Sunday, April 11, 2010

The unthinking sexism of TGW

Tennessee Guerilla Women wants to be the first-stop of the feminist journey online. They think they are 'the' voice. And repeatedly they demonstrate that they are not only up to the job but that feminism is a concept they just don't grasp.

Toss a woman on TV and they giggle -- even when it's one sexist stereotype after another.

During the 2008 primaries, instead of calling out the non-stop sexism of Saturday Night Live, they posted those awful skits such as the 3:00 a.m. phone call and they endorsed them.

It was left to real feminists, such as Ava and C.I., to point out that in that skit (and all the others) Hillary was ridiculed while Barack was portrayed as cool and suave, it was left to them to point out that Barack was never shown in any equivalent to curlers and face cream. It was left to Ava and C.I. to point out that Michelle Obama was never a joke on SNL but they couldn't shut up about Bill Clinton.

Oh, Bill cheated on Hillary! First off, get over it, she did. Second of all, cheating wasn't a concern. In the summer of 2008, it was known that John Edwards had an affair (he was still denying fathering the child -- liar). They came back in the fall of 2008 and they did do John Edwards skits. In fact, they featured them in their big election special which was a clip show in prime time with new bits (including John Edwards).

Never once, even though he admitted on national television in the summer of 2008, did SNL, in the fall of 2008, do a skit about John Edwards cheating.

And it took Ava and C.I. calling SNL out to finally get a skit on John Edwards the cheater. Months after the election when SNL being in the tank for Obama was well known. (Head writer Seth Meyers contributed to Barack's campaign and decreed everything off limits for Barack. No Jeremiah Wright skits, no Bill Ayers skits. Barack existed only as a character showing up at debates. He had no life. Hillary and all the others were regularly ridiculed for anything and everything and put in actual scenes. Barack just gave monologues on SNL.)

I was reminded of how ineffective and, frankly, stupid Tennessee Guerilla Women is when I was going through an e-mail and outraged reader Shonda directed me to this post.

TGW has filed it under 'feminism.' What idiots. It's Tina Fey ripping apart the woman who slept with Sandra Bullock's husband. A husband that Tina Fey not only doesn't call out but doesn't even mention by name.

That's not feminism.

Letting the man off, rendering him innocent? That's not feminism.

"Boys will be boys"? That's not feminism.

He took a vow to Sandra. If there's a wrong it's on his part and not on the part of a single woman who took no vow to anyone.

Ava and C.I. did a beautiful job of explaining just how sexist the entire broadcast was. They busted their ass this morning writing that piece. TGW shows up and posts those sexist skits (they've got another post of a Tina video) and doesn't analyze them or question them.

This is just what TGW did during the primaries. And it's how they spread sexism, how they endorsed and how they embodied it.

The entire broadcast was about blaming women. Blaming women for being unmarried, blaming women for having sex. Each skit made the 'joke' about being a woman. It was bitchery, as Ava and C.I. point out.

And the worst bitchery of all has to be Tina Fey doing a skit where she mocks former co-star Lindsay Loham's mother. What a bitch.

Don't mistake it for feminism.

7 comments:

Kayvette said...

Loved it Marcia!!!!

Ellen said...

Yes! Nailed it! TGW is the most nonthinking website around. It's as if they go, "Oh, look, a woman! Must be feminism!" But the woman's completely naked and being beaten. Yet they're still insisting, "Feminsim!"

Barbara said...

Tenn. Guerilla Women repeatedly fail women. They're cheerleaders, not fighters.

Anonymous said...

tgw is stinking pooh

DeShawn said...

All I have to say to TGW is, "Get back, honky cat!"

Anonymous said...

An awful site with little purpose or awareness, Tenn. GW exists as a distraction.

Keesha said...

Not the first to leave a comment! Kayvette, you beat me! Marcia, thank you for writing this. When we remember how the nomination was stolen from Hillary, we need to also remember how some -- like TGW -- helped by hurting. That site doesn't know the first thing about feminism.