Every time a woman is on the ballot the response is, "I'll vote for a woman, but not this one". We live in a misogynistic world. Where misogyny kills a woman every six seconds on this planet. We have our own American Apartheid. This is the Republican playbook. Gin up the hate for those grifting political dollars and votes. Maybe, it will…
Every time a woman is on the ballot the response is, "I'll vote for a woman, but not this one". We live in a misogynistic world. Where misogyny kills a woman every six seconds on this planet. We have our own American Apartheid. This is the Republican playbook. Gin up the hate for those grifting political dollars and votes. Maybe, it will take another 200 years to fix this. We have multi-generational ignorance baked in misogyny and rascim. It is sown into fabric of this Nation.
As a white woman, I have dealt with SA, attempted gang rape at age 12 by teenage boys (I ran faster then they did), horrible sexual bullshit from co-workers, confronting my boss why the men were paid more than I was. A misogynistic and racist father. And the list goes on. I taught my daughters to fight back. And they do. My point is when it comes to misogynistic abuse, it doesn't matter what color we are. I have people of color in my family. We all fight these battles every day.
Harris is amazing. I was so happy when she ran. Relief. Unfortunately, too many in this country are to goddamn dumb for their own good. We are 24th in the world for education. We used to be #1. That showed up on November 5th.
For a long time I have felt that the media’s disdainful treatment of Democrats, both male and female, is very similar to the treatment women commonly receive. I believe George Lakoff is right that many people subconsciously perceive Democrats as the “Mommy Party”, focused on “softer” caring values (like ensuring people don’t die from lack of food, shelter or healthcare). In contrast Republicans are seen as the “Strong Father” party, focused on protecting people from enemies and making decisions for the rest of us.
The media has clear disdain for what they see as “feminine” concerns. For example they mocked Bill Clinton for feeling our pain. That seemed less acceptable to them than the callousness and lack of empathy displayed by Bush and Cheney, let alone by Trump. Maureen Dowd bizarrely wrote that Gore’s concern for the environment made him seem “so feminized” that he was “practically lactating”.
The media routinely ignores or distorts what Democrats say just like so many professional women find that what they say isn’t heard or that their ideas are derided or dismissed. Biden’s many speeches to working class people about his impactful infrastructure and jobs programs were ignored by the media who then had the gall to accuse him — and Harris — of offering nothing to working class people. This was exactly what they did to Hillary in 2015. The media ignored her speeches and her proposals to help create good paying jobs. When she spoke about her detailed multibillion dollar plan to help coal communities the media deliberately twisted her words to show her as being callous to those communities:
“Hillary Clinton’s “coal gaffe” is a microcosm of her twisted treatment by the media
And just as women are commonly held to higher standards than their male peers it is blatantly obvious that the media holds Democrats to a far higher standard than they do Republicans. Journalists criticized Gore for focusing too much on serious policy issues but loved that Bush gave them demeaning nicknames and did adolescent things like rolling oranges down the aisle on the campaign plane. They openly praised him for being “more fun to have a beer with”, the most idiotic standard ever for judging who is better qualified to be the most powerful person the world. Even David Broder, the venerable “Dean of Washington Journalists”, trashed Gore for talking too much in his acceptance speech about what he would do if elected. Apparently Broder wanted to her jokes??
Some in the media have openly admitted they held Gore and Hillary to a higher standard. Shortly before this election in her weekly conversation with Bret Stephens, Gail Collins said about Harris “of course we hold her to a higher standard” as if that is a completely acceptable thing for journalists to do.
Fantastic comment. The mommy party/strong father factors. That's why the GQP stays predominantly white, wealthy, and male. Mommy is expected to clean up without questioning wtf. And never gets credit for any success. Sounds like motherhood.
Misogyny is baked into every aspect of our lives. And journalists exploit it. There are exceptions. But very few. The media is clickbait news supported by many lazy incompetence journalists. Who turn their backs on Truth to support their male overlord owners bank accounts. The NYT is the worst. I pull up the Brookings Institute Biden agenda on my phone and show people what he's accomplished. Yeah, whatever. I get an eye roll. The media is toxic. They wouldn't know a 'higher standard' if it bit them on the ass.
