--- ---  # Sarah Palin Made a Powerful Observation About the Vice Presidential Debate by [Kristen Bellstrom / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Kristen Bellstrom / Fortune Oct 6, 2016 1:39 PM UTC  Democrat Joseph Biden (L) participates in the vice presidential debate with Republican Sarah Palin (R) October 2, 2008 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Vice presidential nominees Palin and Biden clashed at their crucial vice presidential debate, with the Alaska governor under pressure to quell questions about her knowledge and experience. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) Democrat Joseph Biden (L) participates in the vice presidential debate with Republican Sarah Palin (R) October 2, 2008 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Vice presidential nominees Palin and Biden clashed at their crucial vice presidential debate, with the Alaska governor under pressure to quell questions about her knowledge and experience. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)ROBYN BECK—AFP/Getty Images by [Kristen Bellstrom / Fortune](https://time.com/author/fortune/) ## Kristen Bellstrom / Fortune Oct 6, 2016 1:39 PM UTC Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican VP nominee, watched the Tuesday vice presidential debate from a pretty unique perspective. After all, she’s actually been in the candidates’ shoes—though hers were a bit of a different style. “How is it that the dudes lucked out and got chairs over the last 20 years of VP debates minus one?” wrote Palin on her [Facebook](http://fortune.com/fortune500/facebook-157/) page. “Want a real test – try standing in for 90 mins [#heelsonglovesoff](https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/heelsonglovesoff?source=feed%5Ftext&story%5Fid=10154602661993588)“ Indeed, Democratic VP pick Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and his Republican rival Indiana Gov. Mike Pence stayed seated for the debate—as did the other vice presidential candidates in recent years, with the exception of Palin’s face-off with then-nominee Joe Biden. High heels—which made the news this spring, when a [woman in London was sent home](http://fortune.com/2016/05/12/high-heels-dress-code/) from work for refusing to wear them—are a hot topic among some professional women. When _Fortune_ [asked readers](http://fortune.com/2016/05/19/women-pressure-high-heels/) if they felt pressure to wear them at work, responses were all over the map. Some women find heels empowering, while others categorically refuse to wear anything but flats. Regardless, Palin’s point is difficult to ignore: Even at the very highest levels, women still face pressure to conform to society’s expectations about their appearance. When we judge candidates in the presidential and vice presidential debates on [their smiles](http://fortune.com/2016/09/27/hillary-clinton-smiling-debate/), [what they wear](http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160926-trump-and-clinton-go-head-to-head-in-a-battle-of-the-image), and [body language](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/09/25/body-language-trump-clinton-debate/91078036/), can you blame Palin for choosing heels—even if they mean 90 minutes of pain? _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/10/05/sarah-palin-vp-debate/) _originally appeared on Fortune.com_ Sarah Palin Made Important Observation About the VP Debate ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4521030/sarah-palin-vice-president-debate-heels/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4521030/sarah-palin-vice-president-debate-heels/"},"headline":"Sarah Palin Made a Powerful Observation About the Vice Presidential Debate","datePublished":"2016-10-06T13:39:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:31.906Z","description":"Try standing in her heels for two hours","url":"https://time.com/4521030/sarah-palin-vice-president-debate-heels/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7ced491e047f6da/6988a8e5cf40a87f24c4510e/sarah-palin-vice-presidential-debate-heels.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kristen Bellstrom / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7ced491e047f6da/6988a8e5cf40a87f24c4510e/sarah-palin-vice-presidential-debate-heels.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democrat Joseph Biden (L) participates i","caption":"Democrat Joseph Biden (L) participates i","creditText":"ROBYN BECK—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4521030/sarah-palin-vice-president-debate-heels/","name":"Sarah Palin Made a Powerful Observation About the Vice Presidential Debate"}}]}] ```