Saturday, June 7, 2008

SEXISM THRIVING IN THE SEXIST MEDIA

The Women's Media Center has put out a great video and it is wonderful to watch and listen to all the media guys who think they are not sexist, while being flagrantly sexist. One sound bite is Chris Matthews insisting that the reason Hillary Clinton is a Senator is because her husband 'messed around'. That is not only an insult to this woman who is so far brighter and superior to him in every way, but it is an insult to the NY voters who intelligently voted her in, and then voted her in for another term (when her husband wasn't messing around).

One, intellectually challenged, speaking about Hillary, who by now must be post menopausal, spoke of 'besides the PMS and mood swings'.... Male menopause comes when the skull sucks up hair, letting it come through ears, nose, eyebrows, as 'manhood' weakens elsewhere. Someone should remind these men that there is also a male climacteric and they are in it! They may joke about women's mood swings but fail to see themselves as they become crabby, opinionated, grumpy old men and their butt drops off. (I have yet to see a man over 60 who hasn't lost the curve he used to have behind him, below his waist....or has it now moved up to between his shoulders?) These men remind me of the joke in which the mother is telling her daughter that an older man is like a Christmas tree. The daughter looks confused and asks how that can be. Mother replies, "Well, like the Christmas tree, he is dead at the root and has balls only for decoration."

The church began to push women to the side when one of the old priests decided Mary Magdellan was a prostitute. He spread the word and made it stick (sounds like he was a Karl Rove ancestor). Women were eventually pushed out of the church management as neatly as Bush got rid of the Constitution and job description of the President. I recall spending an Easter in Greece and being taken to a church service in which all women stood on one side of the church while all men sat on the other!

Wait until more women unite and the sisterhood becomes less like sibling rivalry. Then we'll see how these peacocks we refer to as 'men in the media' quack and quickly let their tail feathers down. When this voting period is over, we will be as clear about the poor judgment of our acquaintances and neighbors as we became by those who voted for Bush and were unable to see through him during his perpetual motion campaign for eight years in office. So we will recognize all the women who are so insecure and trodden on by being women that they quickly ran to a handsome man who promised hope. Rather than risk voting for someone who might be as weak as they feel themselves, the sheep followed the Shepherd. What a pity that the Phyllis Schlaflys seem to be a majority still....those who cower around men, the Stepford wives of today. Sadly, the plumbing may make men physically stronger in majority but brains trump it all. Hopefully women will some day learn that they really are equal, not just hope that men will come to believe it. They will also learn that equality does not mean Unisex bathrooms but equality of opportunity...equal pay for equal work and proper respect shown for achievement, not ridicule as we have seen shown Hillary Clinton through this campaign. Luckily for us we believe Barack Obama is a good candidate and that the Democratic party has not been ripped asunder as the self-proclaimed pundits would hope to convince us

The Psychology Department published an ambivalency test you can take. Try it if you care or dare.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah, but is it not sexism also to dismiss a candidate as "a handsome man who promised hope"?

Are the women such as myself who support Obama "insecure and trodden on by being women" or did we see beyond sex, race and name-recognition to embrace an inspiring man with integrity and vision?

I am frankly surprised that you liken my voting block - one that was characterized by the media as " highly educated women" as sheep.

Hopefully Hillary will support Obama in an enthusiastic way, finally, (did she never learn about being a gracious loser in childhood sports?), her supporters will get over their collective funk and do the right thing.

Yiayia said...

Where did you read I was 'dismissing' Obama in what I said? I was, rather, speaking directly to those women who would prefer a man to a woman because they cannot identify with having a woman as a leader. That does not negate that strong women can't have read something in Obama that spoke to them as potential for being a better President. However, are you not falling into a trap to assume that all women who vote for him are in a single voting block? I was not speaking of the women who are exceptions. I thought I made that clear in my description and profile of the women whom I was addressing. I think many women found a man to whom they could, at last, look up to and respect. This should not be a one-size-fits-all discussion. I am truly sorry if you read this as my meaning all women who vote for Obama are sheep...I will soon be one of those women and I do not consider myself a ewe at all.