How Feminism Has Actually HARMED Women
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. - Oscar WildeOnce upon a time, not all that long ago, women were treated differently than they are today. They were put on a pedestal, they were(mostly) treated like they were priceless objects, things to be protected/treasured. We were certainly not subjected to the treatment that Carrie Prejean is getting today at the hands of "men" like Keith Olbermann, Michael Musto and (of course) Perez Hilton. Ms. Prejean, you will recall, is woman who was asked by Mr. Hilton (in the Miss America pagent) her stand on same sex marriage. Ms. Prejean, gave an answer that Mr. Hilton did not approve of so and rather than show the tolerance that he demands out of people like Ms. Prejean, he went on a one "man" crucade to defame Ms. Prejean just for having an opinion. Not to be out done, Mr. Olberman and Mr. Musto turned the soundstage of MSNBC into a junior high school locker-room. Kevin McCollough has some of the "high"lights.....
It was obvious that ettiquette was not a class taught at Cornell Ag- School (from which Mr. Olbermann graduated college). Then again, maybe that is why Mr. Olbermann got along as well as he did with the jocks when he attempted sports reporter.....that is how low the discussion turned.Their criticism was beyond just differing on points of substance. Like pigs they wallowed in rhetorical feces, smeared it on their faces, as well as each others, and then belched it out across the airwaves.
On Friday night Musto, in particular, was extraordinarily girlish and cowardly:
"She's dumb and twisted, she's sort of like a human Klaus Barbie doll..."
"This is the kind of girl who sits on the TV and watches the sofa..."
"She thinks that innuendo is an Italian supository..."
"This girl is a ding-dong, I didn't even like her earrings..."
"Perez is the new me. Using the "C" word is something I would do..."
"Carrie Prejean really is getting something off her chest, but what she should get off is the price tag there..."
To be fair to Messrs Hilton, Olbermann and Musto, they were not the only "men" who were doing their best to harm Ms. Prejean's reputation simply for truthfully answering a question. The fine folks at the Miss California pagent released Ms. Prejean's confidential medical records to the press (without her permission which is a HIPAA violation).
What, you may ask, does this have to do with feminism? It is simple...one of the core tenants of feminism is that women be treated the same as men in all things. Once upon a time, if a "man" had attacked a woman in this manner, the real men in her life (brothers, boyfriend, significant other and father) would have come to the defense of this young woman. They would have spoken out for her and challenged Hilton, Olbermann AND Musto to make those accusations about her in front of MEN who would defend her. Shoot they don't even have the intestinal fortitude to say these things to Ms. Prejean's FACE! Instead they hide behind the petticoats of punditry, flinging scurrilous accusatons against a woman that they do not want simply because she answered a "gotcha" question honestly. Today however, thanks to "equality" Hilton, Perez and Musto can claim that they would talk about anyone that way so there is nothing "special" about their mistreatment of Ms. Prejean. It's ok - she's our equal - she can defend herself.
Through out this whole sordid incident, Carrie Prejean has handled the slings and arrows that outrageous queens have thrown at her with a grace and aplomb that shines through the pettiness. Maybe, in the long run, that is the best defense that anyone could ever give her.
Labels: Carrie Prejean, Intolerant Liberals
posted by The Lady Logician at
3:53 PM
10 Comments:
Prejean is a public figure, "fair game" for criticism (to quote Karl Rove, who destroyed Valerie Plame).
So like it or not, we now know about her subsidized boob job and her gay rights activist sister. And "opposite marriage" has entered the lexicon.
By
rmwarnick, at 10:14 AM
Boorish behavior is "fair game" as long as your picture has been in the newspaper? We definitely should step up the investigative vetting process to find out which beauty contestant supports whirled peas!! We have licensed jerks and crude buffoons to "defend us from the unenlightened", and all's fair? How low we have sunk.
By
Speed Racer, at 12:37 PM
Hilton & Olbermann are dirtbags. It's nothing more complicated than that. Calling them journalists is an insult to serious people who want to get important information out.
As for the 'fair game' argument, that argument's appearance coincided with shock jock radio. It doesn't have anything to do with serious journalism.
