Nope... Clinton hasn't been facing sexism from the media

[Ava]

NOT AT ALL! *sarcasm*

I'm an Obama supporter, but the sexism in the media towards Clinton has absolutely pissed me off to no end... and then people try to say that there hasn't been sexism towards her in the media.

Check out this video that has some clips of how sexist the media has been towards Clinton. Whether an Obama or Clinton supporter this should piss you off too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcdnlNZg2iM

I'm just another Obama girl fed up with sexism.

[Texas Hill Country]

1. rec. TY

[Ava]

2. thanks

:hi:

[JoFerret]

3. We should ALL nail it

...when we see it.
And without doubt it is blatant.

Sexism serves no one. Just as racism and homophobia serve no-one.
And all of us are all three.

[Adelante]

4. I agree absolutely

Neither sexism nor racism has any place in this campaign.

Editing to add ageism; and I mean in both directions.

[Kitty Herder]

5. Great post! I'm totally with you. I support Obama, but the sexism in the

media towards Hillary is enough to make me scream.

[Swamp Rat]

6. I'm sick of the racism too.

:hi: :hug:





:kick:

[ErinBerin84]

7. good post

I'm an Obama supporter, but sexism in the media pisses me off to no end as well. Can you imagine the Republicans if Hillary and Barack teamed up for a ticket? They (repubs) would say sooo much stupid shit every day, and be so clueless.

[kid a]

8. Good link Ava.

I would like your take (as a young voter) on Bill Clinton's latest remark about young people not knowing better than to support Obama. Just curious?

[Writer]

9. Not a word from Obama.

Not a word from Obama's supporters except the very few here.

Not a word from the public at large.

It's in our hands.

It's time we stood up and said something about this.


Thanks for posting this, Ava.

:hug:

~Writer~

[Lone_Star_Dem]

10. Yep. Sexism is alive and well in in the USA.

That so many people keep excusing what's being said and done in regards to Hillary's gender has been a real eye opener for me.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

18. I do not understand this

It seems so many have just "discovered" that misogyny exists when Hillary became a candidate. Where have you been? How is it that you have not noticed it up until now? And why is it that posts bashing other women (the Obama Girl and Spitzer's prostitute for example) are not only okay with most Clinton supporters, but will often have a few of them joining in on the bashing?

I have been one of very few members of DU to call out the rampant objectification and hatred of women that takes place in this supposedly "progressive" community on a daily basis. And for that I've been flamed and scorned. The Feminists Group was started just to give us a haven from the assholes.

I sincerely hope you Feminists for Hillary wake up realize that feminism does not begin and end with the travails of one elite and incredibly privileged white woman in her attempts to get elected to the Presidency. If you had your eyes opened by people excusing what was done to Hillary, then that means your eyes were closed when it was happening to other women.

[Writer]

27. Here's my feminist journey...

I'm 32. When I grew up (my earliest memories in the 1980's), I believed that we had "gotten over" the notion that women could not work. I could, I believed, aspire to whatever goal I worked for, and I pushed for it as a school girl, into college, then into my first job in television.

Then I encountered a situation that I would only describe, in a word, as "trying." The interesting thing is, that as the sexual harassment was occurring, I was in denial of what it was. I never was educated about what sexism in the workplace looked like (but I knew like hell what racism looked like) or how it manifested itself. But there it was. I remember telling myself, I suppose as a way to assuage my anger under the veil of intellectualism, that "Wow, this is how it works, huh? Fascinating!"

Then I began to notice other small behaviors. Like my male boss at my next job who assigned my male coworker a research project while he asked me to make copies. So I got up and made them, you know, because I'm not supposed to be a victim, right? He swung by later and asked for them. I handed them to him but let him know that "it was very difficult, but I made it through."

Watching Hillary Clinton run for this is a rehash of my, and I can only surmise as other women's, experiences. The comments about her are disgusting, but because we women have talked ourselves into a state of denial, adopting feminist forms that are acceptable in the male framework (Sex and the City, anyone?) that we deny ourselves true equality in public life.

