Misogyny and Lesbophobia Are the Norm in America
If you are having a knee-jerk whoa–#notallAmericans response, read on. Because yes, it’s pretty much everyone. The Right, the Left, other women, other GBT people.
We have yet to address the disturbing reality of woman-hating in the U.S., but the current 2016 race for president has brought misogyny and lesbophobia into the foreground.
And is it ever ugly.
If you were among the 24 million Americans watching the Republican debate on August 6, like I was, you saw a lot of it. If you’ve been watching the news since that debate, you’d think it was all about two people: Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner, and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly.
If you thought it was just about Trump versus Kelly, you’d be wrong.
So. Wrong.
Some names erased from the headlines discussing misogyny in the presidential race: Rosie O’Donnell, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, the women of Black Lives Matter and Hillary Clinton.
Those names should be just as prominent as Trump’s and Kelly’s and the discourse should have started during the GOP debate, not a day after. That it didn’t speaks not just to the breadth of the anti-woman tenor of the country, but to how much we all accept misogyny as a given.
We expect woman-hating. Because it’s the norm.
What caused the furor was what conservative pundit and Red State organizer Erick Erickson called “a bridge too far,” referring to Trump asserting that Kelly’s sniping at him during the debate was because she was having her period.
Yes, he really did say it, if obliquely, but on every Sunday talk show he proclaimed that “only a sick deviant” would think that’s what he meant.
It’s what he meant. Trump knows it. We know it.
Trump had been angry with Kelly since she asked him a question about his misogyny at the debate. After the debate he took to Twitter to castigate her.
Trump was still on Twitter slamming Kelly at 3:30 a.m., calling her a “bimbo.” At 7am Friday morning, Trump was on all the morning talk shows giving interviews. There he reiterated his vexation at Kelly, telling “Good Morning America” host and ABC News Director George Stephanopoulos that Kelly had asked him much harder questions than anyone else and had targeted him.
By prime time Friday night, Trump was in a lather over Kelly. On “CNN Politics” with gay anchor Don Lemon he went on a rant about Kelly and then said, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”
The outrage online was swift. Within an hour a hashtag #IStandWithMegyn was trending. But the only Republican candidate to respond to Trump directly was Carly Fiorina, who pundits had named the hands-down winner of the early GOP debate.
First Fiorina tweeted:
Mr. Trump: There. Is. No. Excuse.
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) August 8, 2015
Then she tweeted:
I stand with @megynkelly.
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) August 8, 2015
Each tweet received thousands of retweets and faves, even though prior to the Thursday night debate, Fiorina was in next-to-last place among the 17 Republicans running for president.
Fiorina’s early response may have landed her a place on the Sunday political shows more than her performance at the debate. She told reporters that she, as former CEO of Hewlett Packard, had often been called “a bimbo and a bitch.”
What raised the decibel level on Trump’s comments–in addition to the social media frenzy–was prominent conservative gatekeeper Erickson disinviting him from a conservative event on Saturday at which other prominent Republican contenders were in attendance. Erickson invited Kelly instead.
What the media never mentioned, which is how we know where we stand as women and lesbians: Rosie O’Donnell.
Here’s the transcript of what Kelly asked and here’s how Trump–and the crowd–responded, because it’s been elided in most of the videotapes:
KELLY: You’ve called women you don’t like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.”
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Your Twitter account…
TRUMP: Only Rosie O’Donnell.
(LAUGHTER APPLAUSE CHEERS)
KELLY: No, it wasn’t.
(APPLAUSE CHEERS)
Your Twitter account…
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you.
KELLY: For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell.
TRUMP: Yes, I’m sure it was.
KELLY: Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice” it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?
TRUMP: I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct.
(APPLAUSE)
I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. This country is in big trouble.
And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that.
(APPLAUSE CHEERS)
Even Kelly had a fleeting smile when Trump said O’Donnell’s name, and it was by far the applause line of the night, with wild cheering that lasted well over a minute.
Take that in.
The audience was cheering Trump–who had just been called out by Kelly for his misogyny–calling a well-known lesbian celebrity who had a daytime talk show for a decade and who co-hosted The View for years a “fat pig, dog, slob, and disgusting animal.” All of which Trump has indeed said in the past about O’Donnell, after she called him out on “The View,”much like Kelly did.
Yet that was deemed acceptable to all the other men on the stage, the two male moderators from Fox and, notably, the crowd in Cleveland, which included men, women and college students–who made it the applause line of the night.
Why didn’t the personal attack on O’Donnell–a noted comedian, actress, philanthropist and advocate for abused kids–get a mention on the news or Twitter or…anywhere?
Where was the #IStandWithRosie hashtag? Why was it okay to attack one of the best-known lesbians in America? Even Stephanopoulos, whose network airs “The View” and where O’Donnell was on TV for 15 years, said nothing.
