History of Feminism
Related: About this forumSalon can recognize sexist language. DU not so much.....
For the record, I do not think the president is a sexist but his comment certainly was.Salon
By Irin Carmon
Apr 5, 2013
How to talk about a womans looks
The president of the United States fails the test -- again
This is hardly the first time Obama has been smarmily sexist under the guise of paying a compliment. In the same New York magazine story on Christine Quinn in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg was notoriously quoted saying, Look at the ass on her, Obama got a pass for a more politely phrased brand of creepiness. According to the piece, Obama said to a Republican legislator, 32-year-old Nicole Malliotakis, that she didnt look a day over 23. Quinn promptly joked that Malliotakis should become a Democrat, and the president chimed in, Come on, honey! I said youre pretty! I said you look 23!
Yes, women who seem young and are considered pretty by men obtain certain advantages in our society. That doesnt mean that the purportedly progressive president of the United States needs to do his part to enforce all that. (Dont get me started on honey, or sweetie. No, I cant take a fucking compliment.) Yes, people notice and appreciate attractiveness in men and women, which is not incompatible with being smart or successful. But women, above all, are subject to a cant-win calculus in which the desires of men, rather than their objective qualifications, determine how theyre treated for better or worse. It applies wherever women exist in public, even when looks are entirely irrelevant to the issue at hand.
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/05/how_to_talk_about_a_womans_looks/
Seems like the president got an education and took it to heart because he has since apologized.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)And even though I really like him and such, he has grown up in the same sexist culture all of us have and some things will stick unintentionally and he will goof.
I think his apology was sincere and heartfelt for he has shown many times he is not afraid to admit he is wrong - which takes a mature and confident person.
Otoh, I know he has sort of joked about stuff like this with men too, and apparently this woman is a good friend, etc., so the media grabs at it and maybe makes it way bigger than it should be.
OtooH, this is kind of good to have out in the open, that Obama apologizes for something like this and the RW assholes who are ripping women's rights apart apologize to their base that they aren't ripping enough.
The contrast is staggering about 'the wrong done to women'.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)seabeyond
(110,159 posts)but, i agree with all your "otoh's"
Helen Reddy
(998 posts)Just a question though.
What do you believe would have happened if Michelle would have made that observation?
Little Star
(17,055 posts)it would depend on the circumstances. My opinion might also be shaped on if she was a serial repeater. I would also take into account her stature as a public person with more power than the average Joe.
But I don't think the media would have reacted they way they did about the president.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)i will kick ass for you in the areas you hired me for.
just to say it out loud
it was stupid what obama did. all a man thing. that makes him look the fool. and eveyr man that thinks they are being so cool. we have talked about it out loud too many times, to not know what we are looking at. women are in to high of places to not be able to reject it today.
this shit has got to stop