The Last Bastion of Acceptable Prejudice or Hey, Can't You Take a Joke?

The media is once again beating its breast and howling its mea culpas after the fact. Only when we were mired in an unprovoked and unwinnable war did the press begin to question its starry-eyed acceptance of the Bush administration's case for invading Iraq. Now that Hillary has finally conceded, the argument about sexism in news coverage begins, and the good news is that this time it isn't too late to do something about it.

Let me get a few things out of the way immediately:

I am and have been from the beginning an Obama supporter.

I think Hillary, whose policies I admire, made egregious errors in her campaign, not the least of which was her inability to keep Bill from stabbing her in the back every chance he got. (Does anyone still believe that this man who is supposed to be the savviest politician of his time really wants another president in the family? If he did, he had a funny way of showing it.)

Criticism of Hillary Clinton is not de facto misogyny.

Though the Clinton campaign fell short, it was canny enough to exploit the media's anti-woman bias for its own ends.

That said, I think the answer to the question of whether sexism colored the coverage of Hillary Clinton's campaign is a resounding yes.

As many commentators have pointed out, sexism is the last acceptable prejudice. What has not been so generally recognized is that the method of expressing misogyny is what makes it acceptable. Ridicule is okay, or hey, guys, I was just kidding.

Take only a few of the examples of anti-Hillary comments being currently replayed:

* "Hillary looked like everyone's first wife standing outside probate court." MSNBC (The first wife joke.)

* "No matter what Hillary says, it still sounds like 'take out the garbage.'" Fox News. (The current wife joke.)

* "Hillary's face of experience is merely the visage of an old bag." Fox News (The only thing worse than an ugly woman is an old woman, or maybe it's the only thing worse than an old woman is an ugly woman.)

It's all elbow-in-the-ribs stuff, and it's not news to any woman. A century ago, Margaret Sanger started her heroic battle to make the dissemination of birth control information legal to women as well as men. (Men could get condoms "for the prevention of disease." Women did not have the same right to health.) When the U.S. Post Office barred her magazine, Woman Rebel, from the mails, The Sun ran the following headline and first paragraph. "WOMAN REBEL' BARRED FROM MAILS." Too bad. They should be barred from her and spelled differently.

Since Hillary conceded in a tardy but gracious speech, calls have gone out for Obama to give a talk on sexism similar to his sound, stirring and hopeful address on racism. Such a speech would do more than heal the wounds of Clinton supporters. It would send the message that prejudice will not be tolerated, no matter how good the punch line.

Comments

[WorkingClass]

"As many commentators have pointed out, sexism is the last acceptable prejudice". This would be true if you leave out fat people, smokers, gays, Muslims and the big one - white men.

[ptillen]

White men? Hunh?? When are white men the victims of discrimination or prejudice???

[GatorGrrrl]

Great column Ellen. I've been frustrated that the post-race discussion of sexism always seems to turn into another debate about why Hillary lost. That isn't the point. Even if she was an also-ran who never made it past Super Tuesday no commentator should be allowed, as Tucker Carlson joked, to say he involuntarily crosses his legs when she comes on TV. Attack a woman's looks or call her shrill and she can be instantly dismissed. I was no Hillary fan either, but I wanted her to be challenged on her merits, not her looks or voice.

[meltingpot101]

When you are a minority of any kind and are given an opportunity, even if you earned this opportunity becouse of your hard work and determination...you must never lose sight of the awesome responsibility that comes with opportunity.

As you pave the way and trailblaze the ultimate duty to not fall into the sterotypical identities is huge. It is bigger than any one individual. The ambition and acceptance of the future dances to the tone set by those that pave the way.

Obama never really lost site of this.

When Hillary realized this, sadly it was too late.

[amazingdays]

My frustration is that at times, it seems that all comments about personal appearance and affect are considered sexist if directed at a female politician. And yet those are crucial factors that nobody should be scared to comment on, about any candidate.

Look at the night that Obama became the nominee and McCain made the mistake of giving a speech as well. Because both nominees were men, commentators felt free to point out (accurately) that the difference in personal impression was a gaping chasm. McCain was a terrible performer; he grimaced in a fake and creepy smile; his delivery was halting; the green backdrop was extremely unflattering; and so on. Obama was the mirror opposite. We've all accepted this comparison as an evaluation of the two candidates' relative skills in making a big speech. Even McCain supporters agree.

But imagine if that lime green monster of a speech had been given by Hillary Clinton. All of the same comments, because they related to tone, physical appearance, stage presence, and facial expression, would be instantly viewed as "sexist" and terribly unfair. More likely, the commentators would have been scared to be as frank as they were about McCain and the rest of us would have been left wondering, Was that the worst political speech ever, or is it just me? That kind of self-censorship doesn't serve any of us well.

Oh, and if it affects your opinion of this comment, I suppose I should mention that I'm a woman.

[SMP]

I too am a woman..and totally agree with your statement above. Hillary played her own sexism card... she had several all women townhall meetings in every state. Can you just imagine if Sen Obama had several all black townhall meetings in all states?? He had NONE.

I guess what bothered me the most was the night Sen Obama recieved the nomination­...Hillary was announced before her speech as "The Next President of the United States"...above everything else she pulled trying to win..that was the tackiest. At that point I was truely embarrassed to be a white female. Older one to boot.

