Ugly talk: Meredith Simons on sexist comments in the news

It’s a time-honored strategy, and unfortunately, it works very well. Newsworthy women, from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga to Kellyanne Conway and beyond, are often publicly skewered not for their statements and ideas, but for their clothes, their hairstyles, and their bodies. Writer and law student Meredith Simons explores the harmful effects of such public discourse in this January 2017 Washington Post article.

Read it here: Simons, “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly”

1. Simons asserts that in addition to simply being unfair and unkind, insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, more harmful consequences. What are they? Summarize her arguments. Do you agree with Simons that insulting a woman’s appearance is a serious problem? Why or why not?
2. So much of the politically-oriented writing in the US right now pits Democrats against Republicans or conservatives against liberals. Does Simons frame her argument in such a way? How can you tell? Point to specific passages to support your conclusion.
3. Simons’s article presents evidence in the form of abundant quotations from numerous sources. How does Simons introduce the people she is quoting? Which of the moves described in Chapter 3 of your text does she employ? Would Simons’s essay have been more effective with fewer quotations? Why or why not?
4. Read (or re-read) Ellen Ullman’s essay in Chapter 20 of your text. Ullman and Simons both address consequences of the objectification of women in the workplace, but they offer different strategies for dealing with it. How do their strategies differ? Whose advice might you repeat to a friend having similar workplace problems? Why?
5. Simons argues that ordinary people should push back and object to unacceptable comments. Try it now. Find a current news report about a prominent woman that pays more attention to her appearance than to her views or statements (or use one of the links to such a report in Simons’s article). Write a letter to the person who made the unacceptable comment (and/or the organization that published or broadcast the comment), and explain your objection to what was said. Use the original comment as your They Say, and feel free to draw additional They Say support from Simons.

Comments

[Tiffany Short]

Simons asserts that in addition to simply being unfair and unkind, insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, more harmful consequences. One of those consequences is allowing critics to dismiss female politicians without engaging in their ideas. If a woman’s power is threatening she is at risk of being referred to by her appearance to take away from the important things she is saying and doing. These attacks reinforce gender norms. They make women feel pressure to present themselves attractively. They have even persuaded women to get out of the public forefront. I agree the attack on a woman’s appearance is a problem. I too have experienced what it feels like to have my appearance attacked. You begin to feel as if you are an object with no voice. I served eight years in the United States Army where appearance meant everything and nothing at all. If you were not a physically toned male you were weak. However, your physical appearance most of the time was neither crucial nor beneficial to many of the jobs in the military.

[Emily Jamison]

In Simons article, she explains how women in politics are scrutinized by males not for their political views, but for their appearance. This is simply because men are scared of women in charge. For years the gender roles or norms have been that males are superior and women shouldn't do anything outside of the kitchen and now that we are breaking those gender roles, men don't know how to respond. I agree with Simons in that is is more Democrat against Republican when it comes to tearing down women of power. The Democratic party is geared towards equality for all genders and races, while most Republicans are still stuck on old values and traditions. The biggest example of this is our wonderful new President Donald Trump and his degrading acts and comments towards women.

[Cayce Hagan]

Meredith Simon wrote an article that perfectly explains why President Trump behaves the way that he does. She called out the reporters who abuse their spotlight to voice their opinion on peoples appearances when they have no stronger points to address with them. This demonstrates ignorance and lack of knowledge. There are terrible consequences to this behavior becoming acceptable in the media. Young children watch the news at night with their family and they hear the language that their 'role models' use and that becomes acceptable to them. They hear women being critiqued by their chest size and their skin tone and they believe that it is okay. That creates adults who are likely to verbally abuse others. Simons makes another strong point that you never hear female reporters insulting males, like male reporters insult females. Again, the consequence is narcissistic males.

[Sharon Witton]

Meredith Simon's article shows that we have a serious problem of insulting a woman's appearance be it fat-shaming or slut-shaming, criticism of a woman's appearance rather than their ideas. If you don't like what a woman is saying call her out on her appearance! It's a time honoured tradition as she points out that a hundred years ago opponents of the suffrage movement portrayed the suffragettes as "snaggle-toothed hags". We have to stop the undermining of women's credibility and call it out for what it is, a dislike of what they are saying and their ideas.