I'm sick of hearing about Hillary Clinton's personal qualities as a reason not to vote for her. It's a cop-out. How many men have we elected who have acted as she has, but worse? How many men lie everyday in public life and in the workplace, while a woman who lies gets fired or not elected? How many men make mistakes in their work but it's passed off as an everyday occurrence, while a woman gets reprimanded or written up? How easy it is for us to point out her mistakes in this campaign when she never has stood on an equal playing field with her male counterparts!

I've read many comments on how she hasn't been gracious. I suppose that she's supposed to graciously step aside from running, like a blushing Southern Bell who has realized her social error, to let Obama have the nomination by default. Gracious, huh. If that's gracious, then I sure as hell hope Hillary Clinton is the most graceless female candidate of all - and that she keeps running.

~Writer~

[ErinBerin84]

32. This is just me personally...

but I would be just as pissed off at Hillary Clinton if she were a male. I'm not saying that is the case for everyone, but male candidates' tactics have turned me off to them in the past as well. Though the media may treat Hillary differently for this than they would a male, but it may also just be because she is a Clinton (not that that neccessarily makes it any better, don't get me wrong). This also doesn't diminish the fact that the media has been sexist towards Hillary.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

56. You don't realize how high the glass ceiling is until you get out of college and into a workplace.

Colleges are usually places where women and men are on equal footing and then all of a sudden when you get out into the real world - it's shocking.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

62. I would have totally agreed with you re: Clinton not dropping out until she went full on Rove

That's just unacceptable to me and I really don't think I'd think any differently were she a man. She would redeem herself with me if she got rid of all those DLC idiot advisers who are telling her to do that stuff. I'm watching her in the debate right now, trying her hardest to smear Obama because he served on a board with a former member of the Weather Underground.

That said, I get what you're saying about the double standards for candidates. No male candidate gets his clothing, hair style, body, and facial expressions nitpicked like Hillary has.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

49. I've know of and dealt with sexism for the majority of my 40 year life.

My mother was active in the feminists movement in the '60's, and I was raised with an awareness of the issue. I'm not new to it, nor am I just discovering it. I've lived my life actively being a role model against misogyny and teaching young people to recognize sexism when they see it.

I'm not a Feminist for Hillary. I'm a woman who who supports equality. I believe that this is a good opportunity to get more people to notice and begin speaking out against gender bias.

[redqueen]

51. "a good opportunity to get more people to notice and begin speaking out against gender bias"

Thank you!

I agree with you completely on this.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

61. Every day is a good opportunity to speak out against it.

There's nothing special about this one.

[Eric Condon]

57. "feminism does not begin and end with the travails of one elite and incredibly privileged white

woman in her attempts to get elected to the Presidency."

I could not possibly have said that any better myself.

Hillary's candidacy is NOT the "culmination" of feminism. Where were these "feminists" when Carol Moseley Braun ran in 2004? Did ANY feminists take up her cause and portray her as "Everywoman" because she happened to be a woman running for president? And don't give me the line that Hillary is the first "viable" candidate - if these Feminists for Hillary cared as much about having a female president as they say they do, they could've formed a pretty decent base for Moseley Braun. But no. Not a word.

Like any decent, rational-thinking person, I find sexism despicable in all its forms. What's sad, though, is that the nature of these boards is such that I feel like I have to go out of my way to reaffirm that just because I don't support Hillary Clinton.

And if I hear ONE more person even begin to insinuate that Olbermann is "sexist," I'm going to scream. Yes, pea-brained Faux News reporters spew sexist crap all the time, but I don't expect anything different from them. Yes, sexism exists, and yes, isolated incidents like Faux News and those "iron my shirts" morons do indeed bring sexism into this campaign, but don't lump KO in with those jackasses just because he happens to speak the truth that Hillary is running a campaign right out of the Rove playbook, using RW talking points and alienating all but the corporate DLC elite.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

11. There is sexism in the media toward all women

You are nothing if you are not young, slim, Caucasian (or a reasonable facsimile), sexy, and/or deferential to men. Even if you are the aforementioned, you're still a worthless b*tch but we'll at least smile at you and let you be a decoration. Of course the media is unfair to Clinton. They don't know any other way to be.

