We all know sexism is alive and well in America. Hollywood’s seemingly endless celebration of the chubby, schlubby, slacker dude is sexist as hell, given that chubby, schlubby, slacker girls get nowhere in Tinseltown, least of all the big screen. And yes, much of the media’s coverage of Hillary Clinton’s campaign was sexist too—and I wasn’t even a Hillary supporter, so this isn’t just a P.U.M.A.’s bitterness talking.
The latest accusation of sexism in the media comes from Governor Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidential nominee for the McCain campaign. Her supporters, her spokespeople, and conservative commentators like Bill O’Reilly assert that she is the target of sexist smear campaign. This is surprising for two reasons: 1) O’Reilly has consistently pooh-poohed claims of sexism in the past and 2) wasn’t it only a few months ago that Palin said Clinton should “stop whining” about sexism herself? Keep reading »