Why We Won the Letterman Battle
June 18, 2009
by Amy Siskind
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As we close the chapter on the Letterman episode, I think the people of our country can declare a victory. Did we get it just right, no; but did we move the ball forward, absolutely yes.
Perhaps the most important take away of this fiasco is that the American people are no longer willing to remain silent. We took collective action to say no more. Women and men from different political parties, religions, races and sexual orientations were able to join hands and unite. We drew a line in the sand and said that this type of talk about our teenage daughters was not acceptable and we would not stand for it.
Now I know some of you felt that Letterman should have been fired, so perhaps you are not thrilled with the outcome. But I believe that we made some important progress here and won an important battle, while we continue to wage the ongoing war against sexism in this country.
Our collective actions were responsible for two major sponsors dropping out. Our voices were also the reason David Letterman apologized not once, but two times. The second apology was sincere and included the type of verbiage that our country wanted and needed to hear. These both are progress and we should all congratulate ourselves and take stock in what unity can accomplish.
And to put our victory in perspective, I again encourage you all to watch the video Where’s The Line to remind yourself of what the women leaders in our country were exposed to in 2008 – women of BOTH major parties including Cindy McCain, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin and Nancy Pelosi. And think about the power of our collective actions in 2009. We took action last month on the Pussy Galore video featuring Nancy Pelosi and within 24 hours it was gone. Our collective actions ARE working!
But again this is a war on sexism not a single battle. We hope that you have found a home here at The New Agenda and that you will join at our side as we work to eradicate the roots of sexism in this country. This is not a task that will include immediate or short-term gratification so be prepared. This is a long-term battle that the people of this country must unite to fight for the benefit of the next generation – our daughters and granddaughters. Rest assured that The New Agenda is in it for the long haul!
As we move forward, I want to take a moment to recognize all of the incredible new allies that The New Agenda has made in waging this battle. You all know who you are – the organizations, blogs and individual who pitched in and joined us in the fight. We were able to find the commonality that brought us together and take collective action. To name a few thanks to: JBritto, Heather, Rebecca and our friends at Conservatives4Palin, Gwilym who is working to educate Hollywood on sexism and placed our article as a 2-page ad in the Hollywood Reporter and so many more. And of course to our members who worked so hard in writing emails and calling sponsors, blogging, and spreading the word to friends, family and neighbors.
We hope that you will find a home here at The New Agenda. As of yesterday, June is the busiest month ever on this blog as we have welcome so many new faces. We hope you are here to stay. Please join us as we continue to spread our wings as a national organization and set things right for the women and girls of this country. Onward!!!
I too was very impressed with the collective community rallying against Letterman’s joke and his half apology. TNA is making a difference, and I am proud to be affiliated with the organization.
Until Mr. Letterman actually has teenage girls as guests on his show, and not just celebrity teenage girls, I don’t think he had done enough.
http://dailypuma.blogspot.com/.....erman.html
I do agree that Letterman saying something was better than nothing.
Amy, I’m not so sure we “won”, as you call the it, the Letterman Battle. I listened to his second apology and I still don’t detect any real sincerity, just a lot of confusing talk about perception and intent. He still tries to say he did no wrong, that it was a mistake, not an intentional slur. I liked his 2d apology on the one hand, but I just don’t think he’s admitted to what he really did with those jokes about Willow, Bristol and Palin, and with complete intent. He’s not taking responsibility for his own deliberate debasement of women and girls.
I am amazed at the great outcry and thank the goddess for TNA because, for example, NOW still hasn’t made a peep, or at least that I know of. And I don’t expect anything from MS after that posting of Obama as a feminist.
I agree with the two disgrunted previous posts. Letterman hasn’t done enough. Or perhaps it’s CBS who hasn’t done enough. I’m sick of hearing this mysogynist stuff on TV and in the media day in and day out. I’ve had it up to here. A slap on the wrist to Letterman and his promise to “not do it again” just doesn’t hold water for me.
I think he should be fired.
NOW did speak out. I will be more impressed if we get this bipartisan outcry whenever a woman is wronged – Palin is a darling of conservatives, so grabbing a larger majority was easy. I’m not sure they saw her as a woman, but rather as a Conservative. Remember, the NYT backed off its criticism of Palin the minute her camp complained. No such luck for Hillary Clinton.
Hard to view the matter as our having won after reading Leonard Pitts’ column this morning. He apparently did a recent column on hate crimes, spurred by the killing of the Holocaust museum guard. Pitts was responding to a reader who criticized him for not mentioning Letterman’s jokes on Palin’s daughter.
After calling the joke in poor taste (you think?), Pitts claimed it didn’t display hatred because the target of the joke had been – get this – conservatives! That’s right, raping 14 year old girls is somehow a matter of conservative vs. liberal politics. And the clueless Pitts somehow missed that it was both liberal and conservative women speaking out together that forced Letterman’s apology (such as it was).
So there we have Big Media’s framing of the whole matter – it was all whiny conservatives complaining about a bad but harmless joke. Perhaps TNA can direct a little butt-kicking Pitts’ way.
