The Conservative Voice of Sexism
February 16, 2010
by Karen
|The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
Sexism does not recognize partisan differences and knows no political boundary. When you get down to the very essence of sexism, their attitudes and behaviors are eerily similar if not identical at times regardless of political affiliation: John Edwards(D) and Mark Sanford (R);
Hiram Monserrate (D) and Elliot Spitzer (D).
Now, Chris Mathews has long been the liberal voice of sexism. This past month or two, a conservative voice of sexism has emerged on the Fox News Channel named Glenn Beck. He has a long history of sexism. My research went as far back as 2005, but I had to edit this article because there were too many examples, and I am certain I did not find all of them. He does not understand why his behavior is offensive, “guys, you cannot figure women out. You can’t – you don’t know the psychosis that is chickdom.” While still at CNN, he said about Katie Couric’s promotion:
It was , you know, a chick broadcast.
So, do you have a suggestion for her sign-off line? ‘Cause I actually had a couple some listeners called in today. One was: I’m Katie Couric, goodnight, and remember your colonoscopy.
Couric’s husband died at age 42 of colon cancer, and she has since dedicated herself to preventing further tragedies.
Glenn Beck is perfectly honest about his misogyny. Also on CNN during the 2008 election, Beck referred to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton as a “bitch” When he was called out on his sexism, he replied:
I never said that Hillary Clinton was a bitch. I said she sounded like one…It has nothing to do with her policies, it has nothing to do with her personality, it has nothing to do with what she’s actually saying.
On his March 15 show, Beck had said:
Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president because … there’s something about her vocal range…There’s something about her voice that just drives me — it’s not what she says, it’s how she says it….She is like the stereotypical — excuse the expression, but this is the way to — she’s the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?
ABC’s Good Morning America granted him an opportunity for possible redemption:
“This is what I meant,” Beck told Shipman. “We were watching … a speech, and she had that tone of voice. She just sounds like — I can’t listen to it, because it sounds like my wife saying, ‘Take out the garbage.’”
“But what about the b-word?” asked Shipman.
“Here’s the thing,” Beck replied. “Calling her that, no. I don’t think I called her that. I hope I’ve never called her that. Saying ’sounds like the stereotypical’ — probably a better word was ‘nag.’”
He and CNN parted ways after the 2008 election. Then, he went to Fox News. The Fox channels have a tendency to adopt or at least consider adopting TV personalities who leave their original networks. Jon Stossel recently joined Fox, I think its Business channel. There were rumors of Conan O’Brian joining Fox, but nothing came of it as far as I know.
With this own series at Fox News, Glenn Beck again established himself as the conservative voice of sexism. It was subtle at first. He advertised his series with a Sarah Palin interview. During the interview, he asked her nothing of substance. In fact, he asked her nothing at all. She was gone as soon as she appeared. Apparently, he used her just for the ratings and then disregarded her. His sexism has steadily increased. The New Agenda has a video clip of him saying about Senator Mary Landrieu “I know you’re hooking but you’re just not cheap.”
From his behavior on CNN, we know how his behavior on Fox will develop.
Misogyny does not recognize political boundaries or socioeconomic boundaries. To combat sexism effectively, women must also set aside their political differences and set aside all other matters coming between us. Glenn Beck has treated Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama with equal sexism by referring to their place in the kitchen. He advised Obama about his wife:
Have her talking about cupcake recipes.
But while conservatives might cheer at Michelle Obama being out-of-sight, see how he scoffed at a hypothetical Palin-Beck 2012 ticket:
Beck: Beck-Palin, I’ll consider. But Palin-Beck…Can you imagine, can you imagine what an administration with the two of us would be like? What? Come on – she’d be yapping or something, and I’d say, ‘I’m sorry, why am I hearing your voice? I’m not in the kitchen.’
Glenn Beck doesn’t care what the political differences are. Women are women. The Fox News Channel should kick him out. Don’t wait years as CNN did.
If there’s anyone who makes my skin crawl more than Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann it is this man. Thank you for writing this, Karen. More than just a hateful lunatic, Beck is a blatant misogynist as well and it is unbelievable that he holds the position that he does.
Sexism really is a universal bipartisan force. It knows no party, worse, it’s sometimes the thing that will bring solidarity and bonding between opposing political views.
Beck is definitely someone who makes sexist comments, but there are so many of them, I almost think it would be easier to try and find a male pundit who doesn’t. The list is a lot shorter.
Since I have not been a long time follower of Becks, I did not know his history. Thanks for filling me in. I am boycotting his shows even though he does wonderful investigative work, which, as someone commented on a previous b blog, is probably mostly done by women.
Your raise an interesting point, Yttik. Acknowledging those male (and female) media personalities who actually are egalitarian and pro-woman would be interesting and nice.