But Obama won't escape because he's a man. Just wait until the General. The MSM will go to extraordinary lengths to "feminize" Obama, so as to contrast him with gruff manly war hero McInsane. Plus he's black so the subtle and overt racism will be flying.

[Writer]

12. Actually I have been thinking that same thing.

I worry a little that the GOP will make thin, young Obama seem somehow weak. I don't think it will work, but I'm sure they'll try.

[ErinBerin84]

19. that's true

It reminds me of Dowd's "He doesn't eat chocolate" article, and Joe Scarborough making fun of his "girly bowling". Also reminds me of Edwards' "expensive haircut" non-scandal.

[LisaM]

13. A Republican analyst the other day on Meet the Press

Said that half the country thinks that Hillary rides around on a broom.

I saw NO follow up on that, nobody on the panel said a word, and Tim Russert didn't even raise an eyebrow.

That's how pervasive it is. What if he'd said half the country thought Obama had horns, a spiked tail, and carried a red pitchfork? The outcry would have been enormous and swift.

[Writer]

14. Where are the women who will speak up about this?

[ErinBerin84]

17. ewwww

Was it Mary Matalin?

[LisaM]

20. She was there, but it wasn't her, it was the other guy

I can't remember his name. It was Mary Matalin, three men (including Carville), and Tim Russert. Hillary didn't have much of a chance with any of them except Carville and even he didn't say anything about that remark.

[ErinBerin84]

23. Sorry, I misread

For some reason, I first read that as "Republican woman analyst", don't ask me why. I think Mary Matalin just popped into my head because I've seen her say equally crude things like that.

[LisaM]

30. She is one of those people who seem to actively work against the goals I belive in

I wonder if she's ever worked for a woman candidate? It's hard enough to make progress without being actively underminded by people like Phyllis Schlafly and Mary Matalin and Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter on top of it.

[kiva]

15. K&R

Thanks for a reminder that, with the exception of a few posters, DU is a place where sexism, racism (and other -isms I'm forgetting at the moment) aren't welcome, no matter which candidate you support. The other evening I ran into a couple of particularly nasty bits of "we don't like X because she's fat/old/ugly," so thank you for helping to rinse that nasty taste from my mouth.

Edit to make it clear I'm not accusing supporters of either candidate of either -ism--personally I'm convinced that those engaging in this bigotry don't really support the principles of either candidate.

[Straight Shooter]

16. I hope for your sake the sexism is ground to dust by the time you run for President, Ava.

I can't wait to mark my ballot in that election. :D

[redqueen]

21. The media is overwhelmingly sexist towards all women and men, not just Hillary.

If her candidacy helped people realize that yes, it's still actually a problem... then that's the bright side.

[Hugabear]

22. I honestly don't see what was sexist about KO

I'll grant that most of what was in that videoclip was sexist bullshit. But then again, most of that was taken from FAUX News, so hardly a big surprise there. And Glenn Beck, well I don't think it' a big shock that he's a sexist, racist, bigoted asshole.

But KO? Looked to me like he was simply going after Hillary, I didn't notice any overtly sexist statements from him.

[ProSense]

24. Hillary is losing because of sexism.

The media is sexist, racist and anti-Democratic.

Edwards supporters say they ignored him, costing him a victory. Stringing together a bunch of comments, some legitimate criticism, doesn't mean that the media is anymore sexist toward Hillary than any other woman. Look at the crap they threw at Pelosi.

Remember when Ed Rendell lauded racist, sexist Fox Noise? Yeah, the video starts off with KO criticizing Hillary and then goes into the assholes from Fox. I think it's just another attempt to paint Hillary as a victim, when the victims are women, blacks, the poor, gays, etc.

[ErinBerin84]

25. yeah, I agree that sexism is not the reason for her losing

I have to agree about the KO thing. Obviously Chris Matthews has said sexist things, but...I've never heard anything from KO that I took as sexism, and KO went after Ed Rendell for the Fox thing, and brought up all the sexist things that Fox has said about Hillary.