Lesbophobia.
Don’t dismiss it. It’s a thing. And it’s doing so much damage to lesbians in America that many are afraid to even call themselves lesbians. The label “lesbian” attracts assaults and abuse. Like the one on O’Donnell Thursday night..
Yet all women were under attack on that stage. Trump called out O’Donnell specifically. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner, was attacked 21 times (although Marco Rubio, the youngest candidate by more than a decade, said, attempting to explain his own thin resume,“If this election is a resume competition, then Hillary Clinton’s gonna be the next president.”).
What never gained any media traction was Mike Huckabee saying women who have abortions should be arrested and charged with violating the Constitution and that when he is president, there would be National Guard troops outside Planned Parenthood.
Nor did the candidates saying they were committed to overturning Roe v. Wade or saying marriage equality would be vitiated under their presidencies make news. Jeb Bush had been called out by Hillary Clinton the day before the debate for saying that women’s health initiatives–which help poor women with mammograms and other cancer screening among other health care–should be defunded.
No one mentioned that all the senators on stage had voted to repeal Obamacare more than once–the health care initiative that has afforded many women coverage they did not previously have.
Yet these men’s proposed–or in the case of governors, instituted in their states–policies were fundamentally woman-hating.
Chris Wallace asked, “Gov.Huckabee, like Gov. Walker, you favor a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. You favor a constitutional amendment banning abortions, except for the life of the mother.”
Huckabee replied, “I think the next president ought to invoke the Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution now that we clearly know that that baby inside the mother’s womb is a person at the moment of conception.”
Later Rubio said he favored amending abortion law so that there were no exceptions even for rape or incest.
John Kasich got applause for saying that he would still love his daughters if they were “that”–lesbian–adding, “I would love them whatever they do”–like lesbianism is a crime. Kasich also said he supported “traditional marriage.”
Two hours of men talking about how they would legislate women’s bodies and lesbian lives: Not a headline.
Emily’s List noted:
After two hours of debate, not a single #GOP candidate called for #equal pay, raising the #minimumwage, or #paidleave. #GOPDebate
— EMILY’s List (@emilyslist) August 7, 2015
And Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) tweeted:
.@realDonaldTrump‘s words about women are awful, but what about the outrageous policies of all the candidates?
— Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) August 9, 2015
If the Republicans were egregious on Thursday, on Saturday the Democrats had their own woman problem when Democratic contender Bernie Sanders had his Seattle rally disrupted by two women from Black Lives Matter.
Sanders, who has failed to show up for scheduled meetings with Black Lives Matter people in recent weeks, notably after the Netroots Nation progressives meeting where he shouted down BLM women, left the stage and then the rally, after looking at his watch.
Sanders later issued a statement:
“I am disappointed that two people disrupted a rally attended by thousands at which I was invited to speak about fighting to protect Social Security and Medicare. I was especially disappointed because on criminal justice reform and the need to fight racism there is no other candidate for president who will fight harder than me.”
No mention of the black women, no mention of Black Lives Matter, just assertion that he was the best candidate for blacks.
As had happened after the Netroots Nation debacle, Sanders supporters–mostly white men–took to Twitter to complain and “educate” black women and men about how the candidate was their only hope.
It did not go over well. Sanders dismissal of Black Lives Matter had previously spawned the Black Twitter hashtag #BernieSoBlack after he and supporters insisted that he had been working for civil rights since before they were born, as this Reddit comment from one of Sanders’ white male supporters suggested: “What these women don’t realize is that ole’ Bernie was protesting the Jim Crow laws 50 years before they were born. This ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality is the opposite of what Dr. King wanted.”
On Aug. 8, #BernieInSeattle was trending, but not in a positive way. One tweet from a black woman simply had the dictionary definition of “condescending” with Sanders’ Twitter campaign handle. Another quoted Sanders’ asserting his campaign was the “biggest grassroots movement in America” and said “Black Lives Matter is the biggest grassroots movement in America.”
This tweet summed up what many were saying:
I dont need anyone especially white people telling me how I should feel about the injustice I face. I don’t need to be informed or lectured.
— Mr. Weeks (@MrDane1982) August 9, 2015
At the event, one woman in BLM Seattle said, “[Sanders] owes black people in this country an apology.” Marissa Johnson, Black Lives Matter Seattle founder said, “My ancestors lost their lives so I wouldn’t have to do this.”
At the rally, white people in attendance were calling for the women to be arrested. One man yelled, “Go ahead and Taser ’em!”
Sanders’ supporters were angry and those who didn’t blame black people themselves blamed Hillary Clinton, insisting that Clinton had paid black women to disrupt Sanders’ rally, otherwise they would have disrupted her own rally in Seattle.
