Barack Hussein Obama (as he himself has designated as his official name for oath of office) will be sworn in this week as potus. As happy as we at FemiSex are to see the first black take office, we are also ineffably saddened by the sexism and misogyny that allowed his rise to power. Without the media’s constant hammering down of Hillary, we at FemiSex feel this would be a very different day. Because sexism played such a large part in Obama’s victory, that victory is tainted. Because Obama said nothing to stop the sexism that allowed his victory, he himself is tainted and ….vastly diminished.

The American press used its full armamentarium to bring Hillary Rodham Clinton down; it used comics, cartoons, late night comedians, subtle wording in news stories, blatant wording on broadcast television, pedagogical indoctrination to dress up sexism in such species as C. misogynist Hitches or C. bigot Olbermann; it used biased headlines and strategic story placements to whip of demagoguery; it used sexist species of C. hitchens and C. dowd to tell Americans Hillary was a “soppy white bitch”… and among this panoply of useful means to bring down women, the press used women themselves—giving only those who agreed to speak ill of their sex a voice for their sex. (For women in top edit positions, such as Joan Walsh at Salon, please…a voice so faltering in support of the female candidate is like a defense lawyer saying “my client ought not be put to death, just life in prison.)

Two things stand out in this election and the press coverage: One, the CONSTANT HAMMERING of any negative that reporters might find about HRC combined with the concerted effort to play down, and ignore the negatives about BHO. (for example, HRC’s misdemeanor of Bosnia sniper fire compared to Biden’s exact same offense. And if you want to tell me that negative coverage of Rev. Hate Wright equals negative coverage of Obama, I’ve a brige to sell you in Brooklyn. The press used Wright to whip away on while cooing over Obama’s smooth handling of the situation—so very presidential, he is!)
And…TWO:
THE CARTOONISTS. Most cartoonists are male. And the cartoonists made hash out of Hillary all the way through the primary season. If anyone dares stand up and say that the constant barrage of negative cartoons against Hillary played no part in the public’s conceptualization of Senator Clinton, I would say to them they are not only ignorant but utterly stupid--and dangerous. I would say they would have made excellent Germans in the early 40s and they would have fought civil rights tooth and nail in the United States in the 50s and 60s. I would say that denying obvious hate and bigotry is a sickness of character.

This week a reader wrote to remind FemiSex that women are not funny. Death by a thousand cuts is so very rarely funny. This week, so we will not forget the barrage of hate and ridicule the Fourth Estate (comedians included) unleashed upon HRC, FemiSex will feature cartoons of the primary season. Please feel free to send links to those we might miss—there are literally thousands of them.