The Rude Pundit: What's With the New Backlash Against Women? (Part 1)

[meegbear]

Evidence of resurgent sexism:
1. So Publishers Weekly puts out a list of the 10 "best" books of 2009, covering all genres. It contains not a single female author. Sure, it's all subjective as hell, but play the odds on that happening. Not damn likely. On the more extensive list of the 100 "best" books of the year, it looks like about a third are women. (Personal bias: Margaret Atwood's recent book kicks much ass, as does Barbara Ehrenreich's.)

2. The treatment of women in the House of Representatives, women who, it should be shameful to need to point out, are equals of their male counterparts, during the debate over the health care reform bill. As Democratic female members of Congress attempted to speak to how the bill would be beneficial to women, several male Republicans kept screaming objections over them. Remember: these are Republicans who had spoken without interruption about how Democrats were leading the nation down the path to socialist hellhole and want to kill old people. But if the ladies in the House wanna say somethin'? It's all "Man, Nancy Pelosi, can't you tell your bitches to shut the fuck up?" (See also the desire of Republicans for General McChrystal to put Pelosi "in her place." Apparently, that place is kicking their asses on health care reform.)

3. The seeming willingness of too many Democrats to acquiesce and acquiesce on abortion rights issues as long as Roe v. Wade is not overturned. The entire debate over the inclusion of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment in the health care reform bill, along with the previously less onerous Capp Amendment that was scorned by anti-choicers for being not punitive enough to women who might want or need an abortion, takes the Hyde Amendment as sacrosanct. That 1976 piece of vicious work and additional measures in the Reagan era have barred federal funds from being used for abortions. (It was just in 1993 that the measure was changed to allow exceptions for rape and incest.)

Almost the entire debate over abortion in the health reform bill was a defense of the Hyde Amendment. Democrats used to talk about overturning it completely because it's an unfair, government-imposed burden on poor women. But the anti-choice forces have so controlled the rhetoric that we are left with this sad moment, where in order to even pass a meager insurance bill, another assault on poor (and at least some middle class but, really, all) women occurred by preventing any abortion coverage in any insurance plan in a federal government insurance exchange.

Tell you what: let's up the fuckin' ante here. What is the number one cause of an unwanted pregnancy? Balls and the jizz contained therein. So how about an amendment that says if a woman gets pregnant and is forced to carry the baby to term no matter what, the dude who knocked her up has to get his nuts cut off. There's your trade-off, and men and women both get to have "consequences" for their actions. The result is more babies in the short term, but a whole lot less in the long term. There's details to be worked out. But castration's in the Bible somewhere, isn't it? Like "And, lo, God did tell Zebechaiah to chop the junk off the fornicator Jake"? If not, it should be. Just say it's a new translation.

4. Right now, in the political world, with Hillary Clinton hunkered down and doing her job mostly out of the public's eye and with Nancy Pelosi, this intensely accomplished woman, treated like a joke, the most visible women are fucking jokes. From absurd flash in the pan to downright dangerous:

a. Someone needs to tell Carrie Prejean that if Perez Hilton hadn't asked her about gay marriage at the Miss USA pageant, she'd be that forgotten bikini babe in a beauty contest, consigned to a communications degree and/or increasingly pathetic Maxim layouts. Since the revelation of her solo sex tape, her TV appearances hawking "her" book are either creepy or pathetic. For a dose of skeevy that almost makes you sympathize with Prejean, watch her interview on Hannity, where our host asks her to think about how she's going to feel when the video's made public. For pathetic, watch her get outraged on last night's Larry King (Is Not A)Live, when an old man tries to get her to talk about the very sex video she had talked about on every other show. How dare he.

But, hey, she's friends with Sarah Palin.

Who will be the start of Part 2, with appearances by Michele Bachmann. And some crazy ass conclusions.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[niyad]

1. the misogyny in this country is getting more evident by the day.

[NashVegas]

2. So, Misogyny Is Only Misogyny When It's Against Women We Like?

Carrie Prejean may be loathsome, but I doubt the sex-based attacks on her are winning any converts over to the pro-gay marriage side. I wish our Dem congress had her hubris.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I don't see attacks based on her sex

I see attacks based on teh stoopid.

