We Heart: WMC’s Plan to End Sexism Against Women Candidates

Hillary Clinton’s pantsuits. Michelle Obama’s shorts. Elena Kagan’s hair. Is any of this relevant to the politics of these women?

Absolutely not, says the Women’s Media Center.

Today, the WMC, alongside the Women’s Campaign Forum Foundation and Political Parity, launched their ‘Name It. Change It’ campaign to shine a bright light on sexist coverage of women running for office, and lobby media outlets to focus on what’s important in politics: politics.

WMC President Jehmu Greene says:

Not only will we monitor and hold outlets accountable for problematic coverage, we’ll work proactively with media professionals and outlets to provide resources for balanced local and national coverage of the elections, and give them the opportunity to take the equality pledge not to engage in pervasive sexist attacks – because we know that sexism and equality simply don’t mix.

Sexist attacks on women candidates detract from their political platforms, reduce their credibility and police their gender performances. The ‘Name It. Change It’ campaign aims to eliminate these commonplace attacks and create an environment in which political platforms can be fairly assessed.

Starting with the 2010 midterm elections, the campaign’s organizers have developed a “rapid response network” that will highlight misogyny and sexism in the mainstream media quickly. Their objective is to remove what is one of the most serious barriers to women’s political success.

Way to go, WMC!

Photo of Hillary Clinton in wax from Flickr user cliff1066 under Creative Commons 2.o.

About

Stephanie hails from Toronto, Canada. She is a Ms. writer, a master of journalism candidate and a hip hop dancer/instructor/choreographer. She got her start in feminist journalism at the age of 16 when she was a member of the first editorial collective at Shameless magazine—and she has never looked back.