After covering Miss California, Carrie Prejean's controversial gay marriage answer last month, and the renewed controversy over her press conference with Donald Trump last week, I figured I'd follow up on a suggestion from TennZen to organize a Miss Libertarian USA Pageant.
Organizing a real Miss Libertarian web pageant is an idea I'll hang onto for possible implementation in the future (what do you folks think about the idea?), but in the meantime, here's a list of a few beautiful, sexy, courageous, intelligent, and libertarian women.
If they had gotten Miss Prejean's question, I'm sure any one of them would have rocked it and wowed the audience with their depth of insight.
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Ayn Rand
From the $.33 U.S. Federal Postage StampOkay, I promise this is the only non-living woman on the list. I just had to include Ayn Rand because she is a giant as far as women in the libertarian movement are concerned (though of course she would hate to be described as a libertarian). She is the author of the iconic and ever-relevant novel Atlas Shrugged, and the political philosopher who wrote, "A government is the most dangerous threat to man’s rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims."
But is Ayn Rand beautiful, even sexy? You. Bet. Her novels and non-fiction works expound one of the most healthy, robust, and enlightened conceptions of human sexuality I have ever encountered, and she was herself an exemplar of beauty, elegance, classiness, and attractiveness. She had all the qualities that make a woman beautiful, not the least of which was her lovely, piercing eyes.
Megan McArdle
Photo by David Shankbone (GFDL)Megan McArdle got her start blogging as Jane Galt and currently blogs for the Atlantic. She isn't as hardcore as Ayn Rand in her political views (Rand would say she isn't as consistent as Ayn Rand); she's been described in the blogosphere as a "moderate libertarian" and a "pragmatic libertarian" whatever that means, though she does lean on the side of limited government and is famous for coining Jane's Law, which is more true today than ever before: "The devotees of the party in power are smug and arrogant. The devotees of the party out of power are insane."
Here's a phenomenal "diavlog" between McArdle and Reason Magazine's Kerry Howley discussing the relationship between women, feminism and libertarianism, entitled "Lipstick Libertarians." Speaking of whom...
Kerry Howley
Photo from Reason.comKerry Howley is a senior editor at Reason magazine and Reason.com: "Howley first came to Reason in 2003 as the Burton C. Gray Memorial Intern. She then moved to Southeast Asia as a reporter and features editor for the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times, where she covered the United Nations and development issues until returning to Reason in 2005."
Here she is tearing apart the Republican party for the abandonment of its values, and I love every word of it: "After all, what might a Republican administration completely freed from the straitjacket of fiscal restraint look like? Perhaps it would spend tens of billions on new education programs, or hundreds of billions on a Medicare drug benefit. Maybe it would, I don't know, introduce the highest rate of federal government growth since LBJ and increase spending at three times the rate of its Democratic-controlled predecessor."
Becky C.
Photo from BeckyC's Twitter PageLibertarian blogger BeckyC blogs at GirlInShortShorts (Warning: sometimes not safe for work as Becky lavishly illustrates her posts and sidebar with photos and artwork of beautiful semi-nude and occasionally nude women... I just... read it for the articles). She is a fascinating human being with an edgy style and a keen wit, not to mention an outspoken advocate for liberty and sanity in government! Here's how she describes herself on her blog's bio:
"Mom, recovering attorney, post-modern neo-feminist, disrespectful dyke, unlikely punk, nice Catholic girl, passionate freedom-loving libertarian, thinking conservative, sappy romantic, spiritual redneck, softball enthusiast, shopaholic and unrepentant flirt. My other passion is mountain climbing."
Michelle Muccio
Screenshot from CBS NewsMichelle Muccio is "a research assistant in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation." She writes for HumanEvents.com and appears as a guest commentator on Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch. She is a libertarian and self-described "Rebel Economist." Here she is fanning the flames of liberty by calling for a repeal of the payroll tax:
Shelly Roche
Photo from BreakTheMatrixShelly Roche blogs at her own website Break The Matrix, as well as at Bureaucrash. She's a frequent "vlogger" with an excellent YouTube channel, appears frequently on Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch, and as of this writing she is the fourth most popular libertarian on Twitter. She is a prolific and brilliant advocate for liberty. If there were a real Miss Libertarian USA Pageant, she'd win the talent section:
She is a total tech geek with a great knack for web design. Here she is advocating the use of Drupal for website design. She is a painter and photographer with a particular interest in Sumi-e. And on top of that she is the founder of Plenticulture, a tech/sustainable agriculture venture. With the kind of creative talent and bold vision she has, I'm certainly glad she's on our side!
5 comments:
Wow, thank you.
I am honored to be considered libertarian eye candy--- nothing could be finer for a shallow libertarian minded girl.
But I would be remiss in not pointing out a few omissions:
All the girls in the Hotties 4 Ron Paul Calendar , including my friends, Juliet-Annerino the creator of the calenear and Michelle Shinghal a/k/a Lady Liberty, who also posed her hot bod for liberty and is involved in the Break the MatrixThe Hookers for Ron Paul and Strippers For Ron Paulshould be included.on any list of libertarian hotties.
Although Ayn Rand belonged on the list, you totally ignored the two other girls of the historic Libertarian Chick Triumvirate Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel PatersonAny list of hot important libertarian women is incomplete without including Zora Neale Hurston , who along with Rose Wilder Lane, Isabel Paterson, and Ayn Rand was one of the founders of modern libertarianism.
and don't forget Dambisa Moyo as well.
Or my friend Tasha
and I know I have omitted many—because libertarian girls are not only the smartest, they be the hottest.
~Becky
Wow, thanks! I knew that despite scouring the search engines, I was likely to come up short and leave some deserving people out.
I'll do an update here within a couple weeks and include your recommendations.
I was thinking about Isabel Paterson and Rose Wilder Lane, but didn't want to get too crazy with deceased women (otherwise the list could go on and on!). But they are quite deserving- along with Rand- of the title Libertarian Chick Triumvirate.
If you think of any more in the future, please do link to them in this comment thread so I can put up a more complete update.
PS: you are most certainly libertarian minded and eye candy, but emphatically not shallow. It takes a great depth of soul and intellect to believe and write and live the things that you do.
@Becky C - Thanks, Becky. I've been so absorbed with Stewart's Oath Keepers' I almost forgot I had my own blog ( I wonder if any of the guys will notice if I turn the OK blog pink?)
-Tasha
Selling libertarian ideals using sex appeal is fine, but sadly regardless of how informed, eloquent, etc. a woman may be if she decides to use her "assets" to push her agenda, even if I agree with it, then she loses respect in the area of validity no matter how right she may be.
It's fine to be proud of one's outward beauty. I'm not saying a Hillary Clinton pants suit is in order, I'm just saying that if one wishes to be taken seriously, male or female, they must present themselves in a manner that allows their words, not their sex appeal, to take the forefront.
Here's my answer:
http://tmic.fm/owasklhue2y
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