gender

And just for fun - I think Matt Damon brings up a good point.

I love the comment a VERY conservative friend of mine made when I sent him this video: "Caring or quoting what celebrities think about anything is usually cause for a punch line, but in this case, he happens to be correct."

His comment reflects how during this election, unlike any other, people are switching parties, switching preferences, and reflecting over a broader array of issues that are less substantive but no less relevant - issues like race and age in a Presidential election, the role of a Vice Presidential nominee - much more than in the past.

The Gallup poll reports that Senator Barack Obama has made gains in women voters after Senator Hillary Clinton left the race, indicating that Senator John McCain's opposition to equal pay for women, support for overturning Roe v. Wade, opposition to legisation expanding access to emergency contractopion and support for limiting access to all forms of birth control is not making him popular with women voters.

Media Matters reported on Maureen Dowd's repeated uses of gender roles to mock Democrats.

Similarly, Susan Faludi points out in the New York Times how Republicans are attempting to paint Senator Barack Obama as feminine because he doesn't play into a typical gender role.