Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I'm so becoming that crabby woman who writes angry missives

It's a little frightening, actually. So many things in the news have been teeing me off as of late. Maybe I just need to step awwwway from the computer. And the TV. And the newspaper.

Now, don't get me wrong here. I don't like Sarah Palin (I guess I shouldn't put it that way...maybe she's a nice person. But I don't *support* her.) I don't want her to ever be president, or VP for that matter. Ever. Never ever. She's not my cuppa. Clear?

But.

Treatment like this by the press both annoys and offends me as a woman. As a human being, for that matter. (If the link doesn't work, it's a Yahoo! News/Reuters article about a Vegas strip club that hosted a "Sarah Palin Lookalike Strip-off.")

So effing sexist.

I have no problem with the stip club having their fun. That's what they do. Fine. But for a news organization to report it nationally (along with some T&A pics, of course!) is just un.freaking.believeable. No wonder we Americans are so ill-informed. Syria? Who cares? Unrest in Congo? Zimbabwe collapsing? Huh? Whatever! Let's see some boobies!

So I shot an email off to Yahoo saying this:

How disappointing to see this sexist article on Yahoo News. I'm not a fan of Gov. Palin, but neither am I a fan of this kind of "reporting."

and got this reply:

...Please note, Yahoo! News does not write or edit any of the news on our site. If you have comments about the tone, angle, accuracy, or coverage of a story, please address them to the news provider directly.To identify the provider of a story, look at the upper-right corner of the page where you read the story. You'll see a graphic identifying the provider.

What? As if they have no responsibility to what gets on the news pages ON THEIR SITE? No way to edit or select topics? Just tell that to the users of Yahoo China.

Argh! I'm so sick of the inherent sexism in our news. Just like this. There are many reasons to mock Gov. Palin. No shortage! But her sexuality is not one of them.

Rant over. Whew, I feel better.

12 comments:

Janna Leadbetter said...

That's very upsetting. Not that I commend it in the least, but they couldn't even wait until AFTER the election? We're a week away, people. Show some class.

They'd never do such a thing with a male candidate.

Signed,
In-a-Funk-Already Janna

SarahMarian said...

I loove the righteous feminist indignation. Bet yahoo didn't know what hit them.

WendyCinNYC said...

Yahoo will close my email account and take my address book with it in retaliation.

Ok, yeah, probably not.

Sorry to further your funk, Janna!

Debra Lynn Shelton said...

Wow, Wendy, I just watched the You Tube video. HOLY CRAP!!! It really is amazing the deep-seeded prejudices against females and minorities that are still so prevalent in our society. I, for one, tend to feel we've moved passed a lot of this BS, but apparently, I'm wrong. Hopefully, with Barack as President (from my lips to G-d's ears) these prejudices will soften, since I doubt they'll ever disappear. And, don't forget, venting is healthy!

Brian Jay Jones said...

We've had to turn the television off in our house. I was yelling at it far too much and too loudly.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Wendy, I'm glad you sent them a note. Even if they claim no responsibility for the content on their site (wtf?) at least they heard your complaint. I just hope others wrote in too.

Things like this make me glad I only see things that I seek out. We have CNN International but only watch it when there's something specific we want to see. Otherwise it's only the links I click. I wish candidates personal lives didn't matter so much, but there should be a level of dignity - I mean, how does she explain that to her children?

WendyCinNYC said...

Debra--I can't even watch that video without screaming like a crazy person at the monitor.

Seems that Brian and I share the same penchant for yelling at screens.

Melanie--I felt like I had to write them, even if it made no difference whatsoever.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Shall I call you Maxine? :)

Yellow journalism and trash "reporting" is the norm these days. Best to check sources and also some not mainstream news. *barf bag, please*

WendyCinNYC said...

Angie--I'll respond to Maxine, sure!

colbymarshall said...

I totally agree...why choose that ever, but especially since there's such an endless list of better options, lol

Joanne said...

Too often it's becoming difficult to think this is the new millennium. How far we've come in 2008.

Anonymous said...

Wendy - I want to say something supportive, but don't know what to write. So, um, yeah. What you said. I agree.