[NashVegas]

6. Really?

Pray tell, what do you call this?





The fight against Carrie Prejean stopped being all about her opinion on gay marriage and became all about her female identity and sexuality long ago.

[seabeyond]

7. exactly. but that kinda attack on female is just simply..... cool. dontcha know. nt

[meegbear]

8. Did the Rude One create that?

[NashVegas]

9. Nope

That's Perez Hilton, the lovely, selfless individual who didn't like a woman stating her opinion, which ran contrary to his, and started this whole thing.

As for RP,

"she'd be that forgotten bikini babe in a beauty contest, consigned to a communications degree and/or increasingly pathetic Maxim layouts."

Furthermore, the post I was referring to didn't specify RP's column. "Attacks," not "attack" was the word used. My own comment at the start of the sub-thread wasn't remotely confined to RP.

[Cirque du So-What]

11. I don't know where that originated

and I'm glad I don't visit websites where crapola like that passes for humor. Perhaps it's because I don't follow the Prejean saga closely (I clicked on this thread because I'm a fan of the Rude One), but I haven't seen anything like that at DU. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but practically everything I've seen here took the form of ridicule for her stupidity, her homophobia, or her faux-religious moralizing.

[NashVegas]

15. That Was Perez Hilton

As for RP, is this not the same RP who gave us "The Rude Pundit: Why Ann Coulter Is a C***, Part 45,307"? Posted in this very forum, no less.

My greater point remains: we hate misogyny when it's RWers picking on women we like. The rest of the time, all you need to do is check the GD: P archives for 1/08-7/08.

[tonysam]

14. RP is another dumb blogger with a flair for profanity

Hyde isn't "sacrosanct"; there is nothing that can be done to overturn it, which only Congress could do. The votes aren't there and never will be there to overturn. Poor women have found other ways to pay for abortions since 1976.

RP and "feminist" bloggers should ask why there aren't more abortion providers.

[malaise]

3. Bravo Rude Pundit

Love you.

[seabeyond]

5. it isnt just attack of the political females... attack on females as a whole. more than a few on du

dont recognize, or dont have a single problem with it when it meets their own best wants and desire. fuk the female then

but the whole of the attack on female works well in the attack of our dem women. it is accepted

[redqueen]

10. "Tell you what: let's up the fuckin' ante here."

:applause:

And as usual... K&R

[ThomCat]

12. Wow, the misogyny is finally so blatant that even the rude pundit

is criticizing it instead of using it in his humor? That says something, and it's pretty awesome. :wow:

When any prejudice finally becomes so blatant that even the people in the majority that normally participate in it are suddenly getting outraged by it, then we are at a possible turning point and maybe something good can happen. I hope this is a sign of a turning point. :)

I hope people really are getting outraged and really will be motivated to look around and find ways to combat all the sexism and hatred of women that has been piling up deeper and deeper.

[comtec]

13. I've had more "comfy zones" kicked out from under me than I can count this year

and some of them were for the best.
OK before last year's election I thought "meh, domestic partnership with full legal bennies, what's the harm?" then Gay marriage became full-on Legal from a legal ruling and I was VERY happy! I have several gay friends, and I was very happy they could marry their partners whom they love.

then prop 8... there went that comfy zone. Now it's war.

I admit to being a bit blaze about feminism. Aside from being grossly underpaid, there's the perception that the glass ceilings are starting to break, and women are starting to hit the high jobs (which is true, but not common enough).

then this bullshit...

I mean... whats the next fuckin shoe to drop, a repeal of the civil rights act?

I sincerely hope this wakes up the 53% beast!
women are 53% of the voting electorate.
it's time to vote like you mean it ladies.

you're 53% of the votes out there, 51% of the population world wide!

LETS HEAR YOU ROAR!

[ThomCat]

16. It is time for men to support the fight against sexism

and start learning how be less sexist. All of us. I don't think we can tell women to fight this alone.

It is time for men to really support equality for women, instead of just claiming to. Men are responsible for sexism, and we benefit from it, so men have to take responsibility for fighting it.