Sexist Media Images Redux

We undoubtedly are going to have some levels of disagreement about the Newsweek cover photo of Michelle Bachmann and about whether Tina Brown–by choosing an unflattering image of the candidate–was trying to grab headlines or chose to ignore a sisterhood moment.  I have to admit that Michelle Bachmann is a difficult person in general to stand up for, and I’ve been fighting my natural tendency to think that since she’s crazy it’s okay to use a photo that captures it. But, I have to say after watching the media portray female candidates in a variety of truly sexist ways, I can’t say any more than I think this is just a photo that sort’ve captures that moment when she did her alternative address to the nation after the state of the union address.  She’s dressed in a suit which is better than the running outfit photo that kept showing up all over the place for Bachmann’s tea party pal, Sarah Palin.  Bachmann’s not Photoshopped so we’re clearly aware that she’s an over-50 woman with her share of wrinkles.  There is only the title that seems a bit over the top.  That would be the  “Queen of Rage”. Still, Bachmann’s thing is being angry at every thing and every body so is that a sexist mis-characterization?

The “Queen of Rage” headline is where things get interesting. Is that accurate? To a degree, in the sense that Bachmann’s primary appeal is to the GOP’s angry wing. Her constituency is the resentful, the conspiracy-minded, the get-government’s-hands-off-my-Medicare crowd (this applies to Bachmann herself, who personally profits from farm subsidies and Medicaid payments while decrying the tyranny of government spending). If you’re looking for a sensible, experienced manager, Bachmann is not your candidate. What’s interesting, though, is that as she stokes and profits from angry voters, she is extremely careful to keep a smile on her face. If Newsweek put an unflattering picture of Sarah Palin on its cover, you can bet she’d be whining about the lamestream media and their campaign to keep her down. But Bachmann hasn’t said a thing about the Newsweek cover. She knows there’s nothing to be gained by complaining, and the controversy is actually great for her.

Fox News jumped into the fray immediately and made hay with the fact that NOW came out against Tina Brown’s choice of cover photos. This undoubtedly puts a good size notch in Brown’s journalistic belt.  Conservative blogs are all over the NOW statements. These folks had nothing to say about the treatment of Hillary Clinton, but when it’s one of their own, they immediately become politically correct.

One of presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s major political opponents is defending her against what it says is blatant sexism on the part of Newsweek magazine.

Monday, the National Organization for Women (NOW) spoke out against Newsweek’s most recent cover, which features an extreme close-up of Michele Bachmann and the title “The Queen of Rage.”

“It’s sexist,” NOW president Terry O’Neill told TheDC. “Casting her in that expression and then adding ‘The Queen of Rage’ I think [it is]. Gloria Steinem has a very simple test: If this were done to a man or would it ever be done to a man – has it ever been done to a man? Surely this has never been done to a man.”

While some have pointed out that Newsweek has used unflattering photos of men such as Rush Limbaugh and John McCain on its cover, O’Neill says that is not the issue.

“Who has ever called a man ‘The King of Rage?’ Basically what Newsweek magazine – and this is important, what Newsweek magazine, not a blog, Newsweek magazine – what they are saying of a woman who is a serious contender for President of the United States of America…They are basically casting her as a nut job,” O’Neill said. “The ‘Queen of Rage’ is something you apply to wrestlers or somebody who is crazy. They didn’t even do this to Howard Dean when he had his famous scream.”

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