Go ahead.  Accuse me of wading into dangerous waters.  Accuse me of laying the groundwork for a sexist discussion.  But as a clever, insightful article by Joel Stein in the Los Angeles Times surmises, the debut of Sarah Palin on the national stage requires the serious consideration of dealing with hot female executives.  While we’re considering issues of race, gender, age and religion, we might as well consider one of the sub-issues of gender:  hotness.

The fact is that people, particularly men, don’t know what to do with a hot woman in an executive role.  As Stein points out, we can handle Hillary Clinton and Condi Rice.  They’re attractive enough, but they’re not hot.  So, while we may not agree with them, we take them seriously.  On the other hand, if we can’t talk about Palin’s hotness while, at the same time, taking her seriously, then we’re discriminating against hot women, which it seems to me is a form of gender discrimination.

Long before Palin was asked to be John McCain’s running mate, she had inspired a bumper sticker in Alaska which reads:  “Coldest State, Hottest Governor.”  She was, after all, runner-up for Miss Alaska.  She’s posed for Vogue wearing go-go boots.  She looks exactly like Tina Fey (whom I’ve long had a crush on).  Is talking about that–or even thinking about that–sexist?

Stein says no:  “In fact, what’s sexist is men’s fear of sexualizing the women we take seriously.  It implies that men find power unattractive; that we segregate those we desire as sexual partners from those we want as intellectual partners; that our image of hotness is confined to the young, dumb and full of weak policy positions.”

I think Stein has identified another reason why women–at least, hot women–find it difficult to break the glass ceiling in the workplace.  I think he’s also saying that you can look at a woman (hot or not) through the filter of The Man Gene and still take her seriously as a boss, co-worker or subordinate.  This may be an answer to controlling The Man Gene in the workplace–and elsewhere.  This election is breaking new ground all over.  Post-race.  Post-gender.  Post-hot.