Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[Kobi]

CNN) -- I really am speechless, which makes it that much harder to write this column. After everything I've seen covering modern parenting over the past several years, I kind of feel like nothing can really surprise me anymore.

Oh how wrong I was, because when I heard what Boomer Esiason said, the former football star and now CBS NFL analyst and radio host, I thought he had to be joking.

Did he really suggest that New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy should have encouraged his wife to have a C-section, which is major surgery, so that he wouldn't have to miss Opening Day?

Murphy's wife went into labor, so he flew to be with her, missing the season's first two games. Major League Baseball allows a player to miss up to three games for paternity leave.

During a conversation on his radio show with co-host Craig Carton, Esiason, a father of two, said he would never have done what Murphy did.

"Quite frankly, I would have said C-section before the season starts," said Esiason. "I need to be at Opening Day. I'm sorry. This is what makes our money. This is how we're going to live our life. This is going to give my child every opportunity to be a success in life. I'll be able to afford any college I want to send my kid to because I'm a baseball player."

What about family, Esiason? What about not scheduling a major surgery that takes up to four weeks or longer to recover from (I should know; I had two unplanned C-sections!) just to avoid missing the first two games of a 160-plus game season?

For his part, Murphy, whose wife ended up having a C-section, is shrugging off any criticism of his decision.

"That's the choice of parents that they get to make," said Murphy. "That's the greatness of it. You discuss it with your spouse, and you find out what you think works best for your family."

Not surprisingly, outrage in social media to Esiason's remarks was pointed solidly in one direction.

"There are so many reasons this is so wrong," said a mother on my Facebook page, who had three C-sections, none of them by choice.

"He has no idea what in the world he is talking about," she added. "(A C-section) is no walk in the park for mom or dad, whether you are a baseball player or not, whether you are in the off season or not."

Another woman, also on Facebook, cited what she called "the lack of sensitivity and sophistication" around these issues of gender and reproduction. "I also think (despite what he says), if it were (his) wife, he would not feel the same way."

Don't show me the money, said Sue Scheff, a parenting advocate and author, on Facebook, criticizing Esiason for suggesting that money should be more important than family. "Games happen a lot. How often is the birth of your child?" she asked.

"Easy for him to say, he'll never have to have one," said a man, who did not want to be identified, referring to a C-section.

Esiason made his comments during an exchange with his co-host, who thought Murphy should have gotten back to work once the baby was born instead of taking an additional day of paternity leave. (Another WFAN radio host, Mike Francesa, also took issue with Murphy being out for two games.)

In Esiason's defense, his first comments when the subject came up were that Murphy had "legal rights to be there if he wants to be there."

As a football player, he's also coming from the mindset of his sport and how key players haven't traditionally missed one of the season's games for a birth, noted @heymatt on Twitter. In fact, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco's wife gave birth one hour before game time in September, and Flacco played that game against the Cleveland Browns.

But what got under people's skin, more than anything, was the idea of suggesting that a wife have major surgery to accommodate her husband's sports schedule.

"Major surgery should only be used when medically advised, not for convenience," said @elia_eltringham, also on Twitter.

C-sections may be scheduled because of the estimated size of the child and the age of the mother, or if a mother had a prior C-section, doctors say. Some women have chosen to have them because of fears of incontinence after a vaginal birth.

Nearly a third of births are currently done by C-section, which is a significant jump from the 20% of deliveries resulting in C-sections in 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Lillian Schapiro of Atlanta said she has seen a movement away from scheduled C-sections in her practice.

"I would say a few years ago, there was more of a trend to have scheduled C-sections, and now there is much more a move back to allowing nature to run its course, and people wanting to have a more natural experience," said Schapiro, an ob/gyn doctor affiliated with Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta.

Dr. Lynn Friedman, an ob/gyn with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and one of my doctors during my pregnancies, said her practice also hasn't seen a rise in elective C-sections.

"A purely elective (C-section) ... someone who just says 'I don't want to labor,' I mean, that's not that common, and that's really still very much discouraged," said Friedman.

"For someone to say 'my career is something that would make my wife schedule a section' ... I think in the 21st century ... that's really still a very sexist thing to say, and I think a ball team should understand that their player should be with his wife. I mean, I just think that's grotesque."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/04/living...rebar_facebook

[Kobi]

Boomer Esiason "Apologizes" For Comments On Murphy’s Paternity Leave

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – WFAN co-host Boomer Esiason says he’s reached out to the New York Mets and is “truly sorry” for “insensitive comments” made earlier this week regarding second baseman Daniel Murphy’s paternity leave.

“I just want to say again on this radio show that in no way, shape or form was I advocating anything for anybody to do. I was not telling women what to do with their bodies. I would never do that. That’s their decision, that’s their life and they know their bodies better than I do. And the other thing, too, that I really felt bad about is that Daniel Murphy and Tori Murphy were dragged into a conversation, and their whole life was exposed. And it shouldn’t have been.

“And that is my fault. That is my fault for uttering the word ‘C-section’ on this radio station. And it all of a sudden put their lives under a spotlight, and for that I truly apologize. I tried to reach out to Daniel yesterday through intermediaries over there at the New York Mets, and to his credit, he answered all of his questions yesterday. I’m sorry that he had to go through that. No man should have to go through that. And certainly Daniel Murphy, who we both admire much as a baseball player as anybody else — and all I can say is that I truly, truly, feel terrible about what I put them through. So for that I certainly apologize.

