Rachel Maddow may not be considered an artist or film director yet her position as an openly gay female talkshow host has been critical to changing preconceptions about women and lesbians in the media sphere. Maddow was an AIDS activist and the first openly gay Rhodes Scholar from the United States. She is fiercely intelligent, witty, and has a poise all her own when tackling a range of topics from the US economy to foreign and domestic catastrophes. These talents all add to her unmistakable charm which has won over millions across the country. She appeals to people of all genders identities and sexual orientations leading many to claim they are "gay for Rachel." As Jonanna Widner stated in "The Rachel Papers"for Bitch Magazine:
Maddow's affable goofy-geek persona, her ability to skewer other pundits' arguments without coming off like an asshole, and her genius flair for translating policy arguments into interesting, digestible bites charmed the pants off a lefty populace that had been lusting for a cable-news rock star all its own since ... well, since the invention of cable news.She began on the radio in 1999 as co-host on WRNX Radio's The Dave in the Morning Show. Eventually after serving as a co-host on liberal radio network Air America from 2004 to 2005 the network offered Maddow her very own liberal political talk show, The Rachel Maddow Show. The show became one of Air America's highly rated programs, holding on to loyal listeners despite changing time slots more than once.
(Widner)
In 2006 Maddow began making regular appearances on television talkshows such as the MSNBC show The Situation with Tucker Carlson and CNN's Paula Zahn Now show. Despite the popularly held belief that her rise was "accidental" and that Maddow was just another woman who was a "passive player in her own fate" she in fact worked strategically to move forward in her career. In a 2008 Newsweek profile of Rachel Maddow it was stated,
The greatest media-created cliché about Maddow has been that her 'meteoric rise' has been almost accidental, that the truck-driving, yard- clearing, erstwhile activist became an 'unlikely' star once the MSNBC heads recognized her potential. That's clearly a fiction.In reality Maddow ardently pushed for a show of her own, even going so far as to hire the same agent as Keith Olbermann of MSNBC fame. In January 2008 Maddow signed an exclusive contract with MSNBC as the broadcasting station's political analyst and by September she launched The Rachel Maddow Show. The show's debut was MSNBC's most successful program launch to date. In "The Rachel Papers" Widner notes, "She more than doubled MSNBC's viewership for her time slot, from 800,000 to about 1.7 million. She almost single-handedly made MSNBC -- for years the loser third wheel of the cable-news party -- a player." Not only has the show boosted MSNBC's ratings and popularity but garnered multiple awards and critical acclaim.
(Newsweek Magazine)
Rachel has become an icon in many ways. A "Hey Girl Rachel Maddow" meme emerged in response to "Hey Girl Ryan Gosling" and "Feminist Ryan Gosling" because, as the Tumblr states, "Ryan Gosling isn't for everyone" offering an alternative idol to fond over. Some people also herald her as a sign that American society is shifting and becoming "postgay." Widner takes issue with this claim, stating,
As Maddow's star has risen, so has the number of editorial inches dedicated to her story. While they don't exactly gloss over her sexuality, most treat it as a sort of incidental factoid, akin to, say, her love of classic cocktails. It's as if we've skipped straight to postgay, without the benefit of the attendant political and social gains, which doesn't make any sense. How can we be postgay, for instance, in a society where Prop 8 passes? How can we be postgay when Rick Warren gives the invocation to an inauguration that's supposed to be about "change"? How can we be postgay in a world where Ann Coulter even exists? But there's a subtler bit to explore. If we're so very post- gay, why does delving into some of the gayer aspects of Maddow's life seem, on the part of mainstream media, verboten?How Maddow is portrayed as a woman is also problematic. Rachel Maddow is capable, possessing a self ease and confidence about her, and two of her most noted traits are her niceness and politeness. As Widner eloquently notes, "When it comes to dismantling her opponents, Maddow uses a scalpel, not a sledgehammer."
These slights have not affected her momentum. Rachel continues to gain followers over time
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