A pundette is a female TV commentator or

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

in the US, often conservative. The term was coined in the 1990s to describe anti- Bill Clinton commentators who came to prominence on

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

during the Lewinsky scandal. Bill Clinton was president of the United States at the time.Paul Farhi, "The Voice of Experience? Um, Not Exactly", Los Angeles Times, 27 May 2000
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Role

According to Stephen Klien, Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Communication at the University of Missouri, pundettes ''"seemed to capitalize on a combination of conservative identity, confrontational rhetorical style and sexual attractiveness in order to gain media attention"''Stephen Klien, "Ann Coulter's Inconvenient Gender: The Conservative Feminine Persona and Legitimate Public Agency", Proceedings of 2011 National Communication Association Convention
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Susan Estrich Susan Estrich (born December 16, 1952) is an American lawyer, professor, author, political operative, and political commentator. She is known for serving as the campaign manager for Michael Dukakis in 1988 (being the first woman to manage the pre ...

, a self described pundette, said her success was not so much because she had ''"run campaigns and taught law for 20 years and thus might know what I'm talking about, but that I have blond hair and legs almost as good as those of the twenty- and thirty-something blondes with whom I am usually paired."'' Susan Estrich, ''Sex & Power'', New York: Riverhead Books, 2001, , page 207 The term is sometimes used dismissively by those that disagree with a pundette's position.Hunter Baker, "Down Syndrome", The American Spectator, 19 August 2004
/ref> Women described as pundettes, however, often embrace the term. More recently the term has expanded to include women commentators in a variety of fields, political views and races.

Notable women characterized as pundettes

* Ann Coulter * Kellyanne (Fitzpatrick) Conway * Maureen Dowd * Nancy Giles * Laura Ingraham * Heather Nauert * Barbara Olson

In the arts

''The Accidental Pundette'' is a comedy play by Nancy Giles based on an incident where she lost her temper during a panel discussion on '' Larry King Live''.Daniel M. Gold, "Mixing It Up With the Charmer, the Flight Attendant and the Pundette", New York Times, 1 September 2012
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References

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External links

Kellyanne Conway sings the "Pundette Blues" at the 1998 Child Welfare League of America annual fundraiser
1990s neologisms Conservatism in the United States