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A Few Thoughts on Media Sexism and Conservative Women
I've got a few things to say on the latest "controversy" getting everyone all fired up:
1. Listen, supposedly progressive men (ok, and women, too): Cut the crap! Stop degrading women with whom you disagree and/or don't like by using female body terms or other gender-associated slurs. OK? Can you do that, please? If you think someone's an idiot or a danger to the country, feel free to say so, but try to keep their sex out of it. Sexist insults have an impact on all women.
2. We're on to you, right-wingers:
a. You're trying to take up our time getting us to defend your friend Sarah Palin. If you keep us busy defending her, we have less time to defend women's bodies from the onslaught of reproductive rights attacks and other threats to our freedom, safety, livelihood, etc. Sorry, but we can't defend Palin or even Hillary Clinton from every sexist insult hurled at them in the media. That task would be impossible, and it would consume us. You know this would not be a productive way to fight for women's equal rights, which is why you want us stuck in this morass.
b. As usual, you're looking for any way to discredit NOW. You claim we care and work only for liberal woman, but that's a LIE. We have defended Sarah Palin and other conservative women from sexist attacks. Maybe not on your schedule, but we've done so. And by the way, all those laws we advocate for -- we don't ask that they include a clause saying only certified liberal women can benefit from them. Conservative women benefit from them, too! Just because we don't open up a Palin wing on the NOW website doesn't mean we don't think that every single woman -- right, left and in-between -- deserves equal pay, full reproductive rights, justice in the courts, etc. So knock off the facetious whining that right-wing women are not represented by NOW's work.
c. Prior to the emergence of Palin on the national scene: Where the heck were you when Hillary and Nancy Pelosi and other women were being demeaned in sexist ways? Did you speak up once on behalf of a woman politician before you learned the name Sarah Palin? Did you work toward equality for women in any way prior to August 2008? It would be nice to think that you've suddenly discovered sexism and are interested in joining us in the struggle for full equality. But this really smacks of the worst kind of hypocrisy: Folks with no history of working on an issue trying to discredit those who have been working for decades on the issue. Ridiculous.
That's all I have to say on the matter. Now, back to business.
The whole of your "Few Thoughts" is complete nonsense. You won't even state what the latest "controversy" is because it shows how selective you are when it comes to defending all women.
I thought I was a NOW brand feminist until I had children and then I realized you were not for women at all, you were very much against them. You are Bill Maher-type misogynists' best friends with your victimization of women through the guise of reproductive rights.
You guilt and shame women into voting Democrat for the rest of their lives out of the fear of being called hypocrites by the bully sisterhood at NOW.
No need to try to discredit you, you discredit yourselves...
I think all female politicians would benefit if feminist groups stop thrusting them in the role of victim just because of a stupid remark made by a comedian or journalist. You make these women look weak.
Point being, hypocrisy runs deep with NOW. When liberal politicians, such as Bill Clinton, demean women, NOW is strangley silent. Oftentimes objectivity is clouded by ideology. -Patsy
It's true that sexism runs deep in our society, but some of the claims made in this article are so vague that I find it hard to believe them.
@notasexistman: I was not saying you or others are too dumb, just that you don't really want to hear any evidence that contradicts your opinion of NOW. If you truly have an open mind, then it's not necessarily a waste of my time to hunt down links and answer your questions. But if you're just playing a game of gotcha, then it really isn't a good use of my time. I have plenty of guts, but not a lot of time!
Why hasn't NOW condemned Joe Biden for using rape as an analogy when describing the GOP's fiscal ideology????
You may not want to answer, but I just wonder- how old are you?
A professional would handle the issue much differently. Perhaps you are young and not yet skilled in how to handle the media? If you were, you would speak (and be interviewed) by every media outlet and be able to handle yourself and your organization accordingly.
And, I was just wondering: how much federal funding does NOW receive? Yes, I could look it up, but since it's your "professional" obligation to know, could you post it, please?
I’m an Independent voter and have voted for different parties in the past, but I am a woman who would defend any woman regardless of her political affiliation-so I am stunned at this ridiculous response by your director.
What Bill Maher said was beyond repulsive and dirty street talk of the lowest form. The director’s lack of insight and inability to defend ANY woman from this public, blatantly sexist talk is an indication of how partisan your organization has become and therefore, in my opinion, soon to be irrelevant.
