Is Misogyny the Last Taboo? [View All]

[realFedUp]

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/09/is_misogyny_the_last_taboo/

Is Misogyny the Last Taboo?
By Ruth Rosen - February 9, 2008, 1:07PM

The good news in this campaign is that most Americans, including pundits and political analysts, seem to feel it is socially unacceptable to use overtly racist stereotypes or innuendo against Barack Obama. Though I still believe that racism is pandemic in American society, people appear to keep their beliefs and feelings about the color of Barack Obama's skin to themselves. At least, so far.

Restraint against making sexist comments, by contrast, is not yet apparent. Fortunately, the outcry from both men and women has been loud enough to force Chris Mathews to apologize for implying that Clinton would never be a candidate if her husband hadn't messed around in the White House. I'm also delighted that MSNBC's David Shuster has both apologized and been suspended for asking a guest if Chelsea Clinton was "being pimped out in some weird sort of way" by the Clinton campaign?

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I am among those feminists who supported Obama in the primaries. But I'm also outraged by the way Hillary Clinton has been treated by the media, the pundits, even the candidates. Discussions of her poor taste in clothes, her thick ankles, distorted descriptions of her eyes welling up as "crying," and attacks on her "cackling laughter" have made many women feel they want to support her, if only to get even with everyone who has tried to diminish and sabotage her. I share their anger. Many of us know that we are viewed as a "bitch" when we're strong and as an incompetent when we reveal emotion.

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