We would have “won” if Letterman was fired. If Al Sharpton can get Imus fired for what he said, then Letterman should be gone too!
My point is, racism is still viewed as more repugnant than sexism and the consequences are much more significant. Dave still doesn’t get it and sad to say, a majority of men still don’t get it either. The strain of sexism is so pervasive that it’s become almost an unconscience act that is more difficult to get rid of than a crack habit is. Has anyone read some of the comments on the various blogs by men in response to this protest? It’s clear these men are not accepting the reason for the protest, but are viewing it as simply women overracting. The mindset is still that men should define how women should feel, act and dress and any woman that defies their definition is just being a “b__ch”.
The only reason “Dave” apologized was because CBS was losing sponsors. It wasn’t about acknowleding that women should be respected, it was about the bottom line, which always gets the attention of most men! IMO, all we won was to get Dave to be more subtle in his attacks on women and sent men back to the locker rooms to express their disdain for women.
When such behavior, even the hint of such behavior, is viewed the same way it is when such behavior is wearing a racist coat, then I will believe we have made “real” progress in our journey to be viewed as equals by men.
Victory does not happen overnight. Let’s recall that in the fall of 2008, much, much worse stuff was said and done to Sarah Palin and her family and there was barely a peep. We are making significant progress. This will be a long-term war so fasten your seat belts!
I realize that the result here is not nirvana for some, but we are making progress as the Next Wave starts and we put our foot down to say enough is enough!
Marilyn, I disagree- To me when liberals see a conservative woman or a conservative black man, all they see is conservative( ie see comments Sister of Ye above-about Pitts article). Several Black men ran for Senate and as Governors but not a peep of support from even Black Organizations because they were conservatives. Palin doesnt get a heck of a lot of support among conservatives as most of them see her as” not one of them” no ivy league credential, no beltway job, no money( ie Katleen Parker comments). What Sarah brings to the table is normalcy- middle America. A middle class lady, mother of five, a working class husband, second rate colleges etc. And the conservative East Coast Elite hate that. So the conservatives havent done Palin a big favor although some pundits ave. Most of the time we they speak of GOP hopefuls her name is left out etc. She is a darling of out of the beltway average people not the conservative mainstream
I abandoned NOW last fall when they failed to cry sexism against the slings and arrows thrown at the Governor. They failed to again with Carrie Prejean. I stopped all donations and will be supporting the New Agenda (terrible name) . Did we win? I think so. I will be shocked if the Palin “jokes” continue from any one for fear of the same kind of backlash. I am sure Olde Dave has learned his lesson and I doubt the word Palin will cross his lips again. We can but try. Its going to be a long battle and part of the fight will be continuing to boycott CBS, Letterman’s sponsers, Bill Maher and HBO for his “jokes” about women and girls. And so we beat on…. .
Sherp,
O man, I’d love to go after Bill Maher. I’m with you.
Amy,
I appreciate your post regarding the Letterman issue. While reading, I couldn’t help notice the comments listed above from Sherp and dianet.
If you or any of your readers @ The New Agenda are interested I’ve linked to articles I wrote earlier in the week @ Big Hollywood.
How Bill Maher, who is a misogynist in my book, got a pass on his vicious comments/jokes is beyond me.
http://bighollywood.breitbart......man/print/
http://bighollywood.breitbart......ess/print/
Continued success, health and keep up the good work.
I was reading that a Republican Senator from Oklahoma refused to meet with Judge Sonia Sotomoyar today. Very unprofessional on his part. I doubt he would have done this if the Judge was a make. Another example of sexism. I will be emailing my protest to his office and I am in Sin City.
Jimmy, post some emails to comment on Maher.
The smartest thing you all did was frame the argument from the beginning before the MSM could do it for you. You framed it as a joke about statutory rape against a minor (which it was!) and then kept that framing in the mass email, phone and letter writing campaign. Well done! As a mother of two young daughters, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
imustprotest on June 20th, 2009 9:52 am: “The smartest thing you all did was frame the argument from the beginning before the MSM could do it for you. You framed it as a joke about statutory rape against a minor (which it was!) and then kept that framing in the mass email, phone and letter writing campaign.”
See. Now here’s the problem with this entire debacle and why it actually turned into a losing battle. The entire point should have been, “Misogynistic jokes are wrong.”
But that point was was lost. Why? Because it was stupidly “framed” into a losing debate about firing a man over making “statutory rape jokes against a minor”… which he did NOT make. Despite your insistance that he made a rape joke, he did not. Even the Governor knows he did not. But some people keep hanging on to that losing battle cry. (???)
Once it was explained, accepted and fully understood by all parties involved that the joke was NOT about the 14 year old, it quickly became a non issue. Why did it become a non-issue? Because the arguement was framed around the wrong issue. And sadly, that is where a slam dunk wining battle was in fact lost.
-JC
[...] But then I think about an act earlier this year when David Letterman did make inappropriate jokes about Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter, and in reaction WE MOBILIZED! We joined forces with many wonderful organizations such as Conservatives4Palin and spoke out loud and clear. And hey, Letterman DID apologize, not once but twice. We won that battle. [...]
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