We've all heard about the controversy between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his opposition in the next election, Alison Lundergan Grimes. NSRC junior staffer retweeted an offense video of Grimes with her face superimposed over that of "Obama Girl" and the shit storm ensued. Jesse Benton, the campaign manager for McConnell said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday that the McConnell campaign does not condone the tweet and that it shouldn't have been sent. An NSRC spokeswoman also called the tweet, "extremely offensive" and assured the country that the staffer responsible had been disciplined and that they had taken steps to ensure this sort of thing never happens again. Talk about damage control... kind of. Some Republicans have actually acused Grimes of using the tweet a a red herring in order to avoid talking about the "real issues." Still no word on whether or not they realize that mocking an opponent in such a manner is distracting from the "real issues" that they love so dearly. (Side note, have you ever noticed how the "real issues" is a term people love to use when they want to get back to whatever they want to talk about, a sort of red herring in itself? People often love to throw that around as a less obvious way to redirect conversation away from something uncomfortable). One McConnell supporter really seems to sporting an itch in her asscrack about this alleged distraction: Ellen Williams. The former state Republican Party Chairwoman is legitimately lashing out against Grimes for her offense at "some tweet" and accusing her of making a "big deal" out of it. My response? Yeah, maybe she is making a "big deal" out of it, AS SHE SHOULD!
Hear me out: Women have been fighting for hundreds of years to be respected as individuals and as equals. Not as just someone's daughter, wife, mother, or sexual object. Alison Grimes has just as much right as any man to get out there, kick some ass, and fight the fight she truly believes in. And she should be able to do so without feeling objectified, derided, or essentially negated as a person for her gender. Because that's what has happened here. Someone said, "Sorry Alison, I don't care for your politics, so I feel the need to make a mockery of your entire gender." These are the sort of messages young women everywhere are getting; that if you try to break through and follow your dreams in a largely male dominated field (or any field, even) you will be treated as a joke and subjected to humiliation and ridicule not because of your talent, but because of your chromosomes. It's not just Alison that is owed an apology, (and I mean a genuine apology, none of this "I don't condone blah blah blah" nonsense) it's women everywhere. We matter. Our sexuality is not something that you can make a joke out of and then blame us for "making a big deal" out of. This is a perpetuation of the misogynistic claims of "female hysteria". Yeah, that male driven diagnosis didn't die in the early 20th century and if you think it did you're kidding yourself. I will not be shamed into silence with the looming threat of the "C word" That's right: crazy. Hysterical. Over-reaction. I'm taking a stand. I won't stand idly by while Grimes or any other woman is being bullied and shamed for reacting. It is not crazy to demand respect. It is not crazy to expect equality. It is not crazy to rail against constructs that prevent these basic human rights from being achieved.
It's time for sexism to be ridiculed and derided. It's time for us to say that is enough is enough, and we're ready and willing to stand up for change.
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