This will be brief. A diary on the rec list about McCain and Sturgis had some comments that were misogynist to the nth degree. Okay, there will always be those who don't think before they post. I get it. But...

I'm going to be upfront before I begin this: this is going to be hard for me to write. As a young woman who went through all the typical traumas and dramas of growing up in America, I, like many women, have seen and experienced violence against women. I'll be the first one to admit that the topic of rape is an emotionally charged one, a subject that lends itself to flying off the handle, irate reactions and, sometimes, even tears. Let me also preface this with the admission that I am not exempt from this.

But I still was not prepared for the backlash of misogynistic comments on my blog from Wednesday, entitled "1 in 3 Military Women Raped, and Apparently the Pentagon Doesn't Think It's A Problem."

I debated whether to post these videos, especially considering we as a community want to avoid a level of lewdness that would make this site inappropriate for office viewing. However, considering the lewd nature of the Starr Report   and the fact that the Republicans believed this material was enough to base the impeachment of a President, I thought it appropriate to offer up for consideration what exactly John McCain was hoping his wife Cindy, a potential First Lady, could participate in. In addition, if Barack Obama had ever suggested that he wished his wife could participate in such contests, it would become the basis for the Republicans' entire campaign against Obama.

Therefore, as I warn in the diary title, some of these video are not just sexually suggestive, but one verges on sexually explicit. I link to the video that goes beyond sexually suggestive and you will have to sign up for YouTube access to these clips.

Digg it!

John McCain is a misogynist pig.  

When he's not joking about how they like to be raped by animals he's making misogynistic jokes about Chelsea Clinton and the US Attorney General.

And he doesn't even respect his own wife, whom he dubbed a trollop and a c@nt.

But, not content to do that, he now has trotted his blonde heiress wife Cindy (is he trying to play Rick Solomon to her Paris Hilton?) in front of the crowd in Sturgis, S.D. to pander to some good ol' fashioned red-blooded Americans.

The details below the fold.

A NY Times article by Kara Jesella covering the BlogHer Conference and bemoaning the fact that women bloggers are not taken as seriously as men bloggers was consigned to the "Fashion and Style" section.  Because, you know, the chicks are all about fashion and style and not about serious writing or reporting or other things like that.

The lead paragraphs are about men's rooms converted for women, "nurturing messages" posted on walls, makeovers and massages.  Because any article about women -- whether in business, sports, blogging or whatever -- has to be about this stuff.

UPDATE: I see that Geekesque has already diaried on this, so I'm changing the topic of this diary to a simple question on the subject: Where, exactly, is the "joke" part?

So lessee...John McCain:

...has repeatedly voting against women having control over their own bodies;

...has voted against insurance companies covering birth control but for Viagra;

..has held a fundraiser at the home of Clayton "If rape is inevitable, women should just lie back and enjoy it" Williams (h/t to AggieDemocrat in the comments);

..made a tasteless joke about Chelsea Clinton being ugly (while she was a teenage girl) and Jane Reno being a guy, in public;

...has also, according to various sources...

...called his wife a c*nt, to her face, in front of reporters.

As many folks know--because the MSM wouldn't let you not know--Al Franken told some nasty, disgusting and genuinely offensive jokes back in the day.  Worst of all, while brainstorming for a skit, he threw out the idea of including rape.

I'm not going to defend that.  Why would I?  It was wrong, and he should have to repent that kind of garbage.

And he's taken some political hits--because the Republicans have gone on the attack, and the media has gone along with it.

Which is fair enough.

But, that makes the media's complicity in John McCain's hatred of women all the more galling.

John McCain has said even WORSE things than Al Franken has ever dreamed.  Including his own doozy of a knee-slapper that you'll have to read to believe.

More below the fold.

Our local newspaper the Austin American Statesman has a 'blogging' section that I recently became aware of by the lurid right wing headlines featured on the frontpages of their daily online edition.  Authors have the ability to 'approve' comments which means that right wing bloggers don't publish any comments that make their 'arguments' (and I use the term loosely) look bad.  

One blogger who caught my attention in particular was a blogger who goes by the name 'Nogirlemen' and uses a picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger as his Avatar.  Besides the homophobic/misogynistic undertones to his name (essentially nofaggots or nosissies) Nogirlemen spends a lot of time spreading disinformation under lurid headlines.  'Obama is a coward,' 'Obama's weakness with Whites,' etc. He also refuses to accept comments refuting his point of view, so I decided to take action.

Cross-posted at Feminism in 2008 Election and Beyond, Obama--Criticism and Support

Warning: pedantry ahead. Let's distinguish between misogyny, misandry, and sexism. Misogyny is hatred and disdain for women in general. Misandry, hatred and disdain for men in general, is probably the most underused word in political debate. Although a lifelong feminist, I have always loathed knee-jerk male-bashing and defended men against stereotyping all my life. Wikipedia has a decent definition of sexism: "Sexism is commonly considered to be discrimination and/or hatred of people based on their sex rather than their individual merits."

