Debate Moderators: Women vs. Men

The debates are over, but that doesn't mean people will stop talking about them anytime soon. In fact, I've come across a few articles recently dealing with the gender of the debate moderators and whether or not that affected how well they did their jobs, including this one, which asks "Should Men Be Allowed To Moderate Debates?" in the title.

Just because people generally found the debates to be more thought-provoking and exciting when there were female moderators (and that's not everybody's opinion, of course), I think it's absurd to think that men shouldn't be "allowed" to do it, as if they're teenagers being grounded.

So, what do you think? Do you believe that the female moderators acted as they did to prove that women deserve the job of moderator as much as men? Do you think that one gender is inherently better than the other in this arena?

The "War on Women" continues...

And the rape comments keep coming!

Seriously, what is going on here. I'll be honest, I did initially find the whole "War on Women" to be a bit sensationalized, but goodness, maybe we're on to something here!


In a debate last night, Indiana's Republican Senate Candidate, Richard Mourdock, fueled this "War on Women" by stating, "I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

In case this isn't clear to you, I'll emphasize it again: SOMETHING THAT GOD INTENDED TO HAPPEN.

You have got to be kidding me.

The article  went on to discuss how Mourdock later tried to save some face by asserting his statement was misinterpreted.

"God creates life, and that was my point," Mourdock said in a statement. "God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that He does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick."

Is that so? Do you guys think that's really what he meant?


And come on, how do we feel about all these politicians making such ignorant remarks about women and their bodies? 

Misogynist Doggy Dogg

This past weekend I was rekindled with my Pandora stations in a way I never would've expected. It'd been a while since I'd even bothered with the site and I was beginning to find myself desperately bored with my loyal, yet predictable music stations. So with a little help from my best friend, I decided to give the "90's hip hop" station a shot. I was surprised at how much I was enjoying the music -- grooving and nodding my head with each song that came on.

That is, until a particular song with a very shocking set of lyrics caught my attention.

Some of you may have heard this track before, and many others probably wish they never had. It's called Xxplosive by Dr. Dre and due to the graphic nature of such lyrics, I'll just show you part of a verse here:

Backhanded, pimpslapped and left stranded
Just pop ya collar, pimp convention hoes for a dollar


Most of the song goes on like this, with heavy usage of the word "bitch" as well as a slew of other unsettling words. After noting this song, I made it a point to play closer to the lyrics in the music I was listening to, instead of just letting it zoom past me.

Then I ran into another "work of art"

To think that I actually like Snoop Dogg now makes me a little embarrassed. As before, I was finding the song enjoyable, until I really paid attention to his lyrics.

So I'd advise you not to trust that hoe
Silly of me to fall in love with a bitch

Pass it to the homie, now you hit it
Cause she ain't nuthin but a bitch to me
And y'all know, that bitches ain't shit to me

The common thread in both these songs is the highly profane and misogynistic language coloring its verses. What I find even more appalling is how widely praised both these rappers are: for being innovative, creative and inspiring.

 So I challenged myself and I challenge others as well to really think about the lyrics in the music you so fondly listen to.

I wonder. What musicians do we currently find vocalizing similar beliefs as the "gentlemen" I've described earlier? How do you think women feel about this kind of music? Can we go so far as to say that women may actually enjoy this kind of music and not think much of the lyrics?

Skinny Minnie

I saw this article about Barney's holiday campaign featuring Minnie Mouse and a few of the other beloved Disney characters. The campaign centers on Minnie having a dream about being a runway model in Paris. In her dream, Minnie pictures herself stick thin. When she wakes up, she is back to normal and wearing the designer dress from her dream.

Protests have now formed bashing Barney's and demanding that the campaign change. Some argue it impacts young girls' body images making them strive for thinness. (Like we haven't heard that one before.)

This whole thing brought a few questions to mind. Do young girls really identify with talking mice? Does it matter that it's a dream? (I mean she looks good in the dress when she wakes up.) Why are her feet so tiny?

But the real question that came to mind was that if this were Mickey and he had dreamed himself up with big muscles and other "typically masculine" attributes, would there be such a fuss over the whole thing? Would people still be protesting the campaign if Mickey looked like Popeye?

Honestly, I don't think there would be, but what do you think?

Feminism, Religion, and Culture

After tonights debate, my roommates and I were discussing some key points that were talked about throughout all three debates, then we hit the topic about women, specifically minority women.

We were wondering why Romney had certain conservative views on women, then began talking about Latina women and the sexist culture that exists in other cultures.

The latin culture has the "macho man" obsession. It is basically about the boys being taught from a young age that they are "boss." Then for girls, they are taught chastity because of the Virgin Mary (catholicism is the dominant religion among latinos). So there is a double-standard on things that are acceptable for men and not for women, and vice versa.

The idea of what is a "man" is different in America and Latin societies. American men are seen as soft and "open" to gender equality, whereas latin men have to be in control of everything.

We know that Romney is religious, therefore we can assume that his gender views come from theological standards. The Bible talks about how the woman is supposed to submit to her husband and that the man should have the authority. This belief is held up high in latin societies and oddly, we see a little bit in Romney's beliefs as well.

Feminism has been a big part of our society for quite a while now, with the "independent" and "equal" woman trend. Culture and religious beliefs will always play an important role on how we treat the opposite sex and their part in society.

Women better Moderators?

CNN Carole Simpson recently wrote an opinion piece stating that she believed women should moderate more debates. She goes on to commend Candy Crowley on her moderation of the second Presidential debate.

Do you think gender makes a difference among moderators or do you think it all depends on the individual's style?

Simpson notes that Crowley raised two sons. Do you think that this helped her juggle the two candidates? Would a father of two sons react the same way - or would the fact that he's a father even be brought up?

Just a Pretty Face?

Samantha Bee in Sunday's New York Times discusses a recent study by the UCLA Psychology Department that found that ""the women of the Grand Old Party have more feminine faces than those of their female Democratic colleagues . . .in the 111th Congress."

She notes the study was "based on objective measures of feminine facial structure"; undergraduates were asked to the political affiliation of each face and "guessed correctly with surprising accuracy." Bottom line: the more conservative the woman, the more feminine she looked.Or as Bee says, "actual professional scientists . . . have just basically given us the green light to go ahead and judge a book by its cover." At least for women; the students had less success at judging the party affiliations of men.

Money quote: the study "suggests that a key factor in the electability and, dare I say, presence of a female politician on a national stage can be dependent on something as random as the placement of her eyebrows? Are there really subtle ways in which people would consider a woman suitable for office that are rooted in their visceral reaction to the width and prominence of her cheekbones? Well, probably."

The article is humorous, as befits a writer for the Daily Show, and she makes a couple of references to "mannish" men. Familiar talk, of course, to the class; this has been a topic since day one; as we recently heard, "conventional beauty equals competence." How does this tie in with policy positions, I wonder: do conservative women favor more feminine policy topics, while liberal women favor "mannish" topics? And how do you tell the difference?

For example, Slate reports "women tend to report lower levels of support for defense spending and use of military force." This seems to me that GOP women then should be in line with this position, and Democratic women should be for big defense budgets and more military engagements. For example, out of 11 women on the House Armed Services Committee, two are Republican. However, those two women voted with their male colleagues (and several other Democratic women) to give the Pentagon more money than it requested for FY 2013. Of the five "no" votes, three were cast by Democratic women.

Simplistic? Perhaps. But it seems that more research is needed into the connection between feminine appearance and feminine behavior by women politicians.