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.” *
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* 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.
So, can I say that “Alex is a jackass…not all men are jackasses, but he is.” So, that makes it ok. That isn’t sexist, that isn’t male bashing, that is the Truth. From my perspective at least.
No, sexism isn’t the only problems she has had, but it is real. Many, if not most, women experience this, and it is time we took it seriously, as women, and as a people who are suppose to believe in equality.