I hope Ms. Prejean sues the Miss California pageant for releasing confidential information. I hope she wins alot of money in the lawsuit & gets the person who leaked this information fired.
By
Gary Gross, at 6:33 PM
First off Richard - it has been PROVEN that Karl Rove did not out Valerie Plame - DEMOCRAT Richard Armitrage DID!
Second - Valerie Plame inserted herself into politics by recommending her hubby for that assignment. Carrie Prejean did not ask to be brought into this political debate. She just honestly answered a "gotcha" question!
Third - releasing the medical records is a violation of FEDERAL LAW!!!!
Your comment just goes to underscore the comments I have been making of late about the hypocrisy of the left - who on one hand says "it's none of your business what elective surgery I have" when we talk about abortion, but as soon as someone who dares to disagree with your worldview it's all A-OK to dig gossip about elective surgeries or "get out of my bedroom you nosy Christian fundie" and then out someone who disagrees with your worldview.
Thanks for confirming all of that for everyone Richard.
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 8:22 PM
Karl Rove indisputably used the term "fair game" when he went after Valerie Plame, who was a covert CIA agent at the time and not a public figure.
According to Chris Matthews: "I just got off the phone with Karl Rove. He says, and I quote, 'Wilson's wife is fair game.'"
Prejean, by contrast, is a public figure and she is riding a wave of publicity. She really is "fair game," like any other pop culture phenomenon. I don't see any sign that she is as thin-skinned about this as some on the right who are whining constantly.
By
rmwarnick, at 10:42 AM
Chris Matthews is about as reliable and unbiased a source as you claim "Faux" News is Richard - and that still does NOT speak to the fact that Rove never "outed' her - Armitrage DID.
Also, this still does not address the point of the difference between Plame and Prejean. Did Carrie Prejean ASK to be drawn into a political debate? NO - Perez Hilton drew her in. Meanwhile, Valerie Plame chose to insert herself into the politics by recommending her hubby for the Niger job. a totally different set of circumstances Richard and you know it!
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 10:42 PM
Why do you conservatives think the cop out of "ooooh biased source" wins the argument? It's really just the weak person's out.
Anywho... there are few people in the justice department who you should inform of your PROOF that Cheney didn't out Plame. They'd be glad you called with this whopper of a revelation.
And to your original point, it's ridiculous. You are asserting that women should regret getting the right to vote, inching closer to equal pay for equal work, and a generational culture shift away from women being viewed as property to be owned and traded, all because some moron was getting attacked verbally by another moron?
Sheesh, LL, just when I think you can't tie yourself in any more complex a set of illogical knots than I've already seen you do, you go and surprise me with something like this.
I miss the days when I could take you seriously and enjoy the debate. Since the election, the only thing I get here is a good laugh, and I have the Daily Show for that already.
By
Jason The, at 2:10 AM
Richard - I feel obliged to also point out the apparently not so obvious (to you anyway) FACT that no one called Ms. Plame a "b*tch" or a "c*nt" or twittered about any elective surgeries she had or accused her of being a transexual (which I thought to your side was not a bad thing). Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove criticized her on the items of the substance of the issue - instead of resorting to boorish, curlish name calling. Which it seems is something that you and Jason have not figured out yet.
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 8:13 AM
No shame left to be had in the media today....
"I said, baby, do you have no shame? She just looked at me, uncomprehendingly, like cows at a passing train." - Don Henley, If Dirt Were Dollars
By
Speed Racer, at 1:19 PM
All I meant to do was recycle Karl Rove's famous "fair game" quote, which BTW was also the title of Valerie Plame's book.
You chose to bring up the details of the Plame case, which was not at all a substantive issue debate. It was the destruction of Valerie Plame's career as payback for Ambassador Wilson's op-ed revealing how Bush lied about Iraq's nonexistent nuclear weapons.
We still don't know if any CIA contacts lost their lives as a result of Plame's blown cover, but it's a distinct possibility.
If you insist on comparisons, then you have to admit that the Prejean culture wars flap hasn't done any damage to our national security or led to any deaths. It was a beauty pageant, not a political campaign.
By
rmwarnick, at 3:22 PM
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