Seriously, I can no longer consider you a champion for ALL women’s causes only liberal women.. Sign me, A Former NOW supporter
and then here you put the word "controversy" in quotes, as if only certain people think calling a woman a "dumb twat" is controversial. you could have at least repeated maher's line so people would know how outrageous his language is/was.
and your comment stating, "I said all I had to say. If it doesn't make sense to you, it never will," is probably the most arrogant and unprofessional verbiage i have ever seen used by a so-called communications director.
I have no opinion of NOW, only of this article. It just seems to me that you're unfairly turning Bill Maher's sexist comment against the right-wing for no apparent reason.
I understand that members of the media are calling out your organization for not releasing a statement about this, but can you really blame them? What Maher said is sexism at it's worst. It seems as though that's the sort of thing NOW would be against. One thing that I know for sure is that the Bill Maher situation is in no way a republican tactic to try to get your attention drawn away from other issues, just a comedian getting too carried away trying to be funny and ending up saying something bigoted.
You say we on the right are hypocrites re Hillary Clinton, but find me someone who called her a "stupid tw*t." Those on the right were the only ones willing to stand up for her when her husband constantly put her to shame in front of the whole world. We thought there should be consequences for his misogyny to his wife and women in his employ; you didn't.
And how ironic to write four paragraphs saying you don't have time to write one sentence.
Granted, there is a lot for NOW to be busy about. For instance, I just read about a 14-year-old girl who ran away from home because her Pakistani step-father was going to sell her to his brother in Pakistan for $3,000. I'm sure you're on top of that, right? (Sound of crickets chirping.) Of course not, the girl had the gall to be victimized by Muslims so there won't be a peep from NOW.
But reading your blog, it seems you have oodles of time to write about nonexistent "Islamaphobia" and cheer on the union thugs in Wisconsin (who made threats to a woman blogger for reporting on them.)
http://www.now.org/issues/media/hall-of-shame/index.php/objectification-of-women/want-to-insult-a-powerful-woman-call-her-a-prostitute
well, one says to "Take Action" and one says "back to business." One seeks to criticize someone for their words, the other seeks to criticize someone who criticizes someone for their words. Words just as degrading. credibility is maintained when you agree that the boy who cried wolf was right the last time. Always agree with the truth, even when the liar speaks it. It's the heart of credibility.
I have learned so much since 2008, and I have learned to see through NOW’s thin veil of supposed support of ALL women. Hell, what have you even been doing to keep Sharia law out of the country? Shame on you NOW, you’re no longer the woman I grew up with. I’m shocked and appalled at the tone and attitude in Lisa’s remarks. You and NOW lack the balls of what an organization for women should be. Shame.
NOW hopes that all the conservatives who are fired up about sexism in the media lately will join us in calling out sexism when it is directed at women who AREN'T professed conservatives.
Palin is going through exactly what Hillary went through during the primaries courtesy of the "Democratic" Party; obviously sanctioned by NOW. I feel for both of them. The progress women made through the decades has been lost.
How about stop fight against the right wing and just fight for equal rights for women!
Which is the greater onslaught? Aren't female fetuses women too, or might they not become women?
comment number 2 is more about showing contempt than reason.
One mild paragraph taking liberals to task followed by three paragraphs of breathless hyperbole and shallow ad Hominem masking as truth? How sad to see what this organization has become. Although, I suspect for many, it was when NOW rejected the idea of Motherhood as a legitimate goal that it jumped the shark.
The right only seems to care about women when one of their "own" is drawing fire. As you say, where is the right in the fight for equal pay, reproductive rights, freedom from sexual violence etc.? Where was the right when young Chelsea Clinton was compared to a dog? I believe in the dignity of ALL women, liberal or conservative, but it's imperative that we don't let the right co-opt what we stand for for their own purposes.
I see you've received a flood of comments from the Fox News crowd. I hope you see this comment and know that many, many young women like myself are cheering at your message and are proud supporters of NOW's mission!
Thank you for your work and for being brave enough to speak the truth!
Your liberal agenda is simply put....DISGUSTING! I will reference the women of NOW when I teach my daughter what exceptional women should NOT behave like!
Your silence was deafening - and very telling!
Where was I:
1) during the 2008 primaries when Hillary was being UNFAIRLY demonized? Sending letters to as many news outlets as I could demanding that the sexist epithets stop - until I found out the whole thing was a machination of the Obama camp.