That reminds me of this post by Melissa at Shakesville.
I like that she gave kudos to Jimmy Fallon and then later I thought of this when I saw Jimmy Fallon in Drew Barrymore’s pro-woman film “Whip-It”.
http://shakespearessister.blog.....jimmy.html
Thank you, Karen, for focusing in more depth Beck’s sexism. I sincerely hope that TNA will find it worthwhile to bring this to Fox’s attention in a way that they cannot ignore it.
I’ve watched Beck become this huge ego who thinks he’s the greatest, much like obama. Men like Beck cannot handle power appropriately. The important issues they report on begin to fade and everything is about them. Sadly, any good Beck was doing with the investigative work being done by his staff will be lost due to his hatred of women and his love of himself.
This is a great opportunity to point this out and recognize Greta Van Susteren, who does not get near the credit she deserves for her fair, balanced and non-sexist reporting. I’m sure that’s why Hillary has agreed to be interviewed by her so many times. We should publicly acknowledge and praise Greta and protest Beck. She deserves it and so does he.
Protesting these egomaniac male blowhards to the publicly held media companies that employ them is a waste of time. The men in charge of media do not speak English. The only language they understand is money/power. That is the language you need to use if you want to communicate with them. So shut down the flow of money. Start a boycott of the stations and contact any sponsors of the shows they are on pointing out your economic power. Also remember that these are huge conglomerates so attack their profits on their other businesses as well. For instance GE is the real company behind NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, Oxygen…….so stop buying GE appliances and let them know you are doing it.
How about a petition to tell Beck: Stop the sexism! Provide all the examples mentioned above in the petition and have him apologize or quit. I bet if we get enough signature he would talk about it on his show. He often speaks about people who are against him or what he says on his shows.
We can have a protest similar to our Burger King protest – write his commercial sponsors, write his show, write the Fox News Channel. That worked rather well. We can also contact O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, and others to call out Glenn Beck on his sexism.
I am sure he would talk about a petition from women and here is what it would sound like. “Hey I think I hear some yapping, oh yeah a bunch of fugly old feminazis are telling me they don’t like my show! Well if you don’t like it don’t watch it! I, Glen Beck am a champion for the constitution and first amendment rights, if it weren’t for me and my courageous stance against all things feminine the whole country would come unhinged! And my ratings are good so stop yapping at me!”
Hit his sponsors with a petition or go above him to whomever hired him. Money is the only language they understand so take that away from them.
If Beck speaks about those of us who protest his sexism, I bet he’ll be even more arrogant than he usually is. I don’t think he would admit to sexist remarks and would use his show to make us look like fanatics or overly sensitive females.
Anyone who puts down their own wife on national TV is not what I would call concerned about insulting or demeaning women. Since his ratings are high, it would have to be a protest against the sponsors of his show. If we’re lucky, he’ll not publicly make such obsene remarks about women any longer, but I doubt very seriously that he would apologize and the network execs are only concerned about the bottom line and, therefore, would not fire him.
I would also contact Greta, as well as Kelly and even Gretchen Carlson. Since O’Reilly tours with Beck, I’m thinking he would not want to call out Beck’s sexism (except in a jocular male sort of way, without alienating Beck). Unless, O’Reilly is jealous enough to put a dent in Beck’s armor on Fox, it’s a gamble to bring O’Reilly in.
I think keeping it amongst the women on Fox might have a greater impact because they have called out sexism against Sarah and Hillary and would be more sensitive to our concerns than then men are.
Does anyone know who Beck’s sponsors are? I can start making a list.
FYI – Elliot Spitzer, the New York Governor forced to resign when identified as “client #9″ during a call-girl/money laundering scheme was bust by the FBI, is a Democrat. David Peterson, his replacement who is a self admitted past drug user (thereby admitting to illegal activity, which ironically is the reason Spitzer had to resign), and adulterer is also a Democrat.
Hi me, just a reminder. I think pretty much everybody her agrees that insults against women are not limited to a certain party.
I guess I didn’t make the purpose of my post clear. I was trying to point out that the article has an error – it incorrectly identifies Elliot Spitzer as a “R” (Republican) and he is not. He is a “D” (Democrat).
Good catch me!
I don’t watch sexists. He is not as bad as Chris Matthews and Keith O. Those two pretend to be liberated men but are sexist. Glenn Beck at least is in your face.
Glenn Beck needs to be boycotted and either told to stop the sexism or stop having a show. Funny thing about advertisors they do not want to upset women who are after all the biggest consumers in this country and more then likely every other country as well.
Women just need to orgaize a huge boycott.
yttik, can you email me at Solarflare@att.net ?
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