... and from the Weather Desk ... Showers of Sexism about to sweep across the country ......

[Stinky The Clown]

Keep your antennae sharp and tuned, boys and girls.

The Democrats DARED to insall a woman in the country's Number 3 chair. The Democrats DARED to install a woman in the role of putitive head of the party.

In Testosteroneville, heads are exploding (you figure out which heads).

The Waves of Sexism are about to hit us. It will be subtle .... but very intense.

When you hear a newsreader on teevee talk about it, look at the newsreader's hairstyle and lips. If the hair is long and the lips have gloss, assume the newsreader to be a woman. And if you make that assumption and then hear sexist bullshit coming from her mouth, write her and ask her to fucking stand up for what's right.

When you hear a newsreader on teevee talk about it, and the newsreader has a darker shadow below the ears, beside the mouth and below the chin, assume the newsreader is a man. And if you make that assumption and then hear sexist bullshit coming from his mouth, write him and tell him to just shut his fucking pie hole about shit of which he knows NOTHING.

[Debau2005]

1. Agreed!

Luckily I think we have chosen the right woman for the job!! I am sure she has heard sexist remarks throughout her career, and knew that she would hear them now. I hope that she keeps her head high, and does the job we know she can do.

[donsu]

2. true

nt

[blondeatlast]

3. But it will be cleverly obscured, let us count the ways.

Off the top of my delicate blonde head:

1. Does Pelosi have the "leadership skills" (MSMSpeak for courage, they would use a more sexist term at the bar) to bring the "conservative" and "liberal" (MSMSpeak for Democrats) factions together?

2. Will she "be willing to reach across the aisle/work with the president, etc." (MSMSpeak for "Is she a b****?)

Edit: And don't forget the imporatance of framing it as a QUESTION. Sig lines are off, but most of us know what Jon Stewart said about the question mark.

Please do share yours!

[laheina]

6. One of the major print media had captioned a pic of Pelosi

with the brand of her suit--along with some commentary on color selection.

Let's also not forget all of that "angry Hillary" stuff that they were pushing after the '04 election.

I'm sure that we could come up with quite a list.

[Cerridwen]

9. Ooo, Ooo, can I play?

Every "mistake" she makes will be analyzed ad nauseum; every success will be glossed over or framed as a loss.

Every move she makes will be analyzed down to dots on 'i's and crosses on 't's.

Pictures will show her in the worst light. She will look "tired," "angry" or small.

Her choices for office furniture, clothes, hairstyle, makeup and diet will be discussed ad nauseum.

There will be comments about her "looking tired" in order to suggest the job is too much for her.

Anytime she has a disagreement with another woman it will be called a "cat-fight" or words to invoke the image of cat-fight.

Her tone of voice will be frequently described as angry, shrill, hysterical or grating rather than passionate, firm, etc.

If she is persistent on an issue she will be described as being stubborn, pugnacious, unbending, unyielding rather than focused, persistent, determined, etc.

If she does compromise she'll be labeled weak, inefficient, wishy-washy, etc.

And, finally, she will be responsible for single-handedly "feminizing" the Democratic Party and liberals.


edit: typo

[Stinky The Clown]

10. You've already been playing the home version of the game, I see.

Man oh man, did you nail it!

[Cerridwen]

12. 'Fraid so...couple of decades worth of playing...

I've even been honored to have been on the receiving end of some of those attacks over the years.

Add sterotypes about red-heads to the list and I could turn your hair gray with the things that have been said to me, about me, about my friends and co-workers and on and on.

Nothing like women in positions perceived as powerful to bring out the hatred and poison.

The sad thing is, the same attacks are effective decade after decade after decade. Against women, against African-Americans, against Hispanics, against the working class, the poor...same insults, always effective and always insidious in how they effect even "the good guys" and become part of the "common knowledge" and "common phrases."

[Stinky The Clown]

14. The pro version of the game is being played out even as we discuss this .....

Gates, the Iran/Contra-involved former CIA head and faoved crony of Poppy will be confirmed with nary a whimper cuz "the president should be able to pick his own people' but Nancy Pelosi 'is a loser, incapable of leading her party' because she didn't get Murtha.

Its on teevee wall-to-wall.

[Cerridwen]

15. Oh yeah, and all the headlines about her "defeat" on Murtha

with barely a word as to her unanimous election to Speaker.

The next 2 years look to be almost as painful as the last 26 or so.

[blondeatlast]

11. Damn. Your statement about the photos is dead to rights accurate.

I'm thinking back to the photo of Man-on-Dog at his concession speech and the young girl crying.

Lord knows I have no sympathy for Santorum, but the photo editors definitely had a choice about which photo was published.. They don't call them "editors" for no reason.

Your post should be must reading here because many DUers tend to fall for the MSMSpeak all too often.

[Cerridwen]

13. Pictures tend to be the most insidious.

They appeal to emotion rather than logic. They are harder to dispute because the "photographer didn't mean anything" by it. It's more difficult to discuss "framing the debate" when it's a pictoral.

"A picture may be worth a thousand words", but the emotions they engender are legion.

[immoderate]

20. The word I catch most often is "shrill."

It seems a male can't be shrill, but women who are assertive...