[sierra kempthorn]

I agree with Tiffany Short that women have been criticized by their appearance to diminish their ideas, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people still believe that women have an equal voice in politics and our society. I believe that women’s voices have been pushed aside, especially when it comes to politics, because their opponents simply want to see them fail. Our country has allowed these diminishing actions to take place and not have a repercussion. I agree that to see a change, we need to call these behaviors out and bring a realization to them. Sports are another sector of our society that also gets a good bit of sexist attitude. Men are consistently seen as more talented and better treated, while women as pushed aside and not recognized nearly as much. I suggest that we need to begin to push back and show the world that gender is irrelevant and all ideas, talents, or opinions should be recognized.

[Abby Jackson]

Although I agree with Cayce Hagan that women are often scrutinized for their physical appearance when the attacker is out of points in the stronger argument, I cannot accept her overriding assumption that men do this because of “ignorance” and “lack of knowledge”. As a woman, I am aware of the criticism that women face because of how they look. Men criticize, the media exaggerates, and women talk badly about each other. A women’s physical appearance is usually one of the first things that people examine. I don’t think men do this because they are ignorant; I think gender norms are such a defining characteristic in our society that blinds the conscience of men and allows them to make such hurtful comments. With the recent women’s movement, women have tried to defy gender norms and create gender equality by competing with men in the highest sectors of the workplace. Men, without a valid reason for retaliation, have turned to attacking women’s appearance as a way to kick them where it hurts. In other words, in our world where men dominate and women struggle to climb to their level, men are turning to immature tactics to stay ahead.

[Julianne]

I strongly agree with Tiffany Shorts post. Being insulted on appearance, when it is completely irrelevant, causes the woman to lose sight of what she was talking about and the argument she was making. It makes her feel unimportant and question whether its even worth it to continue speaking or not. Somehow, for men this does not happen nearly as much. It targets girls specifically and causes them to speak less and not put their ideas out there as much as they would like to. Irrelevant comments about a womans appearance is taking away from her argument, which is what is important.

[Nick P]

I agree with Tiffany. The effects of one's appearance should not be a distraction to what you have to say or a stipulation to get more attention. The real focus should be on what the person has to say. Simons makes a good point when she says "It seems that any woman who has the audacity to speak in a public forum will be evaluated not only on the substance of what she says or how well she does her job, but on what she weighs, what she’s wearing, and what her hairstyle says about her." I think this shows how societal and gender norms have left us to be so judgmental. Rather than evaluate data or facts, many will use ad-hominem attacks as part of their arguments instead. I agree that attacks like these have deterred females to participate in many political and STEM fields.

[Meredith H]

I agree fully with Tiffany Shorts. Its sad how are world is based around looks and not the inside. If a women is speaking out, and a male or anyone for that matter disagrees, then the women is shot down and their looks are being insulted. They do not give a reason as to why she was wrong, they just simply target the woman's looks. If a women has a strong argument towards a male but she looks weak, the male will bring her down and start insulting her. Our world bases everything on appearance and not personality. If you are a girl you are weak and a slut. No matter if it it true or not, those adjectives are always shot towards women when in reality, men do much worse and sometimes are even more weak whether it is a mental or physical mindset.

[Sergio A]

As a male, I completely agree with all these comments. It's not fair but then again, nothing in life is fair.

[cledford]

I agree with all of the comments above but I do not see a universal way to fix the problem at hand. This will have to be a lengthy. step-by-step process if we want to see change.

[MeKayla C]

I agree with Tiffany Shorts. It honestly is sad that in life it is women who are picked on the most. Women can't even speak their opinion without being shot down or rebelled against just because they are women. Also, because she was shot down for her appearance is wrong. Just because of the way you look should not matter when it comes to addressing an issue. A woman should not be shot down for wanting to express her opinions and beliefs just because her appearance isn't what you expect it to be. Later, this makes the woman feel self conscious about her body and because of this she will not show up anywhere to voice her opinion about what she believes in. Women make strong arguments too!

