When is sexism acceptable? The answer should be never. Yet for many feminists in our country, only certain types of women have been worth defending. When a conservative woman is the target of an attack, many so-called feminists stay silent. This "selective sexism", or speaking out against sexism on a case by case basis, does not advance our national dialogue on women's issues. Rather, selective sexism allows a dangerous level of permissible sexism to live and breed in our country. The only way for the women of this country to truly move forward is to unite and speak out against all forms of sexism regardless of party or the source of the attack.
When Playboy publishes a piece titled So Right It's Wrong which is a "hate rape" fantasy of Guy Cambalo targeting ten conservative women, all women (and like-minded men) should be outraged and renounce this immediately. The identity and party affiliation of the 10 women is not of consequence -- this is simply a despicable act.
Or when Ms. California, Carrie Prejean, voices her point of view on gay marriage and then becomes the target of an objectifying sexist rant by Keith Olbermann, where's the outrage? Carrie is entitled to her point of view, and if you don't agree explain why -- don't diminish her opinion by turning her into a sexual object.
Or when Governor Sarah Palin's 14 year-old daughter is the subject of a degrading and humiliating joke by David Letterman, how can we let this be part of our culture? How would any one of us feel if this comment were directed at our daughter? And if Governor Palin were Governor "Sam" Palin, would Letterman dare to make that joke?
Or, on the other side of the spectrum, when Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi is compared to the James Bond villainess "Pussy Galore" in a RNC Video -- is that acceptable? Even if we do not agree with Rep. Pelosi on policy or think she has been a mentor to other women, we should still defend her from a sexist attack. Issues are fair game, sexist treatment should not be.
And frankly our country deserves better. In 2008, we passed a major milestone in electing our country's first African American president. And now suddenly comes an awareness that, yes, our country can take great pride in our advances against racism; but at the same time comes a realization that perhaps we have not yet come so far in our battle against sexism.
But times they are a changing and one can see, that ever so slowly, the country is having some "wait-a-minute-that's-not-right" moments. To realize, yes, we have a come a long way baby - but we still need to travel that last mile. And that last mile is eradicating the roots of sexism and misogyny, deeply buried in darkness, ignorance and bias. And this realization has produced agents of change: new women's groups birthed out of the 2008 election to speak out against sexism such as The New Agenda, WomenCount and Campaign for Gender Equality; as well as countless blogs forming an internet presence.
We see the successes of our collective actions. We see how The New Agenda can issue an action alert about the RNC "Pussy Galore" video and have our members write to Michael Steele and within 24 hours, the video is pulled. Or where Twitter and countless blogs condemned the Playboy article and shortly thereafter it disappeared. Because frankly these attackers know better - they are aware that this is not for the good of our country. They just need that gentle nudge of enlightenment.
But with these small victories, we must keep our eye on the prize. The real challenge for our country is to not selective actions, but rather collective action. We need to roll up our sleeves and do some digging together. To get down deep below the surface and work on eradicating those stubborn roots which have been flourishing for decades in the fertile soil of ignorance and hatred.
And we need to do this excavation as a team. All women and like-minded men must band together and unite in this crucial undertaking. We must put aside our political party, and even some issues that are divisive to women. We must instead choose to focus on what unites us, and what unites us is this: we want to make this country better for future generations. We want our daughters and granddaughters to grow up in a country where they are safe and have opportunity. That, we can all agree on.
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Speaking truth to power.
Got it?
What is your definition of "sexism"?
Sexism does not mean saying non-nice things about women, you realize that, right?
It means discrimina
How does that apply to Letterman'
You know, I just realized--
We have other body parts besides the reproducti
It means discrimina
Robert in D.C.
How odd.
Think before you post.
Robert in D.C.
Palin said "the kids" are off limits yet she verbally attacked Levi in public. When he appeared on the Tyra show, Palin called him a liar and an opportunis
Palin has been judge, jury and prosecutio
Palin is an adult and the Gov of Alaksa, yet you are saying that it was appropriat
Where was the public outrage that the Gov of Alaksa was verbally attacking a teenage boy in the media? Maybe Levi should demand a public apology from Palin.