--IMM

[badgerpup]

25. I would categorize Limpballs as 'shrill', now that you mention it...

...the words I used before were 'bombastic', 'haranguing', 'blustering', 'hectoring'...
but I think that 'shrill' sums him up BEAUTIFULLY. :thumbsup:

[immoderate]

27. I can see that.

Never say never. :)

--IMM

[blondeatlast]

16. Madame Speaker will be addressed by her first name.

Third in succession to the President, and she'll be... Nope, I just can't do that to Ms. Pelosi. So disrespectful; the pundits never call women as Ms., Mrs, or Miss and/or they refer to them by their first names.

You never hear them talk about Trent, but you will hear them talk about, well, I refuse to go down that road of referring to her by her first name.

:mad:

[Iris]

29. You forgot - "What will she be wearing when. . . "

[Skittles]

4. bush led the way when he referred to THE DRAPES

HARDY HAR you f***ing incompetent piece of SHIT

[blondeatlast]

5. But you know damn well he didn't come up with that on his own.

It came directly from the tax-exempt think tanks.

Once our gang gets doen with their offices, maybe they can work on Pickles' wardrobe.

On second thought, why even bother? :evilgrin:

[sutz12]

7. Funny, I didn't think it was all that "subtle."..nt

[blondeatlast]

8. "Cleverly obscured" might be a better phrase. nt

[blondeatlast]

17. Once the honeymoon's over, the media is going to start

beating the crap out of Madame Speaker (I just LOVE the sound of that phrase. Madame Speaker!).

Therefore, a :kick:

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Yep. "HE'S assertive" "SHE'S a bitch" are generally applied to similar behaviors.

But I do not look forward to the coverage. Already, I've heard Pelosi's Armani suits mentioned several times. Aren't there men in Congress wearing Armani suits? I'd think there must be but I've never heard "Senator Joe Blow, wearing a dark blue Armani suit" or the like, have you?

[blondeatlast]

19. It's more like "He's a strong leader" vs. "She's overbearing."

The worst part is that I think it's often unintentional. They just have a different way of looking at women in power.

[mopinko]

21. nancy pelosi- grandmother.

fuck that shit.

[The Count]

22. "Are you suggesting the Queen do housework???" Dr Who putting in place

a British red neck in last week's episode....

[Autonomy]

23. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

or weatherwoman.

[puebloknot]

24. I am a woman, and I basically agree.

However, I intend to be gender blind when it comes to Nancy. It's good we live in a time when a woman *can* ascend to high office, if she is qualified to lead the nation. I would not vote for either Hillary or Nancy unless I see that they have the "right stuff." They don't have to wear mannish pinstripe suits and sensible shoes, either. But I do hope that Nancy will cease and desist using her phrase about her "grandmother's voice" to keep the unruly kids in line.

I have my concerns about Nancy Pelosi, but I'd sure rather be entertaining those concerns right now that the ones I've had to think about over the last six years.

Nancy is the focus of recent news pieces, using her to say she's not in control over the Murtha affair, and asking, "When are the Democrats going to ever get their act together?" When have they asked that about the Republican excuse for a government in the last six years?

I admire your passion for calling and writing and letting them know we expect fair and balanced coverage. And be prepared to quote chapter and verse about what that is. Right now, there *is* no definitive guide!

[loyalsister]

26. The real bullshit to watch is stuff like this

First off, NARAL is right on on this one. My point here is that Emery knew exactly what he was doing when he made his outrageous claim in what he knew was a do-nothing report. He also knew who he would offend the most and that in the current climate, where women are gaining power (McCaskill and Pelosi), more "uppity women" being "shrill" (I'm putting an intepretation of the avg conservative) about something related to anti-immigration taps into the rural white mans burden- where Republicans lost a couple of seats.
He's trying to make sure that the white men keep control of the chamber. This guy is reeling in and lining up the Democrats re: the sacred majority, whether they know it or not.
Point is, they actually have a subtle political baragining chip in the exploitation of sexism.

<snip>
"A report from a Republican-led Missouri House committee argues that illegal immigration is partly the result of abortion and a “welfare culture,” findings that Democrats called ridiculous."

<snip>

“The lack of a traditional work ethic, combined with the effects of 30 years of abortion and expanding liberal social welfare policies have produced a shortage of workers and a lack of incentive for those who can work,” the report said. “Today’s growing affinity for government dependency has created a class of potential employees who are not eager to work.”

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/16005664.htm

The Special Committee and its pro-life contingent need reminding that women’s function is not to create drones for the state and that all children have a right to be wanted by their parents.

We call on Speaker Jetton and Chairman Ed Emery to retract the committee report that has made the “Show Me State” the “What’s That? State” to the rest of the thinking world, and to apologize to the women of Missouri for demeaning them as brood mares for the state.

http://www.prochoicemissouri.org/politicalupdates/press/200611151.shtml

[Iris]

30. and when will they ever learn that as long as we maintain a society where having

children is at best extremely difficult that more and more women will opt to not have children.

Funny how these discussions never include anything about expanding family and medical leave policies or ensuring that all families have access to quality childcare and education.

[blondeatlast]

28. Kick for the weekend. nt