I struggle greatly with my own misogyny. I was much more comfortable being the only girl in my political science classes at Fordham than attending an all girls Catholic College in my freshman year. I credit my 5 younger brothers and 5 young uncles. My four daughters might have contributed to the misogyny too:) Working in the women-dominated fields of librarianship and social work has been a terribly bad fit for me with dire economic consequences.

Watching TV yesterday and today, I saw the gasbag pundits talking about how many former Hillary voters are considering voting for McCain because of the sexism in the campaign. I even saw some of these so-called Democrats who think McCain should get their vote, spouting their nonsense with assists from troublemaking Republicans.

It's both laughable and shocking. As Hillary herself said, let's get real, folks.  McCain is perhaps the most misogynist candidate since...hell...probably the 19th century.  You worried about sexism? Let's look at McCain's record.

One of the major concerns about Jim Webb being VP is his 1979 Washingtonian Article "Why Women Can't Fight," his calling the Tailhook scandal "a witch hunt," and the fact that he's on his third wife. This is often thought to pose at least a perpection problem that could alienate Hillary supporters and other women. However, it seems that perhaps this record could be swamped by McCain's much worse record on treating women.

Not only do we have his smears of Chelsea, his abandonment of his first wife, his tacit approval of referring to Hillary as a b****, we have his inglorious moment of calling his wife a c***. This last moment is brilliantly and wickedly highlighted in a new satirical video: here.

(Don't forget to rate the vid if you like it!)

Also discussed in this huffington post story.

Who's going to get the votes of Hillary's women supporters, McCain or Obama? That's one of the key questions campaign handicappers are trying to answer.

If McCain really does tell America tomorrow in his energy speech in Houston that what America's need to do is drill for more offshore oil, he ought to lose those female votes forever. Here's why: it's a measure of his misogyny -- his hatred of the female.

What's lifting the federal ban on drilling for oil in offshore waters got to do with it?

Follow the progress of the uber-masculine Republican drill-drill-drill campaign that has unfolded over the last week, and you'll have your answer.

I consider myself to be reasonably literate.  If I don't understand something, there's a good chance that it's either a specialist's language or I'm being deliberately buffaloed.

So, I was doubly disadvantaged when Fox News ran an in-your-face visual that called Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama" and then apologized for using this chyron.

What's with the baby mama insult?  What does it mean?  And a chyron?  What's that?  A figure of speech?

The media, with no small amount of nudging from Hillary Clinton and her supporters, is in a period of self-reflection over whether they, and the American people, have been misogynist.  Chris Matthews has been cited, as has (inexplicably since they are women) Randi Rhodes (who I reject and denounce as crass and ignorant, but not sexist) and Robin Ghivan (whose commentary on Clinton's cleavage was just plain bizarre, but not surprising in an age where candidates underwear and tattoos are also covered) as well as the "Iron my shirts" heckler and the case of the junkstore Hillary Nutcracker.  There are many other examples worth exploring, debating, and probably denouncing, as well. (h/t to dhonig)

However, what has been missing from the commentary is any consideration that Michelle Obama is a woman too.

While I still believe that the Hillary supporters who are threatening to vote McCain will see the light, it is still important to try and convince them that doing so it nothing more than cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

Now while this incident is 10 years old, it is still of interest, I think.  See below the fold.

Before I start, I feel it necessary to say I am a woman in my 50's, a feminist, and an Obama supporter for a long while.

Now that that's out of the way, I'd also like to say that there has been sexism shown during this campaign. In fact, I was one of the many thousands of people who wrote to MSNBC and Chris Matthews for this comment made by Matthews.

"The reason she’s a U.S. Senator, the reason she’s a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around."

I'm happy to say that as a result of that outpouring, Chris Matthews abjectly apologized on January 17th.  

Was that the only occasion of sexism?  No, but probably the most blatant.     I think the larger point made by some of Hillary's supporters is sexism is pervasive and that is the point I'd like to heartily refute.  If it was pervasive, we'd have been shown more than an occasional example.  

First, Obama won, fair and square.  As I have said from day one, I will support our nominee, and I support Obama.  But people, enough with the revisionist history. All day yesterday, and ongoing this morning, our front-pagers have been hypothesizing "Why Clinton Lost."  Only one even attempted to be completely honest, and Trapper John got completely trashed in the comments for pointing out that misogyny had even the slightest part to do with the election results.  On the other hand, Georgia10 was roundly applauded for citing a single study that ignored the media's obvious misogyny. Others, pointed out that she did not so much lose as Obama won, because he of his transormational message, his modern campaign, and the energy he created in his supporters. All true, but clearly not the whole story.

I published a diary yesterday in which I acknowledged my respect for Senator Clinton.

I also  attempted to explain why I would never be able to trust her.I cautioned Obama supporters it would be counter-productive to put too much stock in her conciliatory concession speech Saturday.

The outrage my dairy touched off was surprising to me. I reflected on the reasons. I am definitely not sexist as my three incredible daughters and 16 grandchilren will attest. So what was it?