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Michael Shaw

Michael Shaw

Posted: March 14, 2010 04:57 PM

Reading the Pictures: As HCR Comes Down to Arm-Twisting Finish, Check Out That Sexist Framing of Pelosi

What's Your Reaction:
Pelosi health care goofy.jpg

About to deliver her imprint on the biggest and most controversial piece of legislation of her life, get ready for a steady stream of pictures of Pelosi this week (already started: 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) making her look like an incredible goof. (Not that BagNewsNotes hasn't been pointing this out, by the way, since the two-headed monster won the White House News Photographer Association's "Political Photo of the Year" in '07.)

In this pic, The Speaker is miniaturized; her title is almost completely obscured and sliced; her oversized and disembodied hand, combined with the angle of the drapes, the flags, the ceiling, the reflection in the mirror, and the eagles ringing her head make her seem like she's part of a real carnival; and her bulging eyes make her look like a hysteric, which -- with all the exaggerated expressions and super-close ups already flooding the wire -- is what the distortion is really about.

(photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images. caption: U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during her weekly news conference March 12, 2010 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Pelosi discussed the health care reform legislation with the media.)

 

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02:19 PM on 03/27/2010
Close up photos of men that show expression don't elicit so much scrutiny. Judge her for her how she performs her duties as Speaker! And she looks great, btw.
03:26 AM on 03/16/2010
let's hope that voters will select for brains and experience.( not beauty).
03:24 AM on 03/16/2010
mr. shaw: (doubt you'll post this) judging from the picture you chose and that it takes up as much space as your printed matter, you are appealing to repugnicants, who seem to favor rhetoric over substance. but your point is well taken, there are many ways that the media can slant the "news" as they present it. point of fact: talking about the speaker favoring h.c. reform is not news, and hasn't been for some time.
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05:52 PM on 03/15/2010
You mean she is not goofy? Are we talking about the same woman who used millions of taxpayers money to attend the Global Climate Summit? The same woman who sits behind the Prez and bats her eyelashes continuously? The same woman who cannot string three coherent sentences together? That Pelosi? Yea, right, she isn't goofy.
02:17 PM on 03/15/2010
Or poor little Nancy. People are picking on her. They are sooooo mean.

Bah!! She has faced nothing compared to a whole group of Republican women. You all feel it is okay to smear Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, or Condi Rice, but somehow pat yourself on the back that you are not "sexist". Republicans don't even come close to the hateful things said about those women.
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LMPE
I connect the most dissimilar things
12:14 AM on 03/16/2010
Let's look at the facts:

Sarah Palin made girls pay for their own abortions.

Michelle Bachmann makes up stories about the census getting used against Americans.

Condi Rice helped lie us into a war.

Get what I'm saying?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SmileAndActNice
Utilitarianism, the -ism that works.
01:14 PM on 03/16/2010
Sarah Palin ...

Made it hard to be convicted for raping a poor woman in Wassilla by not permitting the police department to pay for the test to get semen samples and prove rape occurred. This test costs about $1,000.00. If your victim can't get her hands on the money ...

For what other crime are victims expected to pay the lab fees for the investigations? Yeah, that'll be $5.00 for taking fingerprints and running them through the database, $400.00 for doing DNA work on the blood stains that might belong to the attacker ... so you might want to hold off on that till the fingerprints come back, lets see what else ...

Also, she fired the police chief that didn't do this and replaced him with Fannon who was a vocal supporter of the policy and who fought statewide legislation to forbid it on the grounds that the Taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for evidence collection when a rape occurs.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/
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Fannon was quoted as saying. "I just don't want to see any more burden on the taxpayer."
.

Before Palin came to City Hall, the Wasilla Police Department paid for rape kits out of a fund for miscellaneous costs, according to the police chief who preceded Fannon and was fired by Palin. That budget line was cut by more than half during Palin's tenure.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
SmileAndActNice
Utilitarianism, the -ism that works.
01:14 PM on 03/16/2010
I don't need to stoop to cheap shots about their looks. There are plenty of substantive problems with all of them.
03:35 AM on 03/16/2010
hippie: (sure you're not a yuppie?) i don't have to smear apawlin nor bachman. all i need do is state fact about either one of them. i'll leave the smearing to apawlin and bachman. as for ms. rice, i think she was the real "bush's brain". there is nothing the criminals cheney and rove can say to me that i will believe. i also voted for hillary clinton in the presidential primaries. also i have the utmost respect for our, yes, our president, whom i voted for. smear campaigns are a repugnicant tactic. repugnicants hate the truth because it makes them look bad. repugnicants cont. try to change the playing field, ala (no)justice roberts. that's my opinion. but the difference between me and you, is that i know the definition of opinion. repugnicants can't seem to figure that one out yet.
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01:09 PM on 03/15/2010
i dont see whats sexist in these pictures. theyre demeaning, and shes a woman, but that doesnt imply sexism to me. it implies people assume demeaning pictures of women are sexist. it could easily be obama in this picture.
03:38 AM on 03/16/2010
yudkib: the author didnn't use the term sexist, only a repugnicant would try to distract you with that tactic.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Arrech
NY, NY
12:46 PM on 03/15/2010
NANCY ROCKS!