[redqueen]

31. Yeah... I'd like to see an explanation about what he said that was sexist. (nt)

[Ava]

35. i didn't make the video

the comments after olbermann are the ones that are most repulsing to me. i've quit watching countdown though.. i can tell you that. it seems every night is now devoted to clinton bashing. then again i've quite watching a lot of the news programs i used to watch in the afternoons because of that and because i'm just about sick of the in party petty fighting and each side calling for the other to drop out of the race.

[redqueen]

38. Oh I know you didn't...

heh... or I would have asked you! :)

And yeah, the ones from FOX are actually sexist. No surprises there.

[Ava]

44. the ones from cnn and msnbc are too

sexism doesn't just exist on fox. while i think those comments of olbermann's weren't "appalling" the rest of the video highlighted just a few of the many comments about clinton that have been.

this isn't about clinton vs. obama or even liking clinton... it is about sexism being wrong no matter who it is directed towards or directed from.

[redqueen]

47. I didn't watch the whole thing. This is not news to me.

I know that the media is overwhelmingly sexist towards both sexes and has been for as long as it's been around.

I agree that sexism is wrong. I also think that it's silly to call some things sexism when they really aren't, and that's what's happening lately. Yesterday there was a thread opining that she was like the "crazy old aunt" in the attic... and people jumped all over the opportunity to cry "SEXISM!"

Now I'm sorry, but that exact term was used against Rev. Wright (only it was "crazy uncle" of course) and nobody batted an eye. People who cry "sexism!" when it's actually not sexism do nothing but hurt the cause.

[sandnsea]

26. I'm a 50 year old woman

I think Hillary stayed married to Bill to run on his name. I think her NH tears were phony as hell. I think she has lied her way through this entire campaign. I think she tried to disenfranchise student voters in IA and service workers in NV and caucus goers in TX. I think they absolutely used race throughout the campaign and never really removed anybody for doing it. I think she has gotten numerous media people in trouble when she has done nothing about the right wingers who have done far worse. I think she is absolutely a monster. I hate her policies and her scorched earth politics. Has nothing to do with gender, I just don't like liars and she is one of the biggest liars in the Dem Party.

Some day she will cross a line with you too, and then you will see that the media has not gone after her because she is a woman - but because she is wrong.

[Arrowhead2k1]

28. Here Here.

Finally some sense in this thread.

[Ava]

33. she has crossed lines with me

i'm an obama supporter.. i just get pissed off at sexism no matter who it is towards or from.

[sandnsea]

36. It's truth, not sexism n/t

[Ava]

42. oh yeah

terms like "it cries", attacks on her femininity, saying things like "men won't vote for hillary clinton because she reminds them of their nagging wives," "and when hillary speaks men hear 'take out the garbage'", and many many more disgusting quotes shown in that video aren't sexist at all.
:sarcasm:

[ProSense]

45. Hillary claimed Hispanics wouldn't vote for Obama, and recently that

Americans will not vote for a black man.

Sexism is despicable, but then again, so is Hillary.

[redqueen]

50. What's "truth", sandnsea?

You're going to have to be specific...

[Cameron27]

29. It's nice to see this kind of post from an Obama supporter,

and I mean that. Sexism goes beyond primary politics, it's an "ism" that generally either gets ridiculed or ignored.

K&R

[redqueen]

34. Also this OP would be stronger if it didn't have that giant strawman...

I don't think anyone *here* has ever said that she hasn't been facing sexism from the media. The argument (it seems to me) is over how much said sexism is responsible for her failing campaign.

Just sayin.

[Ava]

37. i've seen many people here say that

clinton is "crying sexism" over things that in their opinions aren't sexist.

also, i said "people" meaning people in general.. not just DU'ers.

[redqueen]

40. Well I've somehow missed that.

I've seen people saying that things her supporters here are calling sexist aren't actually sexist... but I haven't seen anyone just flatly denying that it's been used against her in the media.

