BlogHer - gender bias in media - Comments

On sexist language and journalism

WVFC — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:44:15 -0500

It's not just the language, but the details featured in stories about her. One of our contributors, Diane Vacca, wrote an excellent essay about the portrayal of Sonia Sotomayor in the media.

It has been noted that Sotomayor’s history and that of Justice Alito
are occasionally tangential. Both went to Princeton, but only Sotomayor
graduated with (highest) honors. She also won the Pyne Prize,
Princeton’s highest undergraduate honor. Both went to Yale Law, and
both were editors of the Law Journal. Yet Alito’s intellectual prowess
was never called into question before his confirmation hearing.

Read the full essay here.

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Great post

KWest — Sat, 30 May 2009 12:52:35 -0500

One of my personal favorites is being called "Missy."

Do I seriously look like a "Missy?" I didn't think so.

And you're absolutely right, not only are the sexist vocab words crawling out of the woodwork like earwigs & mealybugs, but the Latin Factor is definitely a visible component to the "isms" being applied by the media.

Thank you so much for putting voice to what you're seeing here - too many have succumbed to the numbing power of the mental backwash of the last eight years "government."

--Kate

The Feminine Paradigm

tjsmith — Fri, 29 May 2009 14:18:07 -0500

It is the greatest challenge for women taking leadership roles in our culture! The perceptions based on tradition and a media fed image of women are the slowest things to change. A woman who is intelligent, blunt and quick witted will so often be viewed on the public stage as pushy or strident when a man would be seen as frank, with a dry sense of humor. And the saddest part is the number of women who share this bias.

TJ Smith