Saturday, October 8, 2011

Was Scott Brown's Comment Sexist? No - and It's a Disservice to Everyone to Describe It That Way!

Official portrait of Senator Scott Brown                            Image via Wikipedia
Scott Brown's "Thank God" rebuttal to Elizabeth Warren two days ago amused some and offended others.  But to me, the most striking element of the entire exchange was the immediate reaction by many that Brown's comment was sexist.  

The MA Democratic Party circulated an online petition demanding Brown apologize for his "sexist remark."  TheWashington Examiner's Phil Klein agreed the comment was sexist and argued that no Democratic senator could have same the same thing about a Republican woman.  The president of the National Organization for Women accused Brown of a "sexist misogynistic attack" and should withdraw from the 2012 race.   The blogosphere blew up with similar comments.

There was nothing sexist in Senator Brown's comment.  Juvenile?  Certainly.  Unnecessary?  Probably.  But not sexist - that's critically important.  Merriam-Webster defines sexism as "prejudice or discrimination based on sex."  What part of Senator Brown's statement differentiated between men and women?  If Rush Limbaugh, for example, had challenged Brown from the right and had made similar comments, do we really think Brown wouldn't have fired back the same way? 

We can have all the arguments we want about whether his comment was constructive for this race.  Many of us probably believe neither his comment nor Ms. Warren's provocation was fitting of a Senate campaign.  But we shouldn't go around calling such comments "sexist" when they aren't.  It cheapens the meaning of the term, and, worse, it disrespects those who've faced true sexism. 

No comments:

Post a Comment