I certainly agree with your comments. I'd also like to add that, now that I have some distance, I remembered that the "reason" Hillary lost was because of the economy, and so many reporters went to rural, mid-western diners to talk to white men about how they're suffering. Then it turned out that this was a false narrative. Exit pollsters don't ask did you not vote for Harris because she's Black/Asian or because she's a woman, or both. This is because they know people lie so they ignore these issues. And, it's all run by white men anyway. This country was able to elect a Black man, twice, even with all of the racism, but would not vote for a woman, twice. And yes, some white women didn't vote for Harris probably because a Black/Asian woman was a bridge too far and, in any situation, there are collaborators, some unknowing, some intentional. I'm recommending that we engage in the Amish tradition of shaming. Not in the extreme, be civil, but don't engage with people in your family, friends, at work, on social media and in public who are displaying racist, misogynistic opinions. Obviously, you have to do what's necessary to preserve your safety (unlike most men), and you don't want to lose your job, but when possible, don't engage and walk away. You won't change their minds in a short conversation, and they'll get defensive, but no one wants to be ignored.
I don’t doubt that racism and misogyny played a big role in the votes of many on the right but all the exit polls overwhelmingly showed that a huge majority of people — about 2/3 — voted for Trump because they believed out economy is bad and inflation was too high. Our mainstream “liberal” media spent months harping on inflation without making it clear it was a world-wide phenomenon that was out of Biden’s control but burying the fact that the US economy has been by far the strongest post-covid with solid growth, a high employment level that hasn’t been in over fifty years, and wages that have been growing faster than inflation for over a year, with the greatest growth for lower incomes.
Last summer when the World Bank ranked the US economy #1 in the world for the second year in a row and increased its prediction for global growth, saying that the US economy is so strong it is powering that growth I fully expected to see headlines in NY Times and WaPo. I was wrong — both buried that news.
I was also frustrated that the media made no effort to explain to people that conquering inflation does not mean prices would return to pre-covid levels. That would require disinflation which is disastrous for an economy and extremely hard to stop.
This is the kind of information voters needed to make an informed decision. Our Founders gave journalists specific constitutional protection so that they would ensure we have a well-informed citizenry. Nine prominent stories in the WaPo about Biden’s garbage comment while critical economic information is buried in a back section does not meet that sacred obligation. In a healthy democracy journalists would not be pointing fingers, they would be looking in the mirror and feeling deep shame.
Every time a woman is on the ballot the response is, "I'll vote for a woman, but not this one". We live in a misogynistic world. Where misogyny kills a woman every six seconds on this planet. We have our own American Apartheid. This is the Republican playbook. Gin up the hate for those grifting political dollars and votes. Maybe, it will take another 200 years to fix this. We have multi-generational ignorance baked in misogyny and rascim. It is sown into fabric of this Nation.
As a white woman, I have dealt with SA, attempted gang rape at age 12 by teenage boys (I ran faster then they did), horrible sexual bullshit from co-workers, confronting my boss why the men were paid more than I was. A misogynistic and racist father. And the list goes on. I taught my daughters to fight back. And they do. My point is when it comes to misogynistic abuse, it doesn't matter what color we are. I have people of color in my family. We all fight these battles every day.
Harris is amazing. I was so happy when she ran. Relief. Unfortunately, too many in this country are to goddamn dumb for their own good. We are 24th in the world for education. We used to be #1. That showed up on November 5th.
You get it. I might write something about this when I get my thoughts together, but this is exactly right.
For a long time I have felt that the media’s disdainful treatment of Democrats, both male and female, is very similar to the treatment women commonly receive. I believe George Lakoff is right that many people subconsciously perceive Democrats as the “Mommy Party”, focused on “softer” caring values (like ensuring people don’t die from lack of food, shelter or healthcare). In contrast Republicans are seen as the “Strong Father” party, focused on protecting people from enemies and making decisions for the rest of us.
The media has clear disdain for what they see as “feminine” concerns. For example they mocked Bill Clinton for feeling our pain. That seemed less acceptable to them than the callousness and lack of empathy displayed by Bush and Cheney, let alone by Trump. Maureen Dowd bizarrely wrote that Gore’s concern for the environment made him seem “so feminized” that he was “practically lactating”.
