DREAM Act Portal Forum - View Single Post - Sexist coverage of Hillary brings women to her corner

cadman · cadman

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News organizations often publish photos of Hillary Clinton, above, that make her look crazy, while pictures of Barack Obama, left, portray him as cool and reflective.
The Clintons were rightly indignant about MSNBC reporter David Shuster saying they had “pimped out” 27-year-old Chelsea by helping her campaign and calling Democratic superdelegates on behalf of her mother, Hillary.
No word on what they think about MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson saying that whenever Hillary comes on television, “I involuntarily cross my legs.” He first said this last summer when his producer talked about a Clinton doll advertised on the Web site HillaryNutcracker.com. It features “serrated stainless steel thighs that, well, crack nuts,” said producer Willie Geist, who introduced the story this way: “I think the metaphor in this next story, Tucker, is pretty clear.” Then came Carlson’s “cross my legs” response.
Implying an MSNBC pattern, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson noted that another MSNBC star, Chris Matthews, apologized just last month after saying Hillary Clinton was elected senator because voters felt sorry for her nonstop humiliations by philandering husband Bill. “She didn’t win there on her merits,” Matthews said.
Now I’m no fan of Hillary. But surely it’s not just MSNBC who covers her with more than a smidgeon of negativism and downright sexism.
Complaints are everywhere online: “Sexist Media Lynching of Hillary Clinton!” You hear constant complaints about her being picked on, too - both from regular women voters and political fans, like state Senate President Terry Murray.
Take a look at the pictures news outlets run (shown here). Typically, Hillary looks like a crazy person, her mouth agape, her eyes as bug-eyed as the runaway bride’s. Meanwhile, Barack Obama typically looks cool, calm, collected - or, better yet, pensive and reflective.
Look at the constant references to the struggling, older white women and the struggling, younger single women (as if they’re somehow sawed-off, unfulfilled and slightly pathetic) who are going to vote for her.
Then there’s comparisons between Hillary and the “nagging housewife” or “everybody’s first wife.” There are the constant adjectives: angry, shrill, divisive, polarizing.
They’re really just “code words for bitch,” said Hillary supporter Andrea Cabral, the sheriff of Suffolk County.
And how many times have you heard the infamous Hillary “cackle”?
Not as often as you heard the infamous Howard Dean scream. But here’s the difference: A nation of white men did not identify with and feel mortified by the Dean scream. Lots of women identify with and feel mortified by the Hillary “cackle” replays, or the derisive “first wife” jokes. Many are derided first wives themselves.
Some say Hillary Clinton can’t have it both ways: portraying herself as the history-making woman, then playing the sexism card. But here’s another difference: women voting for Hillary, particularly older women, endured legitimate sexism. When she gets trashed, they feel trashed.
It’s analogous to the reaction among blacks when Bill Clinton was running around South Carolina making racist remarks. Thousands reacted by voting for Obama. Women’s reaction to sexist slurs is just as visceral. And they’re voting in record numbers for Hillary.
Meanwhile, the unspoken rules say you can still publicly trash women in a way you can’t publicly trash African-Americans. “Imagine if somebody said Barack Obama was pimping out his wife,” says Andrea Cabral. “What would never be said about race is the sport of kings when it comes to gender.”
It’s one thing for a bunch of women to sit around lamenting or joking about themselves. It’s something else again when a bunch of men with microphones on TV - no woman in sight - start doing it.