As for people in general... well... I wonder how long ago they decided that no, Iraq actually didn't have a connection to 9/11. And that's all I'll say about that in this thread.

[Ava]

43. this isn't about the iraq war

this is about sexism... i don't care WHO sexism is directed at... it is always wrong. you don't have to agree with or even like clinton to dislike the sexism she's faced.

also... just one example(on this thread) - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x5529325#5530190

[redqueen]

46. I was only saying that lots of people are... less than observant.

If anyone would like to read more meaning into that comment about Iraq, they are free to do so. It's a message board, and isn't strictly bound by rules of what can and can't be discussed in whatever thread.

As for that example... where's the context? What was she saying was truth? The claim that Hillary rides around on a broom? Ludicrous. I'd have to know what that person was claiming was 'truth' in order to label that comment as sexist. What do you think she was referring to, to have so confidently labeled it as sexism?

[Writer]

54. I keep coming back to this question when I read your posts:

What does sexism look like to you?

[redqueen]

55. That's a big question.

Here's a nutshell answer, regarding sexism against females:

http://xkcd.com/385/

It's so pervasive... cleaning product ads are aimed almost exclusively at women... men on tv are often portrayed as helpless creatures that need women to 'mother' them... girls are told which toys / clothes / accessories are "acceptable" for them to like... female public figures are criticized for their appearance *exponentially* more often than males are (I think I used that word wrong, but I hope you get my point)... although that is changing, men are increasingly targets of criticism for their appearance too... though it is not changing the way I would like it to see it change... I'd rather people stopped considering such superficial BS so important.


As for men... it's when boys are told they can't like certain colors... or they are labeled as "gay" when they say they care about animal rights, womens' rights, or basically just a whole truckload of issues that for whatever asinine reason, are considered not "macho" enough to warrant attention from anyone with a penis. It's when they're mocked for doing anything that society wants to label "feminine" (e.g. showing emotion).


This is all just off the top of my head... I'm sure I'm leaving lots of things out... but I hope this suffices...

[Writer]

41. All "behaviors" aside, do you think that Hillary Clinton is on a level playing field with Obama?

[redqueen]

48. No.

They both have advantages and disadvantages.

And no I do not agree that she has more disadvantages just because she's a woman.

[emilyg]

39. Thank you.

[cooolandrew]

52. I think Randi used the wrong phrasing I disagree with the word, but she ain't sexist.

Randi once fully supported Sen. Clinton till she learned more.

[SeaLyons]

53. Thank you for posting....

Being a Hillary supporter, you can imagine it's REALLY difficult to watch on a daily basis.

It truly pisses me off, and I wish we could do something to end sexism in the media.

To a Dem winning in November!

:toast:

[Rageneau]

58. How can anyone watch this video and not admire this woman?

This video shows the real Hillary. And it also shows how hard a cadre of rich white men have been trying to insult her out of existence.

Largely, because she's one of them uppity women.

[moriah]

59. I liked the video, but....

... the "Special Comment" excerpts did not have sexist overtones IMHO. They could have left those out.

Although I really do like "Bitch" as Hillary's theme song. It's been my theme song a few times myself.

[VotesForWomen]

60. thank you. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

63. It's not just the media, it's also the netroots.

Hillary: I have 35 years of relevant experience

Netroots: 35 years? Ha! You can't count the time you spent selecting the White House napkins as relevant experience.

Hillary: I've long been a critic of NAFTA.

Netroots: The Clintons are the ones who created NAFTA!

It is reasonable to ask what people are talking about when they seamlessly shift from "the Clintons" presidency to disparaging her contributions as first lady. Either they were co-presidents or they were not.

She's not an ambulatory rib. She is her own person with her own views and goals. The policy (for better or worse) during Bill Clinton's presidency were the policies of Bill. She worked for that administration promoting the chief executive's goals. This is relevant experience, but it's not reasonable to blame her for what Bill did or for his policy.

In fairness, it's also not reasonable to give her disproportionate credit with his successful policy, such as being the first president in my lifetime to balance the federal budget.