“A Big Mashed-Up Bag of Meat with Lipstick on It”
October 16, 2009
by Jenn Q. Public
|The following piece is cross-posted with permission by Jenn Q. Public. Opinions expressed herein and those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Brazen misogyny is alive and thriving at MSNBC, and as usual, Keith Olbermann is serving it up with his signature sneering contempt for women. While honoring conservative author Michelle Malkin with the “Worst Person in the World” award, the frothing commentator ranted on Tuesday that without her “total mindless, morally bankrupt, knee-jerk, fascistic hatred,” Malkin would “just be a big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.”
A big mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it.
Attacks like these are designed to dehumanize the target by casting her out of her very gender, rendering her less than woman, indistinguishable from a “bag of meat” were it not for the facade of womanhood she paints on with her lipstick each morning. Makeup is deemed the only thing that sets her apart from an inanimate sack of undifferentiated flesh.
Compare Olbermann’s malicious vitriol to the “Bush in a skirt” line used repeatedly to slur Sarah Palin. “Bush” and “a bag of meat” are essentially interchangeable in the hateful minds of those attacking Palin and Malkin. And a skirt, like lipstick, confers only the trappings of femininity to the wearer, not authentic womanhood. The target is portrayed an “it” masquerading as female.
Olbermann’s vile attempt to reduce Malkin to a bag of faux feminine parts was only the latest episode in a career riddled with examples of rank misogyny. Among the highlights:
- Hoping for Hillary Clinton to concede the 2008 Democratic primary to Barack Obama, Olbermann told a guest they needed “Somebody who can take her into a room and only he comes out.”
- He named news anchor Katie Couric “Worst Person in the World” for her “promulgation of the nonsense that Senator Clinton was a victim of pronounced sexism.”
- He laughed encouragingly and cattily joined in as Michael Musto vomited forth a torrent of misogyny in an exceedingly nasty rant about former Miss California Carrie Prejean.
- A segment on the alleged assault of Paris Hilton included the onscreen caption, “A Slut and Battery.” Olbermann ridiculed Hilton, saying, “Paris Hilton claims she was punched in the face yesterday morning at a nightclub in Hollywood [pause] ‘Course she’s had worse things happen to her face …”
- And of course, who could forget the time Olbermann approvingly quoted Geraldo Rivera’s assessment of Michelle Malkin. “It’s good she’s in D.C. and I’m in New York,” said Rivera. “I’d spit on her if I saw her.”
Malkin responded to Olbermann’s latest diatribe with thick skin and a sense of humor:
In case you were wondering what kind of lipstick we big mashed up bags of meat wear, I prefer M.A.C. Lustreglass in Ornamental or Lipglass in Spite. Because nothing goes better with fascistic hatred!
Ridicule is a powerful weapon, but mockery alone won’t force Olbermann into the on-air retraction and apology Michelle Malkin deserves. Here are the email addresses for MSNBC Viewer Services, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and MSNBC president Phil Griffin. You know what to do.
viewerservices@msnbc.com
countdown@msnbc.com
phil.griffin@msnbc.com
Olbermann is just a pathetic wind bag who couldn’t hold his own in sportscasting so he had to go to spouting his brand of hate on his own show. Next he will be trying to buy a professional football team or something. Oops, my bad, that was Rush L. Wait a minute…I see a resemblance. Same hair care products, same vitriol toward minorities, maybe they were separated at birth?
When is America going to recognize that these men really have to be shown the door. Hate doesn’t look any prettier disguised with a Democratic or Republican party hat. They want to demean those who are not white and born with a penis. They do not add value to our society and should be given their pink slip. Maybe they could get a good job cleaning up toilets. They have been slinging crap around for years, it is about time that we made them clean it up.
His show is unwatchable. I can’t imagine what GE/NBC thinks it is doing by giving him a public voice. But you all can hit back at GE by not buying their appliances and NBC by not watching any of their channels and letting them know why. Again, money is the only language these men at GE/NBC speak. If you want to speak to them you need to use their dialect. You are however forced to subsidize the company with your basic cable payment because they own NBC, Oxygen, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo and I am sure others. So you might want to cancel your cable subscription and only download the content you truly want from sites like Hulu and stop paying your subsidy to sexists.
The target is portrayed an “it” masquerading as female.
Wow. This is the best description I’ve heard of this kind of rhetoric. Great post.
I want to see Republican women launch a full blown war in retaliation for this crap and get themselves elected all over the country.
Since I’ve been a Democrat for 30 yrs, you would think I’d want to see female Dems roar across this nation. The problem is I only know of a couple Dem women tough enough and with the spines needed to really upset the cart. I’m so angry, I want Anne Coulter’s, Michelle Malkin’s, to really take over the country and get in people’s faces. And under their skin.
yttik, you have company.
Bes,
It’s all of the major networks. ABC had Gibson peering down his nose at Sarah Palin,NBC/MSNBC with the likes of Spittle Tingle Matthews and Hateful Ohlberman…I also boycott products that support these people.
I’ve already cancelled the cable in my home and started using fancast or hulu. I also don’t buy music or go to the movies of women bashers. The movie industry attributes the decline in ticket sales to the economy. I’m more certain that it has to do with how political the actors of Hollywood have become. The Palin bashing/Obama worshipping might have contributed as well.
Most women of significant power are bashed in this country. Hiliary,Sarah, Michelle Bachmann,Caroline Kennedy,etc. Instead of getting better, it’s become worse. It also starts by example from the top down. Obama has no parity in his administration. His wife is paraded around showing off her toned arms instead of actively participating . Why should we expect any more than what we already have?
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