Sunday, March 16, 2014

Misogyny Among Republicans Is Nothing New

Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel echoes an article he saw in the Waukesha Freeman that involves a bit of trivial gossip one might expect from a tabloid.  The story involves Fitzwalkerstan's most notorious groper, Bill Kramer (emphasis mine):
A month before he was ousted as Assembly majority leader for sexual misconduct, Kramer said Gov. Scott Walker might face a tough fight against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke later this year.

The Waukesha Republican thought it a good idea to focus on Burke’s appearance, according to the Waukesha Freeman.

“She’s innocuous, she has no record to beat him with and now that she’s had her makeover, she’s attractive, she’s a woman.” Kramer said on Jan. 31. “But maybe it doesn’t matter who she is. People already know what they think of Walker: love or hate.”
Again, this is nothing surprising. Kramer has a well-known history of making misogynistic and sexist remarks.

Nor is this the first time that the right wing has gone after Burke for her appearance.

Last fall, Bice's fellow Journal Communications employees Charlie Sykes and Brian Fraley were making comments about Burke's looks, calling it an "extreme makeover."

And sexism and misogyny from the right is nothing new.  I wrote about it six years ago, pointing out how the right has an extraordinary propensity for objectifying women.

It should be noted that it's not only Burke that has to put up with this boorish behavior.

Wendy Davis, a gubernatorial candidate in Texas, has not only had to have comments made about her looks, but the right has gone as far as attack her on her parenting style.  That is something that no male candidate has had to experience.

Likewise, Alison Lundergan Grimes, who is taking on Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, has been repeatedly attacked with sexist remarks and has been sexualized by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

I could go on for days citing examples of the rampant sexism and misogyny among Republicans - and that is not counting all the rape culture idiocy that they are so very proficient at.

Ironically, Bice said that Kramer's comments "were offensive at the time," but were now "illuminating."  Neither of those descriptions are accurate.

Kramer's comments were offensive and still are.  The offensiveness of his comments did not go away.

Likewise, they are not illuminating.  They are just one more example of the sexism and misogyny that have become so sadly commonplace that people don't even recognize it as such anymore.

And that's got to change.

3 comments:

  1. Anti-women policies have been a Wisconsin Republican mainstay, and income inequality among American workers has become staggering.
    Who can forget Glenn Grothmann, pushing a bill repealing the state’s 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which allowed victims of workplace discrimination to seek damages in state courts. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker signed the bill in 2012. Statistics show that women are the primary or co-breadwinner in two-thirds of American families.
    Paul Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which protected women from being denied equal pay for equal work. Ryan also is anti-abortion even in instances of rape and incest, wants to destroy Planned Parenthood, and is against the health care law's provision for insurance companies covering birth control costs.

    Sean Duffy's campaign gave a telling glimpse of his apparent disrespect for women, running an ad through the Young Guns Network that portrayed women as indecisive and only focused on which candidate is "cuter."

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  2. Seriously? Chris Liebenthal -- of all people! -- is condemning personal attacks?

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    1. Really, Blaska? How is attacking the open misogyny of Republicans the equivalent of the misogyny? You right wing thugs are hypocrites to the end.

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