As for Obama needing to give a speech on sexism........ NOT.......­.......Hil­lary, first, needs to apologize to the nation and esp the black community for her disingeniousness toward a truely historical night...and then , if she TRUELY, believes there was sexism...then let her give the speech...period.

Frankly, enough is enough about Hillary

[BadCompany]

Did anyone force her to cry?
Would a crying man have won?
One does not get to play that game and then blame it on somebody else.

[Wigelah]

It's not about crying. And, that wasn't even crying. It's about being bashed for everything starting with tone of voice and continuing right down the line even after she has left the race.
If you don't see it, you never will. It's not a game and it never has been.

[blaqntelligence]

I'm curious why you think Obama should give a speech on sexism?

Obama stepped forward and faced the uproar over Rev. Wright with his now-famous Race Speech....
Where was Hillary?

If there was sexism directed at Hillary Clinton, why is a Gender Speech required of Baracl Obama?
Barack Obama must speak on Hillary Clinton's behalf?
She can't speak for herself?

Interesting......

[rosal]

Hillary was saying "We cannot choose our family, but we can choose our pastor" And you are right, now Obama has to speak against the so called "sexism"? She can speak for herself. She was never lost for words.

[pupbayer]

I thought he was the great uniter. Guess not. (Actually, I already knew he wasn't.) Then there are the sexist remarks he made about her but I guess that is OK. It's a double standard and we all know it. The difference between racism and sexism is that sexism is acceptable in our society.

Quit your whining about everything and move on.

[Fabienne]

I have yet to hear anyone who claims Obama made sexist remarks about Senator Clinton cite one. Any sexist remarks about Clinton came from the media, not from the Obama camp.

[ESerafina42]

He has to make the speech because from now on she will not be allowed to open her mouth (without being accused of trying to steal his thunder) unless it's to hail Obama as the Chosen One. And of course, she must be genuflecting as she does so, as well as averting her eyes so she's not blinded by his radiance.

[jmpurser]

First, while sexism is alive and well and certainly colored the public view of Hillary Clinton IMHO "Hillary Clintonism" was a MUCH bigger factor. Her past in Bill's glory days, her current senatorial record, and her campaign did MUCH more damage to her chances to become president than any other "ism" suffered by our society. She was the wrong choice from day one. A non-starter who couldn't believe it.

Second, if you think feminism is "the last bastion of acceptable prejudice" then we differ on the definition of "acceptable" and I think you have no clue about the prejudice fat people face.

[TunnelRat]

Uh, if you haven't noticed, we are winning the war in Iraq. I know what you are thinking -- if we can just hurry and get Obama in the White House, we can abandon Iraq in a humiliating withdrawl and reverse the recent gains there.

And it wasn't the media's sexism that propelled Obama to win over Hillary, it was white guilt and the slobbering commentary of Chris Mathews and Keith Olbermann.

[OriginalScreenName]

Please fill me in on the recent gains.

Constantly moving the goal posts got Hillary nothing. Constantly moving the goalposts gets you nothing too. The surge is not achieving any of the goals it was set out to achieve.

You and the GOP have a serious problem with reality, facts, and truth. Therefore, you have absolutely no ability to lead anyone out of a cardboard box, let alone the entire country. I think the real problem here is that people like yourself and McSame cannot bring themselves the deal with the cold hard reality that 30,000 troops are dead or injured over your lies. So you live in a state of denial.

[ESerafina42]

Uh - funny. I led services last week at my congregation and I always read the list of our troops who were killed in the last week. There were 8(!) in the first 5 days of this month. Please tell me again how much better things are over there.

[TXfemmom]

I have to agree. Things were said and done to Hillary Clinton which were blatantly sexist in nature and not a word was said to attack that.

However, if anyone opposed Barack Obama, they were immediately attacked as being racist. I am no racist, and have supported the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has done more to thwart the Klan and white supremacists in the country, but I was called a racist over and over again by Obama supporters because I supported Hillary.

I am sick of double standards. I also am sick of everything being called racism when the other person involved is African-American. That is the opposite of what Martin Luther King, Jr. said should happen, yet we see it all the time when African-Americans are truthfully being judged on their character, and not the color of their skin.

[reliant1]

Then I am sure you are sickened about the Hillary camp originating the myth of the 'whitey' tape?

There is the simple and rather obvious fact, sexism did occur - and what is really yucky is that Fox Spew was the worst and yet she had no problem using them when needed. Good tactics.

The victim of the sexism is guilty of using racism as a political tactic. She knows and has used tactics for decades. Good tactics.

Amazingdays summed it up beautifully. McCain has been shown to be stupid, in need of improved dentition and smiling lessons, unable to choose complimentary colors to use to his advantage and in need of speech lessons and was hammered by everyone - even his own party.

Hillary was shown to be stupid in her campaign managment. Smiles ok, colors ok and speech is ok. Is this sexist? Bad tactics?

Michelle Obama is now the victim of tactics - do you call it sexism or racism...or deserved?

The only 'ism' worth pursuing is humanitarianism.

[Fabienne]

I haven't heard these omnipresent cries of "racism". Where are they coming from? Who is perpetrating them? A few bloggers here and there does not constitute an entire movement.