MISOGYNY VS. HOMOPHOBIA....

MISOGYNY VS. HOMOPHOBIA. A (male) friend of mine in the political consulting biz mocked me for writing about the word "bitch" recently, and the way it is used as a slur to keep uppity women down. A lot of young men toss that word around without thinking these days -- as in, so-and-so is a "hot bitch," which is meant as a compliment -- but, as Janna notes, CNN's resident conservative jerk Glenn Beck is using it in the old-fashioned misogynist sense, and to virtually zero public outcry, except for the always observant team at Media Matters:

BECK: I don't want to sound like the old ball-and-chain guy, but Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president because -- am I wrong in feeling, am I the only one in America that feels this way? -- that there's something about her vocal range. There's something about her voice that just drives me -- it's not what she says, it's how she says it. She is like the stereotypical -- excuse the expression, but this is the way to -- she's the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean? She's that stereotypical, nagging, [unintelligible], you know what I mean? And she doesn't have to be saying -- she could be saying happy things, but after four years, don't you think every man in America will go insane? Is it just me? I mean, I know this is horrible to say, but I mean it not -- I would say this if she were Condi Rice and she sounded like that. Condi Rice doesn't have that grate to her voice. You know what I need to do? I need to talk to a vocal expert, because there is a range in women's voices that experts say is just the chalk, I mean, the fingernails on the blackboard. And I don't know if she's using that range or what it is, but I've heard her in speeches where I can't take it. [...]

BECK: Am I alone? Dan [Andros, producer]? Have you noticed that about her?

ANDROS: Oh my gosh, she could be talking about how she's giving every American a million dollars, and I'm hearing, "Could you take out the garbage now, please?"

When Ann Coulter called heterosexual John Edwards a "faggot," the blogs erupted. But when someone calls the Democratic front-runner, who is female, a "bitch," we get total radio silence. This makes me think my nightmare Democratic scenario may yet come true. Hillary could win the nomination, but be so damaged from a steady stream of misogynist attacks like this -- which the male activists of her party will agree with too much to fight back against -- that she will go down in flames. Bob Somerby is the only prominent blogger who sees that what's happening to Hillary is exactly the same kind of smear-job that happened to Al Gore. But instead of defending her against these misogynistic attacks, just in case she does actually win the nomination, the hordes who defended Edwards' honor say nothing, or smirk private self-satisfied smiles of agreement.

Well, here's a political warning for you: Be careful how you play this one. Women notice this stuff, and if the party's base allows for these kinds of attacks on its sole female presidential candidate, a lot of women will take it as an expression of that party's values and stay home on election day. I mean, why vote for a party that won't stand up for you? And believe you me -- no party that can't stand up for the honor of a woman who has been publicly insulted is going to be judged capable of standing up to terrorists, no matter how masculine its nominee may be. More likely, women will look at Democratic men trying to take advantage of these kind of attacks as undeserving of support, and a Democratic Party unable to stand up to such attacks as a party of wimps.

Hence, the efficacy of this line of attack for conservatives like Beck. It hurts Hillary, but it hurts the men around her, too.

--Garance Franke-Ruta