We were alerted to a letter to the editor today (8/19) by the Gallatin County Democratic Central Committee. Here’s the info about the letter.
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In today’s Chronicle, Vern G. Smalley ended his letter to the editor: “Nancy Pelosi will hopefully be remembered as belonging in a different house, barefoot, broke and pregnant. On second thought, skip that last notion. It’s disgusting.” He started this letter because Nancy Pelosi dared to say that “president Bush is a ‘total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject.’ “ Then he asks, “Is Bush really at fault?” In the next paragraph he calls for Congress to nationalize “the oil companies.” And so on, exonerating Bush in every category.
Are you going to let any of that pass?
“Barefoot & pregnant” is a term invented after WWII to get women out of the jobs they occupied during the war so returning military members could have employment. Some may have thought it was cute then, but surely it is far to the other side of acceptable now. I believe this kind of letter, published in a supposedly community newspaper, is a direct result of the blatant sexism directed at Hillary Clinton during the primary campaign. The test for sexism is, what would a comparable phrase be if the subject were a man? If Smalley was writing about a male Speaker of the U.S. House, what comparable nastiness might he have employed? Think of a few. Would the Chronicle have printed them? There should be an outcry from everyone who is so far past sex discrimination they can’t believe anyone, even Vern Smalley, is serious. But he is and our response must also be serious.
In the op-ed under Smalley’s letter, Pat Williams writes “Incredibly, and despite the passage of the original Equal Pay Act 45 years ago during John Kennedy’s presidency, a persistena nd significant pay gap between men and women has continued to exist.” When the small-minded Smalley’s of this community are allowed to write letters such as the one the theoretically unbiased press publishes, why is this disparity “incredible?”
Keep those cards and letters coming, folks.
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Gallatin County Democratic Central Committee, 422 E. Mendenhall 586-3022
