Misogyny and the Media

It's the morning after Hillary Clinton suspended/ended her historic bid for the presidency, and as a woman and a member of "the media" I am compelled to look back on many months of election coverage and consider allegations that misogyny toward her candidacy was perpetuated by the press.

I was prepared to expound on the subject today but I've come across the following Letter to the Editor in today's Boston Globe, which I feel is a concise, articulate and powerful missive that couldn't be better put:

Assessing sexism

In response to Brendan Diamond's letter to the editor ("Charges of sexism sound like a whine," June 2), in which he reacted to Geraldine Ferraro's May 30 op-ed: The issue isn't a comparison of racism vs. sexism as much as it is about the responses to those attitudes. Sexism isn't the outright cause of Hillary Clinton's loss to Barack Obama, but to ignore it as a contributing factor is to be ignorant. Sexism is more subtle than racism.

The media and general public have nearly zero tolerance for racism, but sexism is laughed off or ignored. "Iron My Shirt" is funny, but you had better believe "Shine My Shoes" would be outrageous - when both should be repudiated.

Plenty of voters may simply like Obama more than Clinton, but many others have been vocal about how Clinton reminds them of their mothers, and that is why they aren't voting for her. That is misogynistic and sexist - and short-sighted, because no doubt they didn't become the great people they think they are without their mothers.

There is sexism everywhere - in the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and across America. Only a fool would suggest otherwise. CAROLINE CONWAY, Boston

Much food for thought here, I think.