2) knowing women around the world are being victimized? Working through my church and Concerned Women for America to denouce the actions.
3) when Rush/Beck or (insert liberal demon of the day here) makes a disparaging remark about women (that I hear second hand as I do not listen to these guys) - I'm e-mailing them AND THEIR SPONSORS denouncing such an attack... and reminding them that there are PLENTY of conservative women out there.
Funny - in all the time it took Ms. Bennett to write this diatribe, it would have taken far less time to come out and say "Yes, NOW denounces Bill Maher's disrespect of Sarah Palin and ALL women by using such a disgusting term". That's it - done, over. But no, she had to bring up the VRWC. It cheapens her response. It cheapens NOW. And it further exposes the TRUTH that NOW is not for all women, but only the women THEY (are told to?) support.
(And funny how they are so pro-Islam... last time I heard, Sharia law was not very kind to women...)
To all of the other breathless republicans on the comment board: many of you seem not to have read the article, while the rest of you are responding with such non sequiturs that it's impossible to tell if you read the article or not. Just give it up; YOU JUST GOT TOLD. You can keep whining about this all you want, but no one outside the Fox News echo-chamber is going to take you seriously. It wouldn't have mattered how Ms. Bennett responded, based on the irrationality that's on abundant display on this comment board.
Why do you think this is a conspiracy and that right wingers are out to get NOW? I'm not a right winger and Sarah Palin is not my friend. She is just a woman who is being sexually degraded. I didn't like it when it happened to Hillary and I don't like it now. Sorry you had to take time out of your busy day and defend a woman like this. Can YOU cut the crap??
To Conservative Diva: actually, the majority of women vote Democrat (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2006/pages/results/states/US/H/00/epolls.0.html). Even in 2010, more women voted Democrat than Republican: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/04/exit-polls-republicans-set-record-numbers/
Nice try rationalhatter.
ABC ... the quintessential leftoid media center has these numbers..
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vote-2010-elections-results-midterm-exit-poll-analysis/story?id=12003775
So.. I guess you could say.. it's the inexperienced and the hot heads that vote Dem. It's the calm cool heads that vote Repub.
To those commenters who seem to be upset with our name even with that explanation, I urge you to take a step over to FreedomWorks and ask why they are not opposing an all-out assault on reproductive freedom, including "The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" which would increase taxes for millions of families and businesses and grow the IRS to conduct abortion audits on private dollars spent for private medical care. You can find FreedomWorks at: http://www.freedomworks.org/
Sorry, I’m not buying the sudden contriteness by NOW. They would love every conservative female slammed no matter what is said about them. They are only doing this because they have gotten a bad rap in the past for giving flaming liberals like Maher a pass when it comes to insulting women.
I’m part of that! Thanks for the link, stone angel. Progressives can’t fathom that some Democrats actually think for themselves and don’t blindly follow the Faux President who was helped along by voter fraud in the primaries and the general election. I’m sad that my Party was hi-jacked by the American Idol crowd. Sadder still that Maher is given a free pass. Perhaps some consider him to be what a feminist 'looks like' these days.
Sadly, (and sometimes embarrsed) i say this as a Dem. and for the most part Liberal. I guess all good things DO come to an end.
WHAT?? Who the heck are you sister? You are not my sister I can tell you that for sure.
I am SHOCKED at the so called women in this organization called NOW. I think it is really a political organization with your own agenda, you don't care about women in general, just those women who agree with you.
NOW was NOT started to be a political engine in which to stand up against women who do not share your views.
SHAME ON YOU WOMEN.
When you stop being a political engine and start caring about women of all races, ages, political agendas, handicap women, women who believe in marriage and do not believe abortion is okay. We are ALL women, not just YOU so called women of NOW. We can all agree to disagree about our beliefs but to set out and try to discredit or destroy them for their beliefs is down right stupid and DUMB.
NOW NEEDS TO BE RENAMED TO DUMB AND DUMBER....
You have LOST YOUR WAY. Go home and start over, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, have I been fair to ALL WOMEN?? Have I been influenced by this NOW organization speakers or what ever they are into thinking their way only? Doesn't all women have a right or is it just the women who agree with NOW?