YOU GO, GIRL!
12:08 PM on 03/15/2010
If this 2700 page sellout to the health care industry becomes the Presidents health care legacy it will be the lowest point in political treachery in our country’s history.

Passing this 2700 page bill with tweaking will not lower ever increasing costs nor will it cure the historic sins and unacceptable insurance practices of jacking up premiums, withholding or denying care, bankrupting, and killing patients.

Harsh words about health insurers said by the President will not change the facts that; this bill is a money machine for insurance companies and health care providers, and a financial disaster for consumers, employers, and taxpayers.

This bill was crafted and paid for by the healthcare industry, $600,000,000. reported so far, to yield obscene profits for them while bleeding the life blood out of helpless victims.

Were there illegal payments and deals made to facilitate these unfair schemes?

Real Public Option reforms which would save lives and save as much as a trillion dollars annually have been kept out of the health care debate by the President, Democrats, and Republicans.

Were crimes committed doing this?

If crimes are discovered, when we are able to investigate how our political process sunk so low as to allow this assault upon our families’ health and finances, we must vow to hunt down every perpetrator until each is brought to justice.

These are dastardly crimes against humanity and everyone found guilty should be forever unforgiven and forced to pay harsh consequences for their treachery.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
PunKinPai
Tact is just not saying true stuff. I’ll pass.
12:59 PM on 03/15/2010
What does this (slightly paranoid) rant have to do with the sexist portrayal of Pelosi?
03:40 AM on 03/16/2010
bill: just your opinion. you cite no references, no link to data, no documentation. and as to your opinion, apparently you haven't read the bill, or are just a repugnicant shill trying to CONfidently fool your uninformed targets.
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dfranz
With Liberty and Justice for all
11:33 AM on 03/15/2010
Nancy Pelosi is one of the best House leaders we have ever had. Her problem is being a Democrat and a woman with the mysogenic Republican Party doing their best to paint her as some kind of control freak.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Mister Biggles
10:34 AM on 03/15/2010
The word sexist has come to mean anything anyone perceives as negative about women.

The use of bad pictures to make a political opponent look bad is not new OR sexist.
10:37 AM on 03/15/2010
Well said.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
ESerafina42
Abandoned by wolves, raised by Republicans.
01:10 PM on 03/15/2010
I still remember D'Amato running against Javits for the NY Senate back in the 70s. The photo of Javits was grainy, black and white and probably made him look fifteen years older than his actual age, while of course the one of D'Amato was a perfect, color (probably retouched) studio portrait.
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24hourrifle
A time comes when silence is betrayal
10:20 AM on 03/15/2010
there is enough to complain about in regard to coverage of pelosi-such as the fact that cons. boohoo endlessly about how unfairly sarah palin has been treated,while treating pelosi even worse,w/oreilly as the no.1 offender-however,this story simply doesnt seem to be worth discussing.
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
1088
10:13 AM on 03/15/2010
They hate her because she is good at her job, period!! She is the best person that the President can depends on in Washington. If Pelosi cannot do it, then it cannot be done!!
09:54 AM on 03/15/2010
But it's a photograph. How can photos lie? Duh...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
pecosdog
this sht writes itself
10:26 AM on 03/15/2010
If you take one every second and choose the ones where she has her eyes all manic and her mouth contorted, the photos are lying by omission. You can get such pictures of every politician if you keep the shutters going.
03:42 AM on 03/16/2010
aud: dddduuuuhhhhhh!! yes. lemme' guess, are you implying you favor looks over substance? how do you like apawlin?
08:40 AM on 03/15/2010
how is this news? this has been done for years by media on both sides of the aisle. you're going to fund unflattering pics of dems on right leaning sites and unflattering pics of pubs on left leaning sites. and yes, even on huffpo.
09:09 AM on 03/15/2010
sure pelosi gets things done. i would too if i had the authority to offer "carrots and diamonds" to whomever just to get a vote.....no matter what the american people think. this is not power. this is pure and simple political arrogance. pelosi, reid and crew are destroying our country. they need to be OUTcumbents in 2010.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nevergiveup
10:15 AM on 03/15/2010
Sorry but your guys—the Republicans—had control of Washington for 12 years and they destroyed the Constitution, the economy, brought us an unnecessary war, gave tax cuts to the rich that bankrupted the country, and destroyed our economic future. The Republicans have done nothing to benefit the people of this country, just the rich and Corporate America. I am sick of rich people leaving us with the bill for our democracy. I am sick of corporate welfare.

Your guys lost and have nothing to offer. So get over it.

Pelosi and Reid are going to deliver health care reform the US needs to be competitive in a global economy. While insurance companies continue to make money by denying the care they paid for, and thus killing people, something is horribly wrong and you just don't get it.
03:43 AM on 03/16/2010
maybe it was a slow "news" day for hufpo.
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Mr Universe
Can't stop the signal
08:03 AM on 03/15/2010
In a world of 24/7 scrutiny, it is interesting to see media organizations pick the most unflattering pictures to subliminally drive the narrative. And they claim to be unbiased. Fair and Balanced. pfhp. Whatever.
03:44 AM on 03/16/2010
mr. u: pay attention to who shouts that the loudest.