“Going after Gore”
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2007/10/gore200710
The media routinely ignores or distorts what Democrats say just like so many professional women find that what they say isn’t heard or that their ideas are derided or dismissed. Biden’s many speeches to working class people about his impactful infrastructure and jobs programs were ignored by the media who then had the gall to accuse him — and Harris — of offering nothing to working class people. This was exactly what they did to Hillary in 2015. The media ignored her speeches and her proposals to help create good paying jobs. When she spoke about her detailed multibillion dollar plan to help coal communities the media deliberately twisted her words to show her as being callous to those communities:
“Hillary Clinton’s “coal gaffe” is a microcosm of her twisted treatment by the media
She navigated a hall of mirrors.”
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/9/15/16306158/hillary-clinton-hall-of-mirrors
And just as women are commonly held to higher standards than their male peers it is blatantly obvious that the media holds Democrats to a far higher standard than they do Republicans. Journalists criticized Gore for focusing too much on serious policy issues but loved that Bush gave them demeaning nicknames and did adolescent things like rolling oranges down the aisle on the campaign plane. They openly praised him for being “more fun to have a beer with”, the most idiotic standard ever for judging who is better qualified to be the most powerful person the world. Even David Broder, the venerable “Dean of Washington Journalists”, trashed Gore for talking too much in his acceptance speech about what he would do if elected. Apparently Broder wanted to her jokes??
Some in the media have openly admitted they held Gore and Hillary to a higher standard. Shortly before this election in her weekly conversation with Bret Stephens, Gail Collins said about Harris “of course we hold her to a higher standard” as if that is a completely acceptable thing for journalists to do.
Fantastic comment. The mommy party/strong father factors. That's why the GQP stays predominantly white, wealthy, and male. Mommy is expected to clean up without questioning wtf. And never gets credit for any success. Sounds like motherhood.
Misogyny is baked into every aspect of our lives. And journalists exploit it. There are exceptions. But very few. The media is clickbait news supported by many lazy incompetence journalists. Who turn their backs on Truth to support their male overlord owners bank accounts. The NYT is the worst. I pull up the Brookings Institute Biden agenda on my phone and show people what he's accomplished. Yeah, whatever. I get an eye roll. The media is toxic. They wouldn't know a 'higher standard' if it bit them on the ass.
I certainly agree with your comments. I'd also like to add that, now that I have some distance, I remembered that the "reason" Hillary lost was because of the economy, and so many reporters went to rural, mid-western diners to talk to white men about how they're suffering. Then it turned out that this was a false narrative. Exit pollsters don't ask did you not vote for Harris because she's Black/Asian or because she's a woman, or both. This is because they know people lie so they ignore these issues. And, it's all run by white men anyway. This country was able to elect a Black man, twice, even with all of the racism, but would not vote for a woman, twice. And yes, some white women didn't vote for Harris probably because a Black/Asian woman was a bridge too far and, in any situation, there are collaborators, some unknowing, some intentional. I'm recommending that we engage in the Amish tradition of shaming. Not in the extreme, be civil, but don't engage with people in your family, friends, at work, on social media and in public who are displaying racist, misogynistic opinions. Obviously, you have to do what's necessary to preserve your safety (unlike most men), and you don't want to lose your job, but when possible, don't engage and walk away. You won't change their minds in a short conversation, and they'll get defensive, but no one wants to be ignored.
The parallel isn’t lost on me.
I don’t doubt that racism and misogyny played a big role in the votes of many on the right but all the exit polls overwhelmingly showed that a huge majority of people — about 2/3 — voted for Trump because they believed out economy is bad and inflation was too high. Our mainstream “liberal” media spent months harping on inflation without making it clear it was a world-wide phenomenon that was out of Biden’s control but burying the fact that the US economy has been by far the strongest post-covid with solid growth, a high employment level that hasn’t been in over fifty years, and wages that have been growing faster than inflation for over a year, with the greatest growth for lower incomes.
Last summer when the World Bank ranked the US economy #1 in the world for the second year in a row and increased its prediction for global growth, saying that the US economy is so strong it is powering that growth I fully expected to see headlines in NY Times and WaPo. I was wrong — both buried that news.
I was also frustrated that the media made no effort to explain to people that conquering inflation does not mean prices would return to pre-covid levels. That would require disinflation which is disastrous for an economy and extremely hard to stop.
This is the kind of information voters needed to make an informed decision. Our Founders gave journalists specific constitutional protection so that they would ensure we have a well-informed citizenry. Nine prominent stories in the WaPo about Biden’s garbage comment while critical economic information is buried in a back section does not meet that sacred obligation. In a healthy democracy journalists would not be pointing fingers, they would be looking in the mirror and feeling deep shame.
Agree!