HIDING BEHIND NOW, WHAT A BUNCH OF LOSERS. STAND UP AND DO WHAT NOW WAS SUPPOSE TO DO, WOMEN HELPING WOMEN, NOT WOMEN HELPING ONLY WOMEN THAT AGREE WITH THEIR POLITICAL AGENDAS. THAT IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN, THAT IS AN ORGANIZATION FOR A CERTAIN TYPE OF WOMEN, NOT ALL WOMEN.
wake up ladies, I use the word ladies lightly because everything I have read on this post is not very lady like. It is radical sisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have suggestions.
Smart, I like it.
On the other hand, you could have looked much better had you said, We disagree with many of Ms. Palin's views however we have a comon interest we wish to be strong independant women who think for ourselves, and WE as women demand an appology from a sexist lowbrow troll like Bill Maher for using such degrading remarks for us as a gender.
By the way, you just made yourselves look like weak little girls by posting such dribble.
"...This is the lamest thing I've heard in awhile. Sure, he insulted her, but sexism? Nope. He merely used a female descriptor, as he was talking about a female. He called her a "dumb tw*t." If Ann Coulter called Obama a "stupid dick," would she be guilty of "man-bashing?" Of course not. People need to stop overreaching in order to discredit others, as it only serves to achieve the opposite affect."
What offends me most is NOW's selective outrage that seems to surface only when the "victim" is a liberal, or as importantly, when the "victimizer" is a conservative.
So at least for me, NOW's claim that those on the right finally care about "women's issues" because conservative women are now being attacked falls on deaf ears.
NOW, I don't need you to "speak" for me as a woman, or on my behalf -- I can speak for, and defend myself, thanks.
Absolutely! Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman to the US Supreme Court - Sandra Day O'Connor (did you forget that because she was viewed as conservative?). Pres. Reagan also established the "Fifty States Project" in which he worked to eradicate sexism in federal and state statutes.
George H.W. Bush appointed the first woman Surgeon General - Antonia Coello Novello.
George W. Bush appointed the first woman National Security Advisor--and second woman Secretary of State.
These are but a few.
1. Maher did not call "all women" anything.
2. Maher was correct: SARAH PALIN IS A STUPID TWAT!
WHY ?
I am a male, I call some men (that I am not fond of) "pricks," "dicks" or a "dickhead." There are other names also that are body part based, "asshole" being the least of them.
I THOUGHT the point of the womens' movement was for equality, to remove differences based on gender? Now that some people are doing just that, it's not correct any longer?
NOW stands for complete equality and justice for women in every aspect of life - the definition of feminism. While feminists include men who share this conviction, just because a person is female by no stretch means that she is a feminist. Millenia of patriarchal dominance and brainwashing result in the phenomenon expressed so brilliantly by Harriet Tubman: "I'd have freed more people if they had known they were slaves."
Feminism is a global reality, not simply something that just exists in the United States and revolves around the two controlling political parties. While both parties ensure the continuation of the plutocracy that exists in the U.S. with corporate, Wall Street, and military-industrial complex control, there is simply no comparision between the two in regard to supporting true equality for women.
Where are the conservatives who have striven for equal pay, for lesbian rights, for an end to the feminization of poverty, for an end to constant U.S. war-making that primarily victimizes women & children? Where are the conservatives leading the charge to end violence against women in all its myriad forms? Who are the conservatives who have spoken out against pervasive sexual assault and domestic violence? Can you name one conservative who has advocated for global feminism?
The lame comments put forth here would be laughable for their ignorance if their effects were not so tragic.
In case you didn't hear, Bill has now called Sarah Palin a cunt… Why shouldn’t he really, NOW gave a half-assed response which included more of an attack on right-wingers than it did on Bill Maher. Pathetic, truly pathetic.
Please come clean on your real agenda and you MUST change your name because you are no friend to ALL women, certainly not a single conservative woman.
NOLF National organization for Liberal Females or NOLW
A truly liberated woman is one who knows her GOD, knows herself, can stand up for herself and can distinguish between the steaming pile of fresh manure Lisa Bennett serves up vs the always appealing TRUTH!
To have a respectful debate, one talks about the issues. One does not attack the character of the person who is on the other side of the argument. The key word here is respect and another is civil.
Still waiting for Concerned Women of America or whatever group allegedly represents all conservative feminists to issue a condemnation of Erick Erickson's and Rush Limbaugh's statements about nagging, hen-pecking, backseat driver women in Obama's cabinet. Or those VPILF buttons and t-shirts from 2008.
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