Recently, Christine O’Donnell, Republican/Tea Party candidate for Delaware’s senate seat, said:
“There’s certainly a double standard and I don’t often quote Gloria Steinem but she said you can look at a double standard if they wouldn’t attack the male opponent that way and there’s no doubt that they wouldn’t say the things they’re saying about me, they wouldn’t do the things that they’re doing if I weren’t a woman. I’m not whining but there certainly is a double standard especially when it comes to conservative woman.”
Now I’m not saying that the media is equal or perfect. There have been examples of sexism in the media, going back to Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. But I tend to doubt that Christine O’Donnell is being criticized because of her gender. None of the attacks against her have had ANYTHING to do with her sex. I may not be a member of the media per se, but I know that I would criticize Chris Coons if he said “I am a Warlock” or if he said that he couldn’t remember major parts of the Constitution after claiming that he is a “constitutional expert.” I don’t care one way or another whether O’Donnell is a woman, what I CARE about is that our elected officials know about the Constitution before they run for office (granted, the First Amendment never specifically uses the words “separation of church and state,” but O’Donnell couldn’t remember several other amendments). I’m not sure what to make of the “witchcraft” controversy, to be honest. Do I find it odd and slightly concerning? Yes. But it’s not as if O’Donnell doesn’t have a right to do it.
This is just O’Donnell playing the sexism card. If a woman is treated badly by the media SPECIFICALLY due to gender, then by all means they should speak out. But O’Donnell is just trying to stir up the pot–to win back voters. If we can’t criticize someone because they are a certain gender, then that’s just as terrible as criticizing someone because of their gender.