Now Howie Carr Is Concerned About Sexist Remarks?
In today’s Boston Herald, columnist Howie Carr demonstrates the worst way to admonish sexist language. Namely, fighting sexism with even more sexism.
Carr is writing about the remarks of Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh who greeted his state’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention by saying of Senator Scott Brown:
We’ve got to say a few good things about him: He handsome, right? He’s still got the coat. He’s still got the truck. He’s a regular guy. I mean, he spent a couple million dollars folding towels on TV to prove he’s an honorary girl. We appreciate that.
Walsh’s remark was a reference to a Brown ad which features the senator performing household chores and co-parenting with his working wife, Gail Huff, a Boston television news reporter. According to the Boston Globe, Walsh almost immediately apologized for his comments.
Howie Carr of course, was deeply concerned about the reinforcement of entrenched gendered stereotypes that Walsh’s remark conveys.
Ha, ha, just kidding! Carr is, of course, no stranger to Name It. Change It. But Carr’s deep concerns about the sexist remarks lead him to utilize sexist language to demean other male candidates. Take, for example, some of Carr’s finer sentiments:
By the way, have you ever watched the president of the United States throw a baseball? Talk about honorary girls…
And his description of Walsh:
Who has the manly build of the Pillsbury Doughboy.
So, in Carr’s estimation performing household chores does not make you a “sissy,” rather, it’s lacking athletic prowess or the appropriately chiseled physique. Indeed, Carr’s entire column is a politicized version of the “My dad can beat up your dad” debate of childhood. Implicit in this framing device is, of course, the idea that only serious candidates can be men, really masculine men who patronizingly protect women. This, of course, kicks women candidates (like Warren) to the curb as they necessarily lack the heroic manliness that Carr seems to believe is essential to hold elected office. This is truly a case where sexism benefits no one.
Of course no Carr column would be complete without some gratuitous sexism thrown in. His sexist nicknames for Elizabeth Warren are now stuff of misogynistic legend and many of his favorites have been trotted out for this most recent column. It is no surprise to see Carr almost exclusively refers to Warren as “Granny,” one of his favorite monikers used to disparage and belittle Warren for her age.
But as long as Howie Carr insists on sexist-name-calling and bad gender stereotypes, we’ll insist on calling him out.
Published by Kate McCarthy on 09/04/2012