Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh recently called out Georgetown University Law student Sandra Fluke for being a “slut” for publicly advocating student birth control rights should be covered under her Catholic institution’s health care plan.The media coverage of the incident exploded overnight.
Political commentators right and left were quick to call out Limbaugh’s sexist flub, causing him to lose a significant amount of endorsement deals. He soon after released a half-hearted apology for his unacceptable behavior.
No woman — private citizens and public celebrities, politicians and businesswomen included — should be subjected to such degradation, especially in the public eye. There are no “warranted causes.”
It was right for women’s rights activists to push back at Limbaugh and call attention to his sexism.
But what we have seen in recent years is a horrible track record of so-called feminists offering selective support for their fellow women. We don’t always protect our own, and we are only creating more problems for ourselves by neglecting to do so.
We have often stood by silently, occasionally joining in, as liberal-leaning and “feminist” men in the media have degraded conservative women for their values and policy goals.
They have been called bitches, witches, crazy girls and she-devils. Their bodies have been (figuratively) dissected irrelevantly, as if their bodies somehow influence their politics, and they have relentlessly been forgotten by their own gender.
We are quick to throw away female politicians who do not fight for abortion and contraception rights, and are even quicker to label them in demeaning ways.
But what we don't realize is that it hurts the credibility of all women when even those who don't fit the bill of the stereotypical feminist, like Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, are not taken seriously.
We, as women — and I have been guilty of this as well — have been quick to deem them as submissive anti-feminists that work against the cause of equality. We throw them away without consideration.
When was the last time a commentator labeled a male politician a “bastard?” If it happens, it’s rare. Men who have strict or sly policies are called tough, hard or determined.
Women with similar goals have simply been called bitches.
Even here on campus, we give other girls the once-over in passing and are quick to label them as promiscuous based on what they are wearing, or based on a five-second snippet of a private phone conversation.
But demeaning ourselves in such a way, even jokingly, only feeds the double standard we say we are desperate to eliminate.
Calling a classmate a slut means her worth as a woman is defined by her sexual choices, and we are more than that.
So, women, stop hurting your own credibility by choosing who is deserving of respect and who is not.
We need to stand together, women and men alike, and stop undermining the push for respect and equality by deciding which women deserve to be more equal than others.