Elisabeth Hasselbeck raged against some feminists in the aftermath of Rush Limbaugh's incendiary comments about Sandra Fluke on Monday's "The View," alleging that they do not speak out against misogyny directed towards conservative women.
"View" host Barbara Walters kicked off the morning's "Hot Topics" segment with an editorial by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan, who called for the FCC to take Rush Limbaugh off the air. Steinem, Fonda, and Morgan are co-founders of the Women's Media Center.
Joy Behar weighed in, saying that she had to "respectfully disagree with [her] sisters" on the issue. "I don't think anyone should be fired for free speech," she said. She added that Limbaugh has been responsible for a lot of "hate speech," which she objected to, but ultimately believed that the free market should determine who stays on air.
Hasselbeck took issue with what she believed were the unfair priorities of some feminists.
Referring to Steinem, Fonda and Morgan, Hasselbeck asked, "My question to them is why are they so selective in their feminism and why aren't they burning their bras when a conservative woman is attacked by a man on TV or radio, saying things that are classified as misogynistic?"
Hasselbeck continued, "I have not heard their voices equally raised for women who on the other side of the political aisle."
Behar acknowledged that Hasselbeck had a valid point. "I understand what you're saying," she said, but offered a counter-argument. "They exacerbate the problem because not only do they speak against women and call them sluts..but their policies are against women," Behar said of conservative media personalities like Limbaugh. Referring to feminists standing up for women on the other side of the political aisle, she said, "They do speak but it's not as loud."
"If you claim to be a feminist, be loud for all women," Hasselbeck pressed.
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