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Story Carrier's avatar

Thank you for speaking up with a perspective we should expect from the mainstream media. I'm a retired journalist and journalism prof and still remember the media's failure to provide analytical context during the 2016 election. They gave equal coverage to both candidates, without regard to the fact that one candidate was not like the other (Trump was/is a monster). And the two were not running on a level playing field. Although coverage has improved, as an industry, the media still mirrors corporate values and has a long way to go when it comes to shining a light on institutional misogyny and sexism. I'm grateful for this post!

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Thank you! I’ve pretty much dedicated most of my writing since 2015 to the failures of the mainstream media. No surprise—the mainstream media suddenly became less interested in my work!

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K. Hamilton's avatar

Love your work, Susan. And yes, many young women don’t know.

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Thank you!

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ForeignLocal's avatar

So listening to Michelle Obama is very interesting. She's saying the language used by Trump was terrible, so terrible that she would fear her daughters listening to it on TV. However, she's not afraid in 2024 with the ultra-sexualized language in many of the inappropriate books Dems are pushing in schools to children??? This all sounds very hypocritical. Quite fake too. Be coherent or it is otherwise empty politicking again and again.

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Ummm. I do believe you misunderstood the piece. Michelle wasn’t objecting to sexual terms. She was objecting to the denigration of women. As to your notions about what Democrats are “pushing” in schools—sounds like you’ve been out drinking with Ron DeSantis.

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ForeignLocal's avatar

Really?

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Really.

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ForeignLocal's avatar

It’s interesting because you say it as if Gov. De Santis was someone bad, not worth talking to or listening to.

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Steve S's avatar

Don't Let that man near the White House again? Who are we talking about?

From a BBC article which appeared in May 2020: "There was no exchange, really, he just had me up against the wall," she said to podcast host Katie Halper in March 2020.

"I remember it happened all at once... his hands were on me and underneath my clothes." He then penetrated her with his fingers, she said.

"I remember him saying, first, as he was doing it 'Do you want to go somewhere else?' and then him saying to me, when I pulled away... he said 'Come on man, I heard you liked me,'" she said.

"That phrase stayed with me."

The man Tara Reade was talking about was once a Senator. He was elected president in 2020.

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ForeignLocal's avatar

Wowza! But I bet neither Michelle nir Hillary will ever comment on that, right? No. They only take a stance when it profits them or their cheating hubbies politically.

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Al and Steve S: You guys should get together.

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David Charles's avatar

Michelle has Obama 😆

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HulitC's avatar

I have so many thoughts around this subject that I don’t know where to start. Being a woman “in a man’s world” can be depressing. However I would much rather put up with that than have to live in a man’s body. I would hate to have to always jockey with other men for power and position. I would hate having their sexual urge which blinds them to reason sometimes and often frustrates & humiliates them. Our society focuses on sex & then tells men not to think about it. Girls talk about men when they’re not around so why are we surprised that men talk about girls & sex when we’re not around. Thump embarrassed other men only because the “media code” demands that men pretend they only want sex with their partner. Repubs decided they’d had enough of political correctness & they recognized that thump was a boor or worse, but they know lots of others are just the same. I despise the man on so many levels, the “Access Tape” is small potatoes.

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Susan Bordo's avatar

I don’t share your grim view of men, but I do think there’s something to the idea that Trump’s appeal is partly because he’s a “mirror” rather than an ideal. I also agree that his “screw political correctness” is a huge part of that “mirror.” He gives permission for the Id (largely, the male Id but not only) to do whatever it pleases, undeterred by the schoolmarm (e.g. Hillary Clinton) or the nagging wife (e.g Hillary Clinton.) His followers LIKE him for his faults, because they validate their own. (By the way, on the subject of men, I wrote a book that you might find of interest. https://www.amazon.com/Male-Body-Look-Public-Private/dp/0374527326/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2QD_nOtF1oCsiFo8G494MvS2_6beKdvncIy_iXPRCw2Q1-gupVJXipXIO1JfVMqTAvVarAFcpvamKYOaI6-ER1__57G7gWfpbW_VaUgmI5PSIv2zlgyYiCHfZ74TEOSi1N3RiclAsCmhG_H6UkvoTDmcaUGtbbPI8zO-40CMMdhvH52iRdh4OyWw-A6nlc_QYQFbzNhMUuqnvf4awcsTMHONyq2hnZoslW6vP5xY1KI.yUt-MZ_-r14CS0VcuVOAq5vLMlOasFNAsHxcg4y1C3A&qid=1715086157&sr=8-1

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HulitC's avatar

will read your book!

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ForeignLocal's avatar

Don’t see why not. We could have a drink with Gov. De Santis.

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Susan Bordo's avatar

Have fun!

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ForeignLocal's avatar

Thanks. Will definitely try. You as well.

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May 7, 2024
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Susan Bordo's avatar

If you think those white women were the deciding factor, you haven’t comprehended how multi-faceted the disaster of 2016 was. It was a shitshow from five different angles (at least.)

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