So, the kids are off limits unless Sarah is throwing the darts. I think if you are going to use the word "sexism", you have to remember that it goes both ways.
The Levi excuse is a straw man argument. Firstly, Levi is an adult, he's not underage, he's a teenager, but of the same age when one can vote and fight in a war, he'd be held as an adult for a crime he committed. Palin hasn't been judge, jury or prosecutio
What the Hel*------
No one turned Carrie Prejean into anything--
What a joke.
To be sexist one must be inherently prejudiced against a person's ability based solely on their gender. Saying Sotomayor is not up to being SCOTUS because she is a woman, (or is likely to get PMS, or something to that degree) is sexist. Insinuatin
Furthermor
Although to be fair, unfortunat
It is inspiring to see that those folks are not a majority.
She is still bashing Couric and Gibson for their faulty interviews
She is a whiner.
Robert in D.C.
The author here mentioned that playboy article and *I* find it offensive, as a woman and a feminist, that NOW jumped on Letterman but stayed silent about an article that advocated rape and violence towards a large group of conservati
I have heard this said MANY times, and have asked for and received ZERO examples.
When you accuse someone of something as heinous as advocating rape or violence, you should provide examples.
Based on what he said, I assume he failed to check which daughter was with Palin at the game. I certainly didn't know, and would have automatica
If it was about a 14 yr old, I would not defend that.
I know you Palinista know her every move and which kid is her prop on which days, but the rest of the world....D
There seems to be a new ethic to outrage these days in America.
Dave was talking about the 18 year old and not the 14 year old, BUT that slows down the torch carrying mob, so why let that get in the way....jus
The guy from Playboy talks about hate sex, but that's not inflammato
Nancy Pelosi was called a movie villian, "P*ssy Galore" which, of course, is obviously more sexist than calling Cheney - Darth Vader. Forget about that, it's SEXIST, don't you get it?
Why let facts stand in the way of some good old fashion outrage?
She could have just said she didn't appreciate it, but crying sex-ism or using a loaded term like R A P E just makes her look like the extremist she is, trying desperatel
Umm, YES. Especially if "Sam" Palin was an ardent supporter of abstinence
Obviously you've never watched late night TV. All the hosts have made worse jokes about Elliot Spitzer, A Rod, Madonna, etc. You can't ask us to never tell a naughty joke about someone famous. Geez, develop a thicker hide.
But in the end, what a waste, we have a right wing political hack sucking smart people away from real discussion
HP keeps saying they want out of the wingnut business but here we are giving preachers of hate a platform.
You can censor my comment but I Refuse to allow people who use smearing as a way of attacking Democrats free reign here.
Amy you can attack us evil liberals all you want, but make it substantiv
"Comedians joke around. They make fun. That is what they do and I personally love that they can take almost any topic, serious or not, and make me laugh about it." --- seriously Michelle? Is this what you laugh about? Palin is not talking as ex-VP candidate, pls! She is saying: you cannot talk about a young girl as if she was cheesecake
"Palin, ..is the one needing to apologize to young girls for her and her daughter's example ........ how about "I can see Russia from my house" or "My 16 year old daughter is pregnant".
Wow! Since when did 'I can see Russia from my window" damage anyone? But then Letterman is a comedian and comedians can speak on anything, those wonderful guys, how awesome indeed! What a god he is when compared to Palin 's weak vision of Russia from her window!
Next: "But to.. film an interview while a turkey is being slaughtere
‘Wow’, did you say? What are you?
To save an adult who is crass and vulgar with ugly foot in his uglier mouth, you abuse a young girl!
Yeah, yeah, yeah...the 14 year old was there and the 18 year old wasn't....
The only people who would know that are Palinistas who follow her schedule. The writers wrote a joke, Dave read it and EVERYONE who did NOT have a predisposi
You know, the one whose entire life and career and now about going around talking to kids about how she got KNOCKED UP and how happy she is since she got KNOCKED UP but how ALL of the OTHER kids should try really hard not to get KNOCKED UP. I believe she is also the one who is on the cover of various publicatio
BUT since we are ALL supposed to know Palin's day to day schedule and also we are supposed to keep track of which kid Palin is dragging around as a prop that day (Don't these kids have school....
.