“Feminists” have complained for years about the lack of women in public office, insisting that once females gained prominent positions of power that all the supposed ills that plagued women would be abolished – sexism, male dominance in the workplace, the gender wage gap, and so on.
In fact, even with a record number of women running for office this year – thanks, in part, to a massive surge in the number of conservative female candidates – “feminists” continue to fret to the media that the 2010 election season will be a major “setback” for women in politics.
USA Today exemplified this trend on Oct. 4, with a splashy front page cover story warning that “In Congress, a step back for women is looming.”
But despite claims by “feminists” that they want to see more females in politics, they have been doing all they can to block conservative women candidates during this election cycle – even if it means stooping to tactics that are blatantly sexist and misogynistic.
“Feminists” have acted in ways that they claim to deride – portraying women they dislike as crazy or slutty, denigrating female candidates as “whores” (while declaring the characterization off-limits in regard to female Democrats), and mocking their sexuality. The National Organization for Women (NOW), a feminist organization that says it strives “achieve gender parity in government,” has not endorsed a single Republican female candidate – but it has endorsed several of their liberal male opponents.
While the media have ignored the hypocrisy of the so-called feminist movement during this election cycle, reporters have continued to treat to groups like NOW as respectable, pro-women organizations. Many articles even ignore the liberal leanings of these groups.
“Women's issues have changed over the years, but battle for equality continues,” read a recent Chicago Tribune headline above an article profiling NOW.
The Boston Herald simply labeled NOW as the “nation's most powerful women's group” in a Sep. 10 article, and the
Feminist Sexism Against Female Conservatives
The self-proclaimed feminist movement's sexism – and selective outrage over sexist comments – has been going on for years, but it has reached a fever pitch during this election cycle.
After Jerry Brown was caught discussing whether or not to call his conservative opponent Meg Whitman a “whore,” NOW barely batted an eyelash – and endorsed Brown just hours later.
In fact, the president of the
“Meg Whitman could be described as 'a political whore.' Yes, that's an accurate statement,”
And even after far-left Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) referred to the female adviser to the Federal Reserve chairman as a “
This, despite the fact that NOW has loudly opposed the use of the term “whore” to describe women in politics. Last November, the organization slammed Fox News host Glenn Beck for using the term to describe Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
“So what's wrong with equating politicians with prostitutes? After all, it's a quick and vivid way of accusing legislators of selling their votes (and presumably their principles) for money,” wrote NOW on its website. “The problem is, the accusation conjures up an image almost exclusively of women – typically streetwalkers, but sometimes high-class escorts like Beck describes. Also, the term seems to flow so easily off the tongues of men seeking to degrade successful, powerful (perhaps 'uppity'?) women.”
In addition to ignoring the use of derogatory terms by liberal male politicians, “feminists” regularly bash conservative political figures like Sarah Palin,
Francine McKenna, a feminist blogger for the Huffington Post, wrote in September that Palin – who calls herself a feminist – was the “Stepford” robot of the conservative movement.
“The Republican strategists have successfully engineered a 'Stepford-like' robot candidate intended to appeal to men of all political persuasions who are excited by the sexy schoolteacher, kitten with a whip persona she's so good at promoting,” wrote McKenna. “That segment of the voting population – men between the ages of 18-98 who are not die-hard liberals – doesn't care if she makes up words. In fact, they'd like her even more if she didn't talk at all.”
The avowed feminist blog Jezebel regularly mocks O'Donnell, and has called her “batsh-t,” and the Rachel Maddow show has featured videos on O'Donnell's sex life and views on masturbation. Last month, Joy Behar called the
And Citizen Radio host and “feminist” writer Allison Kilkenny has bashed Sharon Angle as “crazy.”
“Unlike Rand Paul, Sharron just can't hide the crazy, and she's not savvy enough to pass off the delusional stuff spewing from her mouth as 'being mavericky,'” wrote Kilkenny.
In a column denouncing “Republican 'Mean Girls,'” Maureen Dowd compared Angle to “the inebriated lady in a country club bar” and described her views as “nutty.”
Political War on Female Conservatives
The “feminist movement” has also waged a battle against female conservatives through political means. NOW's extensive list of endorsed candidates doesn't include a single conservative woman, despite the fact that there are record numbers of them running for congress. According to the Washington Post, “107 Republican women have filed to run for a House seat.”
NOW has even gone so far as to endorse several of the male opponents of female conservative candidates. The group endorsed Paul Hodes over Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, Chris Coons over Christine O'Donnell in Delaware, Dan Maffei over Ann Marie Buerkle in New York, Steve Cohen against Charlotte Bergmann in Tennessee, and Mike Ross against Beth Ann Rankin in Arkansas.
NOW's opposition to conservative women seems to even transcend the subject of legal abortion – a major policy issue for many feminists, who say it is non-negotiable. Pro-choice conservative female politicians like Rep. Mary Bono Mack in
Despite the fact the neglect or even active hostility of allegedly feminist groups for conservative female women candidates, the media continues to give credence to feminist movement's lamentations over the lack of women in politics.
“I want women in office,” Betty Smith, the vice president of the Arkansas Federation of Democratic Women, told USA Today on Oct. 4.
In an August
“That is not going to happen,” the Sun quoted Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, as saying. The paper added that the group “is working to elect candidates of both sexes who support women's equality.”
In a June press release, O'Neill noted that, “Early support for women candidates is critical to their success. We must continue backing women like [Alabama Democrat] Terri Sewell if we hope to achieve gender parity in government.”
But from the actions of self-proclaimed feminists and feminist groups, their political goal clearly isn't gender parity – it's liberal hegemony.
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