Sexism and Misogyny Cross Party Lines

Hi friends of Katalusis,

I’m late posting today as I’m working on a freelance writing project and had two interviews to complete plus travel time.

But I did want to call your attention to a post titled I Was Wrong at The New Agenda by Cynthia Ruccia that emphatically reminds us that sexism and misogyny are alive and well in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Among other things, Cynthia talks about being diagnosed with breast cancer, which became a turning point in her life. Believe it or not, she went from being a nerd to a jock! Her inspiring post is a must read, but so are the comments that follow. A great thread developed on the topic of sexism and the crime of rape.

Alessandro Machi, host of Daily Puma, commented:

One thing that might help reduce sexism is to revisit news stories in which women have been marginalized while the men are portrayed as heroic. I think it would be amazing to get female AP writers to revisit some of these types of stories six months later, a year later, and come up with a more balanced version than what was originally reported.

Some examples of women involved in news storeies who should have their role in the story revisited and unmarginalized include LaTreasa Davis, who called 911 when McDonalds STOLE HER MONEY AND WOULD NOT GIVE IT BACK NOR WOULD IT GIVE HER WHAT SHE ORDERED! http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....o-and.html

Nicole Word was beaten up in court and the judge “heroically” saved her. The Judge got all the glory for saving the damsel in distress but nobody really appreciated the bravery of the woman for standing up to her ex boyfriend both before her beating, during her beating, and then after her beating, she too was marginalized while the judge was declared a hero. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....words.html

The third story that I would like to see revisited is BeerGate in which Fred Sanford and Barney Fife had a row on the front porch of Fred’s home and Andy Griffith had to step in hold a beer get together at the White House. http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....emale.html

The real story was not the men first arguing over nothing, then having a discussion at the white house, the real story was the two women who initially conferred over whether or not to call the police and then how they conducted themselves when they did call the police, was far and above the most interesting part of the story, and they too were marginalized by the media and the white house.

The Perverted David Letterman and Other Matters of Concern to Feminists

Cross-posted at the Widdershins

For many feminists it was a challenge in 2008 to stand our ground among “liberal” acquaintances venting their hatred of Hillary Clinton in the primary and later on in the general election ripping Sarah Palin to shreds – and not solely on the basis of policy disagreements. As others have pointed out, misogynists in the electorate chastised Hillary for not being feminine enough and then scolded Sarah for the crime of being pretty.

It’s encouraging these days to follow blogs like the Widdershins where sober discussions are held regularly on how best to move forward on issues of women’s rights and the rights of the LGBT community.

Unfortunately, the shock troops in the extreme left-wing blogosphere are still cranked up to assault their main targets with full force. Just check out readers’ comments here defending David Letterman’s right to make perverted jokes at the expense of Sarah Palin and her daughters.

Amy Siskind, president and co-founder of the New Agenda, is stating the obvious in her post titled “Sexism Against Conservative Women is Still Sexism,” while also addressing concerns about the several factions in the feminist movement that surfaced in 2008.

Amy writes:

When is sexism acceptable? The answer should be never. Yet for many feminists in our country, only certain types of women have been worth defending. When a conservative woman is the target of an attack, many so-called feminists stay silent. This “selective sexism”, or speaking out against sexism on a case by case basis, does not advance our national dialogue on women’s issues. Rather, selective sexism allows a dangerous level of permissible sexism to live and breed in our country. The only way for the women of this country to truly move forward is to unite and speak out against all forms of sexism regardless of party or the source of the attack.

When Playboy publishes a piece titled So Right It’s Wrong which is a “hate rape” fantasy of Guy Cambalo targeting ten conservative women, all women (and like-minded men) should be outraged and renounce this immediately. The identity and party affiliation of the 10 women is not of consequence — this is simply a despicable act.

Or when Ms. California, Carrie Prejean, voices her point of view on gay marriage and then becomes the target of an objectifying sexist rant by Keith Olbermann, where’s the outrage? Carrie is entitled to her point of view, and if you don’t agree explain why — don’t diminish her opinion by turning her into a sexual object.

Or when Governor Sarah Palin’s 14 year-old daughter is the subject of a degrading and humiliating joke by David Letterman, how can we let this be part of our culture? How would any one of us feel if this comment were directed at our daughter? And if Governor Palin were Governor “Sam” Palin, would Letterman dare to make that joke?

We all know the answer to that one: the perverted Letterman would not dare to make that joke against Governor “Sam” Palin or any straight male politician. And let’s face it, as far as the extreme left-wing blogosphere is concerned, bigotry against straight African-American males is the only form of bigotry to be treated as morally wrong.

Men May Dominate Obama Administration: This is Change You Can Believe in?

In response to all the thoughtless comments by giddy Obama supporters such as Rep. Clyburn that now all children in America can believe in the possibility of fulfilling their potential, I’ve said repeatedly: “Only male children in America have received that assurance; female children will have to wait.”

