pop singer, actress, songwriter and record/television producer Brandy, Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey, super awesome comedian Margaret Cho, Audrina Patridge from The Hills, Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson and Bristol Palin.
The men competing are singer/songwriter, seller of more than 53 million records Michael Bolton, Jersey Shore reality television star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, retired NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, the most-watched TV star in the world David Hasselhoff, Disney Channel's Cory in the House actor Kyle Massey and three-time NBA champion, actor and producer Rick Fox.
There was a lot of talk about Bristol Palin being on Dancing With the Stars before the big reveal of the entire cast and since the night it was confirmed, even more people have been talking about how Bristol Palin appearing on Dancing With the Stars makes Sarah Palin's inevitable upcoming 2012 presidential run look like a laughing stock within the political world.
Now, I'm very sorry to have to break the news to those of you out there who are all "Palin 2012" crazy, but Sarah Palin and Sarah Palin alone is responsible for the fact that no one takes the woman seriously. She is responsible for the fact that most of the engaged voters on the left have been hoping since the 2008 presidential election that Sarah Palin would run in 2012 just so we would have more opportunities to see her attempt to speak on world issues. In fact, Mad Libs should have jumped on that shit and created a Sarah Palin Edition right after the Republican vice-presidential debate. The real point here however, is that Bristol Palin and the choices she makes in her life--professional and otherwise--are Bristol Palin's alone. It is not her responsibility to become a recluse in Alaska and have no contact with any part of the outside world just so her mother can attempt to look better in a political light and run for the Republican ticket of the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
The day after the Dancing With the Stars season 11 cast was revealed, Bristol Palin and her partner on the show Mark Ballas were interviewed on ABC News. During this interview the topic of Bristol Palin's parents naturally came up, in which Bristol was asked "Did you ask your parents...advice...or did you tell them, 'Mom, Dad, I'm gonna be on Dancing With the Stars?'" What caused my initial cocked eyebrow is that you could blatantly tell that this woman interviewing Bristol added the word "advice" in there as an afterthought; what she really wanted to ask was if Bristol asked her parents if she could be on Dancing With the Stars--if she received their permission. Take a look:
The woman interviewing Bristol Palin then proceeded to say "You're 19, you don't have to ask for their permission. This is what you want to do, I'm sure they're gonna be there in full support as always." as if she had to remind herself that she was speaking to a fully capable adult. It also seemed like she was assuring her audience who was watching this interview that Bristol Palin is indeed a 19-year-old woman and not merely "The Daughter of Sarah Palin" who must receive the permission of her parents before opting to do anything at all that would, frankly, put some money in her pocket.
It must be realized that ageism does not only mean discrimination against older or elderly people, it is also very much ageist to look down on someone or to refer to their inability to do something because of their age--and that includes young people. Renee and I have chatted about this when it comes to television shows like MasterChef whose judges, Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich more-so than Graham Elliot, have said very condescending things like "Are you really a good cook or just a lucky girl?" to the 22-year-old contestant Whitney. In the audition process of the show they also forced Whitney's parents and sister to go into the judge's room and plead this woman's case because of, not her ability to cook because they all agreed she made amazing food, but because of her age and "lack of experience." In the political sphere, Meghan McCain is almost always depicted as some dim, overtly-sexual being who just doesn't know any better because she is in her twenties.
I am not a great supporter of Bristol Palin's, mostly because I find the fact that she preaches abstinence a bit mind-boggling and counterproductive. I would have more respect for her if she would at least use the fame she has acquired to raise awareness about contraception and safe sex. However, to use her age as a stepping stone to why she needs to stay out of sight in order for her mother to win the Republican nomination for the 2012 presidency or to insinuate that she needs the permission of her parents to be on a television show is quite asinine and downright offensive.
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