I tried to think of a racist joke that would be the equivalent of Jay Leno's funny about Hillary Rodham Clinton offering Obama a lap dance in return for the Vice Presidency. But the Democratic primary has shot my sense of humor all to hell. There are some 116 million women over the age of 18 in America. Many of us will never be the same.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic bid for the presidency caused an unprecedented number of women and girls to tune into politics for the first time in their lives. Many of us will never forget and never recover from the violently misogynistic assault on our candidate, on us, and on our daughters.
And, yes, what hurts the most is the fact that so very many of our "progressive" friends and allies joined in the fun.
News from NOW-NYS: And The Beat Goes On:
ALBANY, NY (06/11/2008)-- Apparently Hillary Clinton hasn't been roughed up enough by the press. So the media’s sexist drums continue to beat. Recently Tonight Show host Jay Leno quipped that Senator Hillary Clinton would offer Obama a lap dance in exchange for the Vice Presidency. We wonder how Mr. Leno's noted feminist wife Mavis Leno feels about this abrasive objectification of women on her husband's show. For many years now Mavis has embraced the cause of ending violence against women. It is a fitting vehicle for her intense passion for helping women around the world. What a shame that her husband is so oblivious to the idea that negative portrayal of women fosters sexism and misogyny. Indeed, our children and young adults have become desensitized to seeing violent acts and hearing degrading speech about women. So what part of this scenario does Leno not understand?
Throughout her campaign, Hillary Clinton has conducted herself with strength, intelligence and dignity. Because of her, women and girls everywhere are convinced they can aspire to greatness, in spite of obstacles they face. Surely Senator Clinton has given all women a boost to their collective self esteem.
But today's women are still force fed a never-ending media assault on themselves. To portray a strong, capable women as someone who would prostitute herself for the VP position is an outrageous sexist insult to women everywhere. And Leno's remark perpetuates the myth that women can only achieve greatness by exploiting themselves physically. And it does nothing for the future of our young women and men. We want our daughters to learn Senator Clinton's message of strength. We don't need Leno sending them the message that they can only achieve greatness in life by giving sexual favors.
We, as feminists, have the obligation to alert the media to their responsibility to discourage sexist humor and to feature more feminist women personalities. Our daughters deserve the best. NOW New York State is urging our forty thousand supporters, women and progressive men everywhere, to demand change in the media by writing to NBC and telling them they will not tolerate their sexist portrayal of women. It is time to enter a new age of intolerance for sexism. And it's time we all dance to a brand new drum.
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New York NOW NBC Media Misogyny Politics Sexist News VP Hillary Clinton Barack Obama Democratic Party Gender Feminist Backlash Hillary Supporters Denver DNC
