Sexism and The Media
You have got to be fucking kidding me.
At Shakesville today, I learn that irony isn’t just dead, but has been staked, shot, knifed, and garroted.
In case you needed any motivation for Assignment: Teaspoon below, CNN—yes, the same outlet currently running the question “Do you agree with Sen. Hillary Clinton that the press has ignored sexism in the campaign?” without a trace of irony, unless their position is: “No, we’re not ignoring it; we’re fomenting it!”—yesterday featured a panel debating whether calling accomplished attorney and advocate, former First Lady, two-term Senator, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a “white bitch” is appropriate.
And there’s video.
Yes indeed. “The most trusted name in news” debates whether or not Hillary is right about sexism, and - to prove she’s wrong about sexism in the media coverage of the campaign - one panelist (a consultant for the GOP, no less) says it’s okay to call Hillary Clinton a bitch, because with “some women … it’s accurate.”
“Has the press ignored sexism in the campaign?”
Oh, no, dearies, you haven’t ignored it. You’ve done a pretty good job of fostering and fomenting it and giving it a platform with which to beat one candidate over the head for having the audacity to run for President while female. Give yourselves a pat on the back.
From this, I think we can see that CNN and Castellanos would approve of a poll asking, “Has the media ignored racism in the campaign?” while a panel debated whether or not it was acceptable to call Senator Obama a “n*gger” because “for some … it’s accurate.” *
- - -
* No, I am not saying it is acceptable, ever, by anyone. What I am saying is that if you substitute racism and a slur against African-Americans, you see how unacceptable “bitch” is.
I am also saying that sexism and misogyny are well-entrenched in the media. So well-entrenched that a man not only called a sitting US Senator a bitch, but claimed it was an “accurate” depiction. As Jeffrey Toobin points out in the video above, the same would not happen with regard to race.
