New Echoes Video: Progress for Women?
August 11, 2009
by Bill Silver
|The author’s views are his own, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
My wife has edited a new video. That means I’ve rendered, compressed and uploaded a new video. And — oh yeah — I watched it. I was taken aback. I had watched her video of sexism during 2008, but that was an election year. I expected that things would have returned to normal this year. Well, if this is normal, we’re in a pretty bad place. And the comparison between how things are today and how things were 50 years ago is striking. See for yourself:
Progress in 50 years? Some to be sure, but I’m stunned at the extent to which it’s gotten worse. We now have more women in public office and other positions of authority, and there seems to be some vague sense that women ought to have the same opportunities as men, but the vile sexual humiliation hurled at women in the public square is worse than anything I can remember in the 50 years that I’ve been around.
And these women are just trying to be public servants. It’s not like they’ve been caught operating ponzi schemes, stealing from the public till, taking steroids, committing securities fraud, or running major corporations into the ground at public expense while getting paid huge bonuses. The men who’ve done those things are justly vilified, but only for what they’ve actually done. But the women in the video have done nothing but hold opinions that some don’t like, or acted in ways people admire in Vince Lombardi and George Patton and Bill Gates, for example, but find unbecoming in women (assuming the characterizations are even accurate).
What we have here is Roman Coliseum-style entertainment pretending to be political commentary. We love our blood-sports, and sexual humiliation of women is grand fun. It’s not like any of this has any conceivable value as public debate of the great issues of our times. And it’s just so easy, because so few men and women seem to care. Why should they? Even the National Organization for Women doesn’t much seem to care, and doesn’t seem to care at all unless the woman being attacked meets a litmus test of views.
After watching this video, I understand better than ever what a vital role there is for a non-partisan organization speaking up for women. Congratulations to The New Agenda on your one-year anniversary. Go girls!
This is excellent. Thank you so much. After watching the media ridicule Hillary Clinton all day long over her righteous response to sexism, this clip is just what I needed.
You know, Howard Kurtz might run some of this on his Sunday show.
Really nice job on the film. Both of you obviously put a lot of work into it.
“And it’s just so easy, because so few men and women seem to care.”
I am not to blame for those people’s remarks.
I want a safe, interesting life. My three daughters, my two granddaughters, and my great granddaughter want the same thing–or will as soon as they are old enough. All three of my daughters have full time careers as does my granddaughter. We discuss the inequities, insults, and other issues, as well as ways to manage them. My focus to help them receive enough education to support themselves and be financially independent, and to keep them safe.
I look at the men on the screen and listen to their comments, and it is unpleasant. Even awful. They are my enemy. The people I don’t want my family to even know exists. But we do support women candidates and feel good about women included in the hate crimes bill. I write letters voicing my objections to certain behaviors, etc.
I would like more research into such behaviors–why are some men so different from most women? How much is genetic? How much cultural? How much can we change? How much can we safely ignore?
I want discussions about what it is and whether change is possible. I already know how bad it is.
I did like the film, though. Sort of sums up so much.
Excellent video. What’s striking is how many political women have been affecting by misogyny and across party lines.
One very poignant scene from the 50′s sitcom is the little boy at the end who tells his dad that they have won and have put “women in their places.” Now those little boys (and little girls who watched it all happen) are all grown up and look how they are acting in our media.
[...] Great new video by The New Agenda’s Judy Silver. [...]
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