At first glance, it appears that President-elect Obama won’t contribute much to gender equality on behalf of all those little girls in America, including his own daughters.

Politico’s Lisa Lerer reports:

“The early teams released by the Obama administration have tended to be male-dominated. On Wednesday, four women and eight men were named to Obama’s transition advisory board. His agency review team is headed by seven women and thirteen men. And last week, Obama met with his key economic advisers — four women and 13 men.

“So far, Obama has named four members of his top White House staff. Three are men – chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, press secretary Robert Gibbs and chief congressional liaison Phil Schiliro. And one is a woman – senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

“Additionally, Vice President-elect Joe Biden has named Ron Klain as his chief of staff.

“The senior staff assisting with the transition is more evenly divided, with Jarrett, a mentor and close friend one of the three top aides overseeing it.

“While Obama has not made any Cabinet appointments, the names that are circulating have worried some in the women’s rights community.

‘“I have been struck by how few women have been mentioned for high-level positions,’ said former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin, who worked on the Clinton transition. ‘It’s still very early, so I don’t want to reach conclusions yet. But the rumors are a flashing yellow light.’

“The mention of Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is seen as particularly problematic. As president of Harvard University, Summers said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. The controversial comment led to his ousting as president.”

Read Lerer’s post in its entirety here.

How Does Trashing Sarah Palin Advance the Feminist Agenda?

I gave up trying to calmly discuss Sarah Palin with liberal friends and relatives some time ago. Their outraged pre-judgment of the governor of Alaska would not allow them to hear a different perspective. Come to think of it I had a similar experience with many of my acquaintances back during the Democratic primary whenever Hillary Clinton’s name was mentioned.

In the final weeks of this depressing presidential campaign, I’ve perfected a standard response to derogatory comments about Palin: “I may disagree with her on the issues, but I will stand with her against sexist attacks.”

Whenever it has seemed appropriate, I've added to the above, “I’m a Unitarian-Universalist, and we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, even pro-life Republican women.”

In that context it was comforting to read Artemis March’s post at the New Agenda the other day that describes the bizarre behavior of so-called feminists in their disdainful treatment of Palin.

March writes:

“Feminist eruptions about Sarah Palin have been stunning. Eve Ensler went ballistic. NOW endorsed an all-male ticket and disavowed Palin. Gloria Steinem contradicted her January op-ed argument. Naomi Wolf spun off into a paranoid fantasy. Feminists urgently circulated petitions full of false claims about Palin. When I sent friends information and links correcting these claims—shouldn’t that reduce fear and allow a saner conversation?—two who wrote back were outraged. Friends who normally speak in dulcet tones were suddenly pitched an octave and decibels higher, unable to converse in the normal rhythm of give and take.

“I began asking myself, what is going on with feminists as they rationalize lining up with their misogynist Party/candidate while engaging with this new rorschach named Sarah Palin? How is it that feminists—the Americans most caricatured, distorted, misunderstood, and demonized by the Right and by the Left—are themselves caricaturing, misrepresenting, and demonizing a woman whose policies and beliefs offend them? Is it too much to ask that they at least get their facts straight, and not push rumors and unexamined claims as if they were gospel? How is it that Hillary supporters who have aligned with the DNC’s selectee are exhibiting some of the behaviors they formerly excoriated in Obama devotees (e.g., self-righteous judgmentalism, and the rejection, denial, or trivializing of information unfavorable to their guy)? Is it just too uncomfortable for them to bear the cognitive dissonance entailed by their second choice?

“As to those pesky facts: Palin favors contraception. Despite Ms. Gandy’s claim that NOW would not endorse Palin because of her anti-abortion position, as governor and mayor, she never attempted to promote legislation that would weaken or alter abortion laws. Palin tripled (not cut) special needs funding, did not try to ban library books, and has not pushed creationism in schools, only opined that students be allowed to discuss it along with evolutionary theory. Contrary to Charlie Gibson’s inquisition and ABC’s egregious, libelous cropping and editing of not only his interview with Palin but also of the video clip he referenced, she does not see the Iraq war as a mission from God. She asked Alaskans to pray that what our troops, our leaders, and our country are doing there is part of God’s plan. Or, as Lincoln said, to pray that we are on God’s side. Many of our past presidents have expressed similar sentiments, and the world didn’t end.

“Exactly how does trashing Sarah Palin—a savvy, self-made woman with whom so many non-elite Americans can identify—advance the feminist agenda? And how far has that agenda advanced these last 40 years? Sexism is still overwhelmingly invisible, misogyny (literally, hatred of women) does not constitute a hate crime, feminists are ridiculed rather than honored, and gender asymmetry is not even on the table. This appalling state of affairs testifies to the depth and comprehensiveness of patriarchy as well as to the limitations of extant feminist strategies.”

Read more.