Todd Palin, Modern Man

Todd Palin is a man for the new millennium. Able to balance taking care of the kids and a successful wife while still donning the Carhartt pants and competing in grueling snow machine competitions, Alaska's "first dude" is a veritable model of maleness. Todd is featured prominently in two new profiles in Esquire and Men's Journal, both of which go to great lengths to portray the man as no less masculine for his domestic duties. The articles are filled with amusing little details for those fascinated with the Palin clan, such as Todd saying he's "Gotta clean up before the boss [Sarah] comes home." At another moment, Sarah orders Levi Johnston--who at this point had yet to have his falling out with the Palins--to marinate and cook a roast, a responsibility that befuddles the young father. Despite the praise heaped on the first dude, Amy Benfer, critiquing the articles on Salon, writes that there still is an underlying discomfort with the "Todd Palin version of manhood."