NYT, Bob Herbert: Politics and Misogyny

[DeepModem Mom]

Politics and Misogyny
By BOB HERBERT
Published: January 15, 2008

With Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s win in New Hampshire, gender issues are suddenly in the news. Where has everybody been? If there was ever a story that deserved more coverage by the news media, it’s the dark persistence of misogyny in America. Sexism in its myriad destructive forms permeates nearly every aspect of American life. For many men, it’s the true national pastime, much bigger than baseball or football. Little attention is being paid to the toll that misogyny takes on society in general, and women and girls in particular....

***

It just so happens that the Democratic presidential candidates are campaigning this week in the misogyny capital of America: Nevada. It’s a perfect place to bring up the way women are viewed and treated in this society, but don’t hold your breath. Presidential wannabes are hardly in the habit of insulting the locals.

Prostitution is legal in much of Nevada and heavily promoted even where it’s not. In Las Vegas, where prostitution is illegal but flourishes nevertheless, Mayor Oscar Goodman has said that creating a series of legal, “magnificent” brothels would be a great development tool for his city. The fundamental problem in all of this is that women and girls are dehumanized, opening the floodgates to every kind of mistreatment. “Once you dehumanize somebody, everything else is possible,” said Taina Bien-Aimé, executive director of the women’s advocacy group Equality Now.

A grotesque exercise in the dehumanization of women is carried out routinely at Sheri’s Ranch, a legal brothel about an hour’s ride outside of Vegas. There the women have to respond like Pavlov’s dog to an electronic bell that might ring at any hour of the day or night. At the sound of the bell, the prostitutes have five minutes to get to an assembly area where they line up, virtually naked, and submit to a humiliating inspection by any prospective customer who has happened to drop by....

***

If we’ve opened the door to the issue of sexism in the presidential campaign, then let’s have at it. It’s a big and important issue that deserves much more than lip service.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/opinion/15herbert.html?hp

[earthlover]

1. mysogyny or sexism?

Mysogyny is HATRED towards women. I don't think that is common in Las Vegas or anywhere else. I am tired of seeing this word misused.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. Oh gosh, because you do not see it, it must not exist.

:sarcasm:

[Skittles]

6. you have no idea

none whatsoever

[Crowdance]

2. Bob Herbert is a very intelligent and delightful human being

I worked in the same organization with him for a while, and he was unfailingly polite and gracious. Whenever I saw him in corridors or elevator he was carrying his latest read, usually a significant historical or sociological book. His writing is clear and concise, and his apparent compassion is exemplary. This column astounded me with its understanding of the misogyny under which women suffer in this country, and its terrible toll on individuals and society. I'm sure he can imagine what we might be as a people if more than half of our population was not pressed into artificial constraints on our potential. This is a great and prescient man.

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Thanks so much for your heartfelt post, Crowdance -- and for your inside info! nt

[bunnies]

5. Someone best protect these women from themselves.

After all... they're choosing to work at legal brothels of their own free will.