Goldie Taylor, a frequent contributor to MSNBC and CNN and a former fundraiser for Obama, is a vibrant force on social media with a huge Twitter following. Her responses to the latest onslaught of Sanders’ supporters was calm, but she did answer several of the “Hillary did this!” tweets with an explanation proffered by others, which was that Clinton has been meeting with Black Lives Matter activists.
That only garnered further speculation that Clinton and BLM were in collusion against Sanders:
Clinton campaign admitting they’ve had policy talks with @Deray. Weird how #BlackLivesMatter shows up at Sanders events huh.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) August 10, 2015
By late Saturday night, Sanders–who, unlike Clinton, has had no people of color working in his campaign hierarchy–had suddenly hired Symone Sanders, a young black activist, as his press secretary.
Symone Sanders said in a press conference about the Seattle protest, “Do I think everyone in the movement agrees with the way the protesters commanded the stage today? No. Am I going to condemn the protesters for standing up and expressing themselves? No. Because their voices matter.”
All of this begs the question: How do we win attention for women in general and lesbians in particular in America? The war on women has been happening for a long time. We are targets of harassment, abuse, violence. We are victims of income inequality, job insecurity, rape on campus, on the streets and in the military.
None of the men on the GOP stage addressed any of that–they just stood by and laughed along with the audience over the attack on Rosie O’Donnell, proffering their own attacks on Hillary Clinton in specific and the rest of us generally with their proposed policies about our bodies and our lives.
Men on the Left seemed no different from those on the Right, fueling their anger with misogyny. As one woman’s tweet noted, “Shorter Sanders fans: ‘We’d be able to beat that bitch [Hillary Clinton] if the Blacks would just shut up!’”
The race for president was the catalyst for this discourse on misogyny in politics, but only Trump was called out for it and only for his attack on Megyn Kelly–not for the misogyny noted in her initial question. What’s more, none of the pundits and reporters discussing Kelly with Trump in interviews addressed O’Donnell or any other women.
Erickson, who said sanctimoniously that Trump’s attack on Kelly was a bridge too far has been attacking women for years, tweeting just last week about Texas legislator and abortion rights activist Wendy Davis:
Wendy Davis stars in a new Twitter spectacle as Tokyo Rose Abortion Barbie.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 29, 2015
Even Fox News commentator Greta Van Susteren noted:
you have to love the irony of erick erickson disinviting Trump when Erickson has said the worst things about women – never dull, huh?
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) August 9, 2015
The news cycle on the Trump-Kelly debacle will abate soon enough and we doubt it will hurt Trump’s poll numbers. But even if Trump were out of the race tomorrow, everyone else is still in it. And while they lack the bombast of Trump, their policy proposals are chilling for us–and the media doesn’t care.
The sexism in reporting on Hillary Clinton’s presidential run will continue–the New York Times Public Editor admitted last week in a column that the paper has had a full-time reporter covering the Clinton since 2013, yet did not explain why. You don’t have to be a Clinton supporter to know this is an extraordinary double standard.
TV Guide reported in the Aug.10-24 issue on the number of minutes of news coverage given to presidential candidates. According to news analyst Andrew Tyndall, between June 1 and July 24, ABC World News Tonight, NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News devoted 114 minutes to the 2016 campaign. Out of that 60 minutes have been spent on Donald Trump, 15 on Jeb Bush and five on Hillary Clinton. Yet Clinton leads all candidates in the polls.
On Aug. 10, Clinton rolled out her plan to deal with student loans and college debt, a plan which BoldProgressives applauded as “a game changer.” The only network to even have her in their news broadcast was ABC, which filmed her at the rollout, but talking about Trump, not her own policies.
Clinton said Trump’s comments were “outrageous,” but added, “The Republicans get to choose their nominee and they will have to make that decision, but … when one of their major candidates, a much younger man, the senator from Florida [Sen.Marco Rubio], says there should be no exception for rape and incest, that is as offensive and as troubling a comment as you can hear from a major candidate running for the presidency,” Clinton said. “So the language may be more colorful and more offensive, but the thinking, the attitude toward women, is very much the same.”
Presidential races only happen every four years. Misogyny and lesbophobia happen every day, whether it’s an election year or not. Misogyny isn’t imaginary–it’s real. And whether it allows for a presidential candidate to call a lesbian a fat pig and an animal in the midst of a presidential debate, or for another presidential candidate to dismiss black women or for the media to flat-out ignore the leading contender, who is a woman, it impacts us all.
The question is, when, if ever, is America going to deal with this and the damage it does to every woman and girl in our country, whether sitting at home watching TV news or running for the highest office in the land.
Lead #BlackLivesMatter Seattle activist, Marissa Janae Johnson speaks for the first time on the disruption.