“I spoke with (Mets public relations chief) Jay Horwitz yesterday and was texting back and forth with (COO/co-owner) Jeff Wilpon, and I think Daniel — I can’t speak for Daniel — I think he wants to put everything behind him, he wants to try to play baseball, he wants to try to become a dad, he wants to try to do all the right things in life, and he has every right to do that. And again, like I said, I apologize for putting him and his wife in the midst of a public discussion that I basically started by uttering insensitive comments that came off very insensitive. And for that I apologize, and that’s really all I can do.

“The other thing I do want to say is that my friends — our friends — over at the March of Dimes also reached out to me yesterday. And I immediately called them back and talked to them, and they kind of re-educated me on their mission statement. And you and I (co-host Craig Carton) have been a part of the March of Dimes luncheon for many years, and I go back all the way to 1994 with them, and they were very gracious in re-educating me and making me understand what their mission statement was. And I agree wholeheartedly in their mission statement.

“I can only hope that people understand that my comment — my flippant comment — wasn’t made in any way, shape or form to insult anybody. But obviously it did. And for that I am truly sorry.”

He added: “Again, I just want to reiterate one more time that if I in any way, shape or form insulted anybody, that was not my intention. My flippant remark was insensitive. I’ll leave it at that. And again, I feel terrible for the Murphy family, because what should be the greatest time in their life turned out to be somewhat of a firestorm that I personally put them into. And for that hopefully they can find forgiveness in their heart.”

“My deep apologies to both Daniel and Tori Murphy for creating an intrusion into a very sacred and personal moment in their lives, and that’s the birth of their son, Noah. Daniel is the Mets’ second baseman, whose brief paternity leave led to a flippant and insensitive remark that I sincerely regret.

(In the) meantime, I’m very grateful to my many friends over at the March of Dimes who graciously reached out and re-educated me that if a pregnancy is healthy, it is medically beneficial to let the labor begin on its own rather than to schedule a C-section for convenience. In fact, babies born just a few weeks early have double the risk of death compared to babies born after 39 full weeks of pregnancy. As their promotional campaign says, ‘Healthy babies are worth the wait.’ And as I proud father, I couldn’t agree more.”

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/04/...ternity-leave/

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

Maxim model Paulina Gretzky doesn't play professional golf but she is engaged to PGA tour star Dustin Johnson and has two famous parents, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and actress Janet Jones Gretzky.

That apparently was enough for Golf Digest to put her on its cover. It was also enough to irk players on the LPGA Tour, the New York Times reports.

"We don’t get respect for being the golfers that we are," two-time major winner Stacy Lewis said, according to the paper. "Obviously, Golf Digest is trying to sell magazines. But at the same time you’d like to see a little respect for the women’s game."

Seven-time major winner Juli Inkster seemed to feel the same way. "It’s frustrating because it’s Golf Digest; it’s not Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. I think they should maybe recognize some of the great women golfers that we have," she said, according to the Times



So, WTF is it Golf Digest? Christina Kim, a REAL LPGA player doesn't fit your image?


Golf Digest, last I saw, you are a GOLF magazine, not Maxim, not Playboy. There are real, life women golfers whom you could choose to be on the cover. How fucking unsurprising this is to me. BOO!

Note: I, Happy_Go_Lucky played competetive golf as well as taught for many years. When I played, as well as the awesome other female players, the LAST thing we were concerned about is how fuckable we could make ourselves for the dudes.

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

Dear Golf Digest. Did you consider these LPGA members to be on the cover?









These women REALLY are golfers.....Damn!

[DapperButch]

Happy-Go-Lucky. There is no link to an article I can see. Maybe this is just your commentary?

As an aside to everyone, it is hard to find links to the articles posted unless you put them at the top of your post. Also, I think that all posts should have links, even just photos. Used to be standard here.

Just my two cents.

[Happy_Go_Lucky]

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-...-doing-on.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/mo...icle-1.1746710

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/pa...132635952.html

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...nd-controversy

[Kobi]

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy has asked for a column he penned for Breitbart California to be removed from the site in the wake of a sexist ad controversy. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was depicted in a poster for the news site's launch on her hands and knees in a bizarre, punk-inspired "street art" homage to Miley Cyrus. Democrats, including Pelosi, have blasted the ads as “foul, offensive and disrespectful to all women.”

McCarthy topped the bill of Breitbart California’s conservative contributors from the state, the jewel in the crown of a list that includes Fox News host Greg Gutfield and Rep. Tom McClintock. But it appears that McCarthy, the third-ranking House Republican, is standing in solidarity with Pelosi at the expense of the outlaw conservative credibility attached to Breitbart. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a frequent contributor to Breitbart News, promoted the news site last week, and wrote, “Breitbart California will only help our party evolve, not die” and called on California Republicans to “[e]volve, adapt or die.”

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times about the images, McCarthy spokesman Matt Sparks said, “We didn’t condone them. We thought it was the right thing to do to ask for the column to be removed.” Another spokesman, Mike Long, told ABC News, “The images are inappropriate. We requested that Whip McCarthy’s piece be taken down.”

Breitbart’s defense largely revolves around the argument that Democrats do the same thing to Republican women all the time. After the ad controversy swelled into frothing Internet outrage on Monday, Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle compared the Pelosi ad to a 2013 Saturday Night Live skit in which Michelle Bachmann was depicted by none other than Miley Cyrus (her again), writhing around with Taran Killam’s perma-tan, tank top-wearing John Boehner in a political parody of the video for her song, "We Can't Stop."

“Cyrus herself raunchily depicted Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in a Saturday Night Live skit touching her crotch while writhing on the ground, shaking her backside in tight shorts, and sticking out her tongue and licking people with a gay, hypersexual John Boehner,” Boyle writes, which makes us wonder which is more offensive to Breitbart: Cyrus as Bachmann, or a gay Boehner.

http://news.yahoo.com/breitbart-unap...JmMQR2dGlkAw--

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