[T Marbuery]

I agree with Emily Jamison because some men are afraid to see women in power. Men do not like to see women achieving the impossible, or simply achieving what they fail to do. The republican party especially are typically strict conservatives as you mentioned, making your example a strong example.

[Mallory]

I agree with Sharon Whitton. She stated that women are being called out on their looks just because a person does not like what the woman is saying. That should not be the case. If the person is in objection to what the woman is saying they should argue about the topic being discussed instead of bringing her looks into the arguement.

[Kingston Garnett]

In response to Tiffany Short I would say that yes I agree that a lot of times people are disregarded because of how they look and not because of what they believe however I don't think it is just happening to women. What about people like Donald Trump who gets made fun of all the time for his hair or the color of his skin and that has nothing to do with what he believes. Donald Trump also was threatening the power of the liberal democrats and they didn't like it so how do they deal with it? They make fun of how he looks. See the problem is not that we are sexist, the problem is that we don't know how to respectfully disagree with our opponent. And another thing as a side note if women really want equality then it shouldn't matter if it is a woman being made fun of because as they say we are all the same (which just so you know the Bible makes it clear that we are not the same and we were not created the same by God. He made us with our own strengths and weaknesses and we were never meant to be the same.).

[Hannah]

i completely agree with tiffany short. its quite insulting when one clearly cares more about how you look over the importance of the words you are trying to speak. women feel they have to present themselves a certain way just so their voice will be heard, and that is not okay. its 2017, why are gender norms still so prominent?sadly, i think we all know these standards and expectations will never be put to rest.

[Tiffani P]

I agree with Emily Jackson when she says that men bash women on their appearance because men are scared of women in charge. I think that it has to do more with the fact that for many years, men have seen themselves as superior to women because they were the “bread winners” and provided for the family, whereas the wife would stay and clean the house. These were known as gender roles. Men will try to taunt women in order to keep them in their place as supposed passive humans, which is not fair.

[Katie]

I agree with Tiffany Short in saying that now a days women feel as if we have no voice because we have been robbed of that. Now when we try to demonstrate our rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protests we get emotionally abused and shamed for voicing our opinions and using our constitutional rights. We are in 2017; we have made so much progress in the elimination of gender norms but I feel that now we are backtracking, when will people realize that just because there are biological differences between males and females one gender is not inferior to the other.

[Molly Riesselman and Sydney Renning]

I agree with multiple points that Meredith Simons made throughout her article. While reading this article I realized that I am kind of blind to the issues that women face dealing with sexism in our society. Simons does a good job using people who hold important positions and showing what some of them say and how sexist it can be. Simons shows some of the other side of the argument too towards the end of her article. I feel as though Simons made generalizations that society and men with power treat women poorly, which is one point I do not agree with. Simons makes us believe this by stating,"Knowingly or not, these lawmakers were participating in a long, bipartisan tradition of denigrating women in politics by criticizing their appearance rather their ideas."

Simons does a good job of making her side of the argument well known and also uses credible sources for her information. Simons uses the credibility of professor of Gender and the Law at Duke University School of Law, Katherine Bartlett, when she says,". . . woman tend to put more time and energy into their appearance than men." I agree with this statement because I feel as though women do that and I myself do that because of the criticism that women receive all the time. In conclusion, Meredith Simons writes an excellent essay on a topic that most of us don't think about because we are so used to women being treated this poorly.

[Lauren]

It has become common today to simply dismiss women not based on their opinions, but on their wardrobe, weight, and age. Although it is believed that women have already won the war against sexism, Meredith Simons proves with numerous examples the battle is not over. We agree with Simons thoughts on the sexism in the modern day, specifically looking at politics. In addition to giving multiple political samples, Simon explains how "it's a way of undermining their credibility" (Simon). As women ourselves we understand the use of the fallacy and have seen it in our daily lives often. Simon ends by giving her own stance on how to combat the sexism many women, "women can ameliorate the effects of appearance coverage by calling it out when they see it" (Simon).

