"Commander in Chief"

It may seem petty to criticize the Post for something that appeared in the Style section, but a paper generally gets just one chance to get its word in on a given subject, which is why I’m disappointed in their choice to report on the demise of ABC’s “Commander in Chief” not as a study in the intersection of popular culture, gender, and politics, but as a weekly docudrama on women’s fashion.

Left untouched by Robin Givhan's 700 word encomium to Davis' committment to staying within her gender box are any of the intriguing issues raised by the idea of a female chief executive. What strategies would a female president employ in order to assert her authority over powerful, male-dominated institutions such as the Joint Chiefs, her own cabinet, the party apparatus that helped elect her, not to mention the challenges of working with Congress, the judiciary, and the media?

According to Givhan, for whom it was "more intriguing to see what this fictional female president would look like dressed for a day's work in the Oval Office" than how she would actually perform her job,

Davis constructed a convincing archetype. The actress is six feet tall and able to look men directly in the eye, in some cases even tower over them. She has a low, well-modulated voice. She is attractive but not a pinup. Her character, President Allen, wore her hair in a simple "That Girl" flip. It looked timeless and easy and did not suggest excessive maintenance... She wasn't trying to negate her gender or put up a sexless facade.

Thanks, Robin, for bringing the Post that much closer to Cosmopolitan.