(no subject)

[xiphias]

It is patriarchal, demeaning, offensive, and actually damaging to the public discourse to comment on the attractiveness of female newsmakers and reporters. It is a manner of trying to claim that women exist only in a narrow area, that their role in the actual running of the country, and their participation in the public sphere, is irrelevant, and that women are supposed to merely be decorative and not functional.

That said . . . Brooke Gladstone is HAWT.

Edited to Add: It was pointed out that I really DO need to add some editorial balance here. So let me just make the further comment that her co-host Bob Garfield is ALSO really hot. He's got a sort of bear thing going that really works.

Comments

[tylik.livejournal.com]

You realize that just to preserve a reasonable and progressive balance I am going to have to spend the next week making objectifying comments about the physical attributes of male newscasters.

Or maybe just men generally.

This is even harder because I don't generally watch television.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

She's NPR, not television. And, you're right: I really should include balance. I'll go edit the original post.

[tylik.livejournal.com]

I'm familiar with her work on NPR, but figured there was room for other contexts.

[redbird]

I have no idea who Brooke Gladstone is, nor need to, but I'm going to have a harder time taking you seriously when you talk about sexism, gender, or related topics from now on.

Seriously: that sort of statement might be cool to make to cheshyre, but in this broad a context it's cousin to "I'm not a racist, but…"

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

She's the host of NPR's ON THE MEDIA, and is one of the world's top minds on meta-media matters. She's really the go-to person in the world to talk about issues such as gender balance and representation in media, and what the effects of such things are. In other words, she's exactly the person in the world most qualified to comment on that previous statement.

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

So the original post is a joke on the meta of it all?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Partially. Also because she actually is attractive in a totally geeky way.

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

Ah. The humor was lost on me.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's particularly sexist to comment on anyone's attractiveness; it becomes sexist when you ignore their other attributes.

But I have to say it bothered me a bit, also, to read "it is demeaning, partiarchal, and offensive to say .... and I'm going to say it."

[ron_newman]

People comment on Anderson Cooper's hotness all the time.

[yendi]

I actually have no idea what she or Bob look like, but their podcast is one of my absolute favorites.

[rymrytr.livejournal.com]

Brooke

Bob

[(Anonymous)]

1) I agree with tylik.

2)I don't know who Brooke Gladstone is; I think the post would be better if information about / admiration for her career were included.

C.