The mainstream media has a longstanding penchant for perpetuating male/female stereotypes in order to cater to specific demographics. If you’re a female political pundit for a major news network, you may be smart with a decidedly deeper voice and quick wit, but floral blouses and pounds of hairspray are worn lest we forget that it’s impossible to deliver the news without highlighting gender stereotypes. So what happens when a scarily intelligent, no bullshit lesbian begins to gain popularity on the mainstream networks for her sharp observations and endless charm? A lot of makeup, that’s what.

Rachel Maddow has recently blown up the blogosphere with a number of posts declaring that she should basically become the queen of everything. She is an incredibly smart and savvy woman who previously hosted a show on Air America called Unfiltered with fellow feminist and liberal politico Lizz Winstead. Maddow recently began to gain recognition as a frequent guest on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann, where she eventually transitioned to hosting the show during Olbermann’s absence. It’s true that there is something special about Maddow: she has the uncanny ability to explain highly complicated matters in extremely simple terms. It’s part of her charm—you don’t have to be a genius or even that politically invested to appreciate what she does on the air.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Maddow a few weeks ago at Lizz Winstead’s show, Shoot the Messenger. She looked shockingly different from her TV persona. Clad in a Haine’s white tee, jeans and black thick framed Rivers Cuomo glasses, she was just as charming as she appears on TV, if not more so. She nonchalantly sipped on a Budweiser and cracked jokes that would never escape the censors’ clutches on MSNBC.

But the dichotomy between how she was presented on TV and how she presented herself was quite startling. A few times she mentioned the pounds of makeup, the low-cut blouses, and I ached for her, because it was obvious what the media was doing. Here was a liberal woman—a lesbian—with a distinct self-image embedded in a refreshing dose of self-confidence, and in order to make it on TV she had to let them dress her up like a pageant girl. Because in the end, it wasn’t her opinions that mattered, it was her appearance, reflected in the media’s perpetual obsession with maintaining hackneyed gender notions.

Maddow battles these stereotypes as much as she’s allowed, or as much as she wants to. It would be much easier for her to showcase her intellect by falling swiftly into the paradigm of Hot Woman Co-anchor Who Also Says Some Things About Politics. Maddow’s new show, which premieres next week, should allow her freedom to experiment with bringing more Rachel the Person to the table, and less Rachel the Talking Makeup Swathed Head. I, for one, look forward to this transformation.