Sexism Sells- But We're Not Buying It

Sexism Sells was created by the Women’s Media Center so that the public could become aware of the portrayal of women in the news media. This negative portrayal is exhibited through many news shows and sources. The video provides several clips of male, and sometimes female, news anchors and contributors talking about Hillary Clinton and other women in a negative way. Interspersed are quotes from powerful women throughout history, speaking on how being in the female gender has affected their lives. The stigmatization of women is pressing in their quotes, and shows that this issue is not in the past, no matter how much it is being ignored.
The main focus of the attack is on how the news media portrayed Hillary Clinton during her reach for Democratic Party ticket nominee. Obviously, the video is outdated, but it is interesting to think about whether or not this video had any impact on the race against Obama. Of course, this is almost impossible to measure at this point.
The news media, although many times presented as a neutral source of information, is incredibly slanted, in this case as a sexist source. In the clips provided, Clinton is portrayed as a nagging bitchy wife, who has no experience and needs her husband’s permission to get things done. This might sound strange, but Hillary probably had to make some decisions on her own while she was in Congress.
It is funny, and by funny I mean disgusting, in reading the responses to this video that many men were upset. Most of the responses bordered on misogyny, and the message was simple: women are not in control and have no power because they are not working hard enough; if women want to get ahead they have to try harder. These responses, though the responders probably do not think this, are the message that the video is aimed at. If women are referred to as “hos” and “bitches” and the focus is on their cleavage and their hair care, than their experience and expertise is side-lined.
In no way am I saying that Obama stole the election from Clinton, but that the media portrayed Clinton as a heinous woman, and chose to focus more on her gender than on any of her other qualifications.