Why Sarah Palin Fired up the Public's Sexual Imagination

Even with the presidential election over, Sarah Palin remains a prominent figure. From her hairstyle to her politics, America has been and remains obsessed with the female politician who seemingly came out of nowhere. And while some debated her political platform, others were more preoccupied by her sexual identity. From a Palin sex doll to an homage adult movie, the sexualization of Palin won't quit. Most recently, writer Rachel Kramer Bussel created Sarah Palin Erotica, a site dedicated to erotic stories about the former Republican vice presidential candidate. After the jump, an interview with Bussel that reveals why Americans can't get over Palin.

The Frisky: How did you come up with the idea for the site?

Rachel Kramer Bussel: Erotica is what I know best, writing-wise, so it seemed natural to turn my attention to the figure in the election who has been the most sexualized. She's not the only one who's been sexualized, by any means, but when I started seeing things like George Gurley in the New York Observer saying he wanted to have sex with her, the porn video, and basically references to her and her sexuality in mainstream media, I realized the time was ripe for it. Also, I think you can do things with fiction that you can't with fact. You can imagine and elaborate and embellish, and often you may find what could have been a polemic becoming more complicated. No one is pure good or pure evil, especially when it comes to our fantasies. In other words, Palin is a starting point for the stories on the site, but not necessarily the end point. Fiction, and erotica specifically, offers a way to comment on politics and sex, which are intimately intertwined, in creative, nuanced ways, while telling hot stories. I will be posting more stories, and hope to see the conversation continue. I was also inspired by Stephen Elliott's Sex for America: Politically Inspired Erotica, which came out earlier this year. There is a history of political erotica, from Susie Bright's classic "Dan Quayle's Dick" to my very first erotica story, "Monica and Me," about Monica Lewinsky, that the site draws from.

F: Why do you think Americans are so sexually fascinated by Palin?

RKB: I think first it was because of her looks, but almost immediately her story, wild as it was, entranced people. Even those of us opposed to her politics couldn't help but be captivated, and part of that captivation is her sexual allure. That doesn't necessarily mean we all want to have sex with her (just to be clear, I don't), but we want to know more about her, including what she's like in bed. I read a UK reporter likening her to Princess Diana in terms of her appeal to the crowds. She's brash, outspoken, gutsy. She's a woman and a mother, in so many ways highly traditional, and yet totally not. I think she set off a lot of hot buttons around women's roles in the home and workplace, as parents, and as sex objects. This story we're hearing about her breezing into a hotel room dressed just in a towel -- that's not erotica, that's real, yet it could be straight out of the story "The World of Men" by Delilah T. Jones.

I think we were fascinated by her, too, because she was so sure of herself, even when, perhaps, she shouldn't have been. The sheer gumption she needed to push her way to the top is part of the charisma a good politician has, and that's sexy. For many of us, her accent, her pushiness, her look were all things that made us wonder what made her tick. I think for any public figure, or authority figure, we wonder whether their sexual persona, what they do in private, what turns them on matches or is opposed to their public persona. For some of us, they're exactly the same; for some, they're different.