Sarah Palin Sexism Watch: Bill Maher: Palin is a MILF and stewardess

Monday, September 8, 2008

Bill Maher: Palin is a MILF and stewardess

Don't know what a MILF is? Google it.

6 comments:

femB4dem said...: Unbelievable. Well, not really -- how about, same old, same old? Here's a link to one of Maher's sexist lows during the primary season:

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2008/03/hillary-sexism-watch-bill-maher-and-his.html

Some things really never do change.; September 8, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Anonymous said...: If Maher isn't careful, he might lose his paycheck from the DNC.; September 9, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Tim Quinn said...: I agree that sexist comments are inappropriate, and should be condemned. Perhaps you also took umbrage at all the sexist and despicable comments directed at Hillary all these years?

Anyway, there's plenty in Ms. Palin's record to provide a rational person with reason to vote for Obama--not least of which is is the Republican refusal to discuss issues, and instead to hypocritically condemn the "lipstick" comment made by Obama, while knowing that it's a common expression used by Mr. McCain--or perhaps forgetting that there are at least four samples of Mr. McCain using this expression, shown on the news recently.

Trumpet McCain/Palin all you like, or condemn sexism...but please try to be evenhanded, if you truly are outraged at sexism. Sarah Palin is not a victim here, no matter how much the cynical election managers think it serves their purposes to present her as such.; September 12, 2008 at 11:54 AM
beachpoet said...: If you watched the audience reaction to Obama's statement, there was no doubt that they knew exactly who he was alluding to. It was not the statement itself that was offensive (old as the hills and twice as dusty), but the context in which it was made, following closely on the heels of Palin's speech.

Obama is a smart guy and a very clever politician. He knew what he was doing and already had his defense at the ready, offering up a laundry list of others who had used the phrase in the past, albeit in different contexts. He is very deft at getting in his licks and then professing innocence - a tactic used over and over again against Hillary Clinton. And when the target of his sarcasm and sexism objects, he paints them as hysterical or ridiculous.

Very smooth, very slick - and very sexist.; September 14, 2008 at 5:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Do you have confidence on Maher's bad breath mouth?? He is nothing but a fag from California. His good reputation is he hates beautiful woman like Sarah Palin and he hates conservative Christian women like Sarah Palin He competes with them. Don't you know that this Maher is a gay? Yes, He likes to go to turks and caicos and sucks a lot of black shaft.; November 24, 2009 at 1:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Bill Maher is sexist and he hates real feminist women because the only thing he can give to real nice guys are BJS.; November 24, 2009 at 1:55 PM

What is sexism?

All criticisms of Sarah Palin are not sexist. It would be sexist to expect that she would receive no criticism, or that she SHOULD receive no criticism, because she is a woman. I admit that some of the criticism of Palin may really be the result of ideological bias, or simply sloppy reporting, not sexism. Some of the questions are fair game in isolation (yes, of course, it's fair to talk about Palin's experience in general; it's that she's held to a higher standard than males in the race that's the issue).

The Palin piling on is a complex cultural stew. In some cases, I suspect ideological and gender bias are working together. A reader has challenged me to define what I consider to be sexism. Broadly, I would define sexism in the political sphere as the following: When the woman is held to a higher and different standard than a similarly situated male, especially but not limited to issues that have no relevance to the race and that tend to diminish the woman's professional accomplishments by playing into gender stereotypes.

Specifically, here is a list of what I consider to be sexist behavior:

Coverage of a female politician that fixates on her physical appearance, pro or con. I admit that male politicians sometimes face this (Obama walking shirtless out of the Hawaiian surf got a lot of attention, and there was a lot of attention about John Edwards' shiny hair). And I think that some women have mixed feelings about this. After all, who doesn't want to be considered good looking? But, for many women, when they are in a professional setting, and supposedly professional media commentators place the focus back on their physical appearance, as a positive or a negative, it feels diminishing of their professional accomplishments. This works both ways, of course. Hillary Clinton has been viciously attacked by some on the right for supposedly not being good looking. That, too, is sexist, especially since unattractive male politicians are generally not held to this standard. If you think about it, good-looking male politicians also find their appearance the topic of discussion in many cases, but that's not true of unattractive male politicians. It's true in both cases for women. Simply put, appearance is not relevant to competence, so why are we talking about Palin's hair and looks?
Sexual-related comments about a female politician.
Blatant belittling of one's intelligence without evidence and in a manner not accorded to male opponents (i.e. saying the woman is stupid, needs a teleprompter, needs a lot of coaching, etc.)
Implying that the woman must not really believe her positions or must be under the intellectual sway of a more powerful male. (This happens in racism too. Consider how opponents argue that Clarence Thomas is a tool of intellectual white men like Antonin Scalia).
Double standards relating to motherhood; i.e., the female politician is asked questions about motherhood that her male counterparts aren't asked about fatherhood. (Why doesn't Palin stay home to take care of the kids? Hillary, why don't you want to stay home to bake cookies and hold teas?) The reverse is also true. It's also wrong for people to demean females who CHOOSE to stay home and raise their families. I personally believe that whether a woman chooses to be a housewife, a career woman, or, like Palin, a mixture of both, is her personal decision and debate about it really isn't relevant in a presidential election.
Slurs that are typically used to demean women but aren't applied to similarly aggressive men; i.e. when attributes that would be praised in a man are reduced to a negative in the woman (b-tch, nag, etc.). The Martha Stewart phenomenon. The tough woman is a b-tch, but the overly emotional woman is too weak to lead (women can't win sometimes!)
The woman is held to higher standards for intelligence/professional qualifications than a male opponent. (Palin is utterly unqualified, but Obama is then not?)
Diminishing of traditional female roles as being silly (the PTA, chortle, chortle, chortle. She was a housewife once, how pathetic, etc.). I don't know about you, but right now I am thinking about the woman, a housewife, who ran my child's Catholic Bible school this summer, and she was quite a force to be reckoned with. I'd love to pit her against Putin.
Emphasis on female roles traditionally seen as silly when discussing an accomplished, professional woman (she was a beauty queen 24 years ago!!!!!!)
Assuming incompetence. (she's a woman, so she won't be a strong leader, etc.)
The woman becomes defined by a single gender-related issue in a manner that males do not (consider how the abortion question is defining Palin, but doesn't define Obama or even McCain.)
Issues that aren't used against male opponents are magnified out of proportion against the woman. (Bristol-mania. I admit this one might be ideological bias more than sexism, but I do think it's caught up in Palin's cultural role as a "mother")
Invasion of the personal sphere and personalization/lifestyle focus of/on the candidate. In other words, covering the woman through the gauze of personality and lifestyle issues, rather than professional accomplishment. (Why are we talking about Palin's prenatal care and amniotic fluid again? It's creepy. Do we talk about Biden's sperm count? I admit that's a really creepy thought, and I do admit that Palin invited some of this by talking about her breastfeeding to People magazine. But still.)

Sarah Palin Sexism Watch

Monday, September 8, 2008

Bill Maher: Palin is a MILF and stewardess

6 comments:

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