The Sexist Attacks On Women For Saying The Same Thing As Men [View all]

[chervilant]

Source: Media Matters

State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki and her deputy, Marie Harf, have spent the week being attacked by right-wing media. They have been TARGETS of particularly harsh, personal attacks, using language that demeans both women and is almost never used to describe men in similar high-profile positions, regardless of what they say.

On February 19, the Daily Caller equated Psaki to a game where players take turns kicking a bead-filled ball around, when it was announced she has been tapped by President Obama to be the White House Communications Director: "Hacky Psaki: Obama Spokeslady Kicked Back To WH After Stint At State Dept."

The National Review's Ian Tuttle called the two women an incapable "hapless duo" with a "Lucy and Ethel routine" (Harf is blonde, Psaki a red head) who were trying to create a version of the comedy film Legally Blonde at the US Department of State. In a separate piece, the conservative journal of record's Kevin Williamson called Harf "cretinous" and a "misfit who plays Messy Marvin to Jen Psaki's feckless Pippi Longstocking."

It's one thing to disagree with and criticize a strategy or policy, it's another to belittle and undermine a person's intelligence and legitimacy by resorting to misogynist attacks.

Read more: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/02/22/the-sexist-attacks-on-women-for-saying-the-same/202609


(Reposted per OKNancy's instructions.)

I have actively opposed sexism and misogyny since the early seventies. Not much has changed, and far too many cry "misandry!" when feminists attempt to address this blight on our species. Misogyny--and myriad other forms of abuse--damages our entire species.