[Madison]

In “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly” Meredith Simons states that women are criticized on their appearances in activities that have nothing to do with how cute or ugly you are. Others will say that women's emotions get the best of them and they shouldn’t take things so hard.
Women are degraded in their job because of their appearance, and men feel less masculine knowing that women are overcoming them in the job perspective. Men say objectifying slurs in order to make women feel bad about their appearance. Speaking of which, perhaps the only aspect of Hillary Clinton’s life that has generated more media coverage than her emails is her hair, which has been a topic of public conversation since the ’70s, when she reportedly “felt a need to frost her hair” for the sake of “her husband’s gubernatorial career”(1).

[Torie Ziegmann Abby Olberding Ashley Feauto]

I agree with Meredith Simons with the statement of how women are objectified and criticized with their appearance in the media. "After one day in office, Trump managed to achieve something that no one else has been able to do: he got a million fat women out walking," stated Judge Bailey Moseley. This is the start of something that leads into Simon's argument that not only targets society overall, but specifically women in general. Simons towards the end of the article mentions the other side of the article. She has very reliable sources crediting back to her stating of the GOP debate back in 2011.

Simons does a great job on her topic of how girls are being judged in society.  She states how by the way we do our hair and the way we dress doesn't define who you are as a person. The stigma behind media towards woman disassociates from the actual argument being made: “Don’t like her clothes, call her fat.” It is the true definition of degradation and objectification toward women and the distortion of the body towards younger women today. Sexism starts with your comments and ends with equality.

[Kylie T.]

I agree with Tiffany Short’s idea that if a woman has power in society, then she is more likely to be attacked about her physical appearance. However, I also believe it works the other way around. A women’s physical appearance will cause other individuals to demote and dismiss the importance of her ideas solely based on her physical appearance. This is prominent in politics because targeting a women’s flaws is much easier than arguing against certain beliefs she may have. Targeting an individual’s flaws is simply a punch at self-esteem, which is used to cause a woman to lose sight of what is at hand. Males have always been dominant in the political realm, therefore, feel threated when a woman of greater power is elected or liked more by fellow citizens.

[Jacob Arnold]

In The Washington Post article “Don’t like what women is saying? Call her ugly”, it talks about cruel treatment of women on various media outlets based on their given appearances. Simons in her article outlines several examples of hateful and sexist comments by an array of powerful people. These examples range from a Judge of East Texas to an Indiana State Senator, and even comments by our current President. She uses these examples to substantiate her central claim, that through the use of cruel and sexist comments, regarding gender norms and looks, the consequences of such acts goes to disempower women which ultimately dismisses their opinions and ideas in the eyes of the public. Simons concludes her article by asking and then answering a question. She asks, “so what’s a women in the public eye to do?” She ends the article by using several quotes and examples to answer this question; she says that appearances and gender norms should not and are not appropriate standards on which to judge the integrity of someone’s ideas or opinions.

I agree that abusive and discriminatory behaviors towards women based on appearances are detestable and have serious consequences to society. I strongly agree with all of Simon’s main ideas in her article, which talk about the cruel treatment of women in the public eye and the consequences associated with them. I particularly agree with her idea about the way in which males attempt to discredit or shift attention away from valid ideas or opinions through abusive comments of female appearance. This sexist trend sets unequal political influence and is just straight up mean. All in all, I agree with Simons in that nobody’s opinions, ideas, or personal merit should be determined based on appearance.

[Kylie K]

I agree with Tiffany Short that if a woman’s power is threatening, then she is at risk of being insulted. I believe that people feel it is okay to insult powerful women in order to belittle them and feel as if they are nothing. Personally attacking someone does nothing, and in my opinion it is childish. Every time someone personally attacks a woman of higher position, children hear about it and see what is happening. They will then believe that this behavior is acceptable when it absolutely is not. No one should be judged on their appearance because someone else disagrees with them. I believe that if you disagree with someone, then you should discuss why instead of going straight for attacking their appearance or views.