Sexism is in the air: Martha Coakley called Ice Queen and Mean Girl
I guess a historic candidacy deserves a historic level of sexism. As potentially the first woman Senator from Massachusetts, Martha Coakley is undoubtedly in for a world of good old fashioned sexism in politics.
And thanks to a Boston Herald columnist, Martha Coakley has already been served her first large helping of it.
Recently, Martha declined to answer a campaign finance question during a press conference. Unfortunately, Boston Herald columnist Lauren Beckam Falcone saw this as an opportunity to hit Martha with sexist rhetoric, calling her an “ice queen” and “mean girl.” And, maybe my favorite, “Mean Martha.”
Does anyone call President Obama names when he declines a reporter’s question? Or even any male politician for that matter?
Aside from the pure absurdity of the use of middle school insults (and Glee phrases?) to describe a Senatorial candidate, perhaps the most disheartening aspect of this attack is that the name-calling is coming from a woman. A woman who tries to use the same sexism she’s employing to draw pity upon the fact that a female reporter was treated “as if she’s invisible.”
I get that a columnist has to be “edgy” and “creative” in their writing…but, Ice Queen, really? Isn’t there a line somewhere between a catchy post and tearing down your own gender?
As Women for Coakley points out, these kinds of incidents don’t just hurt Martha Coakley—they are detrimental to all women. In response to the column, Women for Coakley decided to focus “on the women whom this incident actually hurts: women who have no newspaper column, no press conferences, no voice.” They go on to write that:
This hurts the single mother with no healthcare who needs her viewpoints represented in healthcare debates. This hurts the female office worker who hears men in the next cubicle laughing about the headline and wonders how she can possibly ask to be paid as much as her male colleagues in such an environment. This hurts the female engineer who wonders how she can ask her co-workers to tone down the sexual innuendo of office conversations and the unwelcome comments about her figure without being labeled an “ice queen.” This hurts the idealistic teen girl who is inspired to study government and to someday run for office, but doesn’t know whether our society really accepts powerful women.
Through this column, the Boston Herald and Lauren Beckam Falcone have effectively told women and girls that there is no place for them in elected office because if they run, they’ll be ridiculed. Ridiculed not even for their policy or ideas, but merely for being a woman.
How long will we as a society allow these kinds of archaic sexist insults to continue? Ladies, haven’t we come further than this?
Tags: boston herald, ice queen, martha coakley, mean girl, sexism, Sexism Watch, sexist attacks
This entry was posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 5:55 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 21st, 2009 at 1:00 pm
[...] I was saddened to hear about the recent sexist attacks against Martha Coakley, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins. [...]
October 21st, 2009 at 1:03 pm
[...] Sexism is in the air: Martha Coakley called Ice Queen and Mean Girl Fight sexist attacks against women in politics [...]
October 27th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
[...] some people so sexist that they can’t differentiate one woman from another? Terms like Ice Queen and Mean Girl are bad enough—but now Sarah Palin has been made a stereotype by the virtue of the fact that she is one of only [...]
January 4th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
[...] of course, politics is not free of these dichotomies: Sarah Palin is hot. Hillary is mean. Martha Coakley is a [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Gimme a break… why are you all whining about a media person’s treatment of Martha! It was ANOTHER WOMAN
who admonished Martha for her repeated smarminess and
“mean girl” attitude. Take it for what it is: if you
think the woman should be elected, quit whining about
her treatment.
Take it like a Man… if you can’t stand the heat, get
out of the election.
Pathetic… pathetic… you all put the feminist movement
backwards.
SHame on you GALS!!!!!!
January 7th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Give me a break. Women should protest sexist attacks on women, regardless of the source or the target. Yes, politics is a dirty business, but some tactics are considered below the belt and usually backfire against the attacker, at least when the target is a man. For instance, Dick Cheney can get away with implying the President is weak on terror, but imagine what the reaction would be if he called Obama a pussy.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:38 am
Yes, thank you Aletha! The mere use of the phrase “take it like a man” completely negates your argument that fighting sexism is taking the feminist movement backwards. It’s attitudes like yours that are poisoning us and allowing the misogyny to continue. It makes me really sad that you don’t see how damaging these kinds of attacks on women are. I urge you to re-read the post, because it counters every point you made.
January 17th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
[...] surprisingly, Coakley has been treated with sexism from the start, been analyzed on her “babe factor” (for real) and she gets nothing but grief for being [...]
January 20th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
[...] be too emotional, that makes you seem weak. But don’t be too cold, that makes you an Ice Queen. Definitely don’t focus on your gender, but don’t ignore it [...]
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:14 pm
[...] finance question in early October, Boston Herald columnist Lauren Beckham Falcone deemed her an Ice Queen. Imagine the way this rather catchy nickname was spun in the mainstream media and in the online [...]