Why It’s Ridiculous To Call Bernie Sanders Sexist

[gobears10]

"Finally, the reason these claims should make you angry is the fact that sexism does exist. There are pay gaps all across this country. Women who are beaten are ignored in many places. Rape is so stigmatized that women often don’t report it. Supporting women’s rights and calling out true sexism is so important that someone characterizing a progressive ally of women as sexist should enrage everyone. When you call someone who’s clearly not racist a racist or someone’s who’s clearly not homophobic a homophobe, you trivialize and damage the cause you claim to support, and it hurts those that need support the most.

Battles are won by identifying the enemy and defeating them, not by imagining enemies and shooting blindly into the darkness."

Here's the full article.

[Kalidurga]

1. It's really worse than that.

This kind of thing can alienate a lot of people who would be allies.

[bravenak]

2. Living in a Sexist society it is very easy to have positions or ideas that are sexist based on how

our society operates and the messages we recieve. Many of us hold sexist views that we do not notice. I certainly do at times.

[JDPriestly]

8. This sentence is not sexist.

Read it.

“As a senator from a rural state, what I can tell Secretary Clinton, that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want, and that is keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns and end this horrible violence that we are seeing.”

https://medium.com/@thorbenson/why-it-s-ridiculous-to-call-bernie-sanders-sexist-e3988e5ebc4b#.ve7vfmax4

There is no accusation that Hillary was shouting. Bernie agreed with Hillary that the goal is "to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns and end this horrible violence that we are seeing."

There is no suggesting that Hillary is doing the shouting, and indeed, she was not shouting.
But Bernie is right. Shouting about gun legislation will not change the gun culture in our country. We need a movement that brings Americans together to change the gun culture.

[merrily]

3. It's so ridiculous that it doesn't require explanation.

He used a phrase talking about gun control that he's used for years and Hillary's campaign made up bs that he was accusing her of shouting and accusing women of shouting is sexist.

Give me a damned break.

[RandySF]

4. Maybe you'd better serve Bernie

By getting off the topic. If you're explaing, you're losing.

[JDPriestly]

7. There is no way that the statement Bernie made about "all the shouting in the world" can

be interpreted as directed at Hillary. There were others on the stage. Hillary was not shouting.

It is a cheap trick on Hillary's part to accuse Bernie of meaning women or her in that sentence.

I do wonder about the level of language comprehension of those who claim that statement is sexist.

There is not one word in it directed at women or Hillary.

What a cheap trick on the part of the Hillary camp.

It's downright dishonest.

[Demeter]

10. But typically Hillary!

[JaneyVee]

17. "Secretary Clinton, all the shouting in the world"

There, I fixed it for you. He directly addressed her.

[thesquanderer]

19. The fact that he was addressing his response TO her...

...does not have to mean he was talking ABOUT her.

[JDPriestly]

22. Still, what in the world is secist about that statement?

Men shout just as women do. I can think of other words that Bernie could have used that would have been sexist, but that sentence is not sexist.

It is not sexist for one candidate to respectfully address another. Using the words "Secretary Clinton," and addressing a statement to her using that title and name is not disrespectul or sexist.

This is an absurd, overly sensitive complaint. It reflects badly on Hillary and her fans.

[Armstead]

15. Which is exactly what Clinton's slick campaign staff had in mind

Kind of like those Rovian Swiftboaters.

The Bush campaign could say, "WE're not implying that Kerry was a coward. (nudge, nudge, wink wink)"

Crafty but not exactly ozzing with integrity.

[JDPriestly]

5. K&R.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Oh well, if a guy named Thor says so.

[stillwaiting]

11. Yeah, you belong on the list. Bye.

Not that you care a lick no doubt.

The feeling is quite mutual.

There is NO case against Sanders here. Despicable what you are doing.

[Starry Messenger]

13. ?

You guys keep lists now? Well, bye Felicia.

[Enthusiast]

9. Kicked and recommended!

Well done.

[boston bean]

12. Hey when people want to say sexist, homophobic, racist things

that prop up this system of equality, we ought to ignore it?

Because those inequalities don't exist in a vacuum. They exist in each and every single one of us. And to combat it, we need to be aware of our subconscious biases, that we learn from this inequal society we live in.

No one can do that if it's not able to be discussed, because some man, white person, straight person, is so delicate that they can't handle some introspection.

[Chiquitita]

14. radical feminist here

and totally agree. The victim spin the Hillary camp tried to put on a very interpretable phrase trivializes and dilutes the much deeper issues women, particularly working class women, face in our society: getting fair wages, access to healthcare, good childcare, etc. There was no verbal insult, and to make one up unfortunately has the effect of weakening the cause and hurting women. This should be beneath her.

[riderinthestorm]

20. Another feminist here and I completely agree

your post is perfect and I'm just going to stand here next to you...

[Live and Learn]

21. +1 nt

[Nitram]

16. Why it's ridiculous to keep going on and on about the sexist bit.

Sanders thoughtlessly accused everyone else of shouting rather than calmly discussing the gun control issue. At lest that's what it sounded like. He probably didn't mean it that way. We get it. So what. It's small potatoes. Let it go. take a deep breath and move forward. Obsessing over this very trivial bump in the road is a waste of time. Blowing it totally out of proportion is a waste of time.

[kenfrequed]

23. Well it isn't having the effect the Clinton Campaign wanted.

Women are smart and when they hear suggestions or accusations of sexism they want to know what the hell is going on. The campaign was hoping to create an implication or mood towards Bernie of him being sexist. They dialed their language specifically to have this effect.


The more people talk about this the more my female friends ask "what did he say that was sexist?"

When they hear about it they usually roll their eyes and some of the feminists I speak to actually get upset about throwing around the word "sexist" or implying it when there are real issues on the table.

[Nitram]

24. I've seen an awful lot of posts on DU by Bernistas on this.

If you find any by Clinton supporters, maybe we could count them up and compare.

[Beartracks]

27. Not even that. "Shouting" is just a metaphor in this context.

He could have said "tilting at windmills" or he could have said "pissing in the wind" and that wouldn't have meant that people were literally doing either of those things. Same with "shouting."

===============

[Robbins]

18. They have to try to smear Bernie with something

being racist or not caring about immigrants can't work so being sexist is all they got.

the Clinton playbook is to play the victim.

[azmom]

25. Her campaign should be ashamed

For trying to discredit Bernie with this kind of smear.
I hold Hillary in contempt for using such a vile attack.

[jeff47]

26. You can tell it's totally sexist because it took them 10 days to start complaining about it.

It always takes me almost two weeks to figure out if a statement is insulting.