It’s a time-honored strategy, and unfortunately, it works very well. Newsworthy women, from Hillary Clinton to Lady Gaga to Kellyanne Conway and beyond, are often publicly skewered not for their statements and ideas, but for their clothes, their hairstyles, and their bodies. Writer and law student Meredith Simons explores the harmful effects of such public discourse in this January 2017 Washington Post article.
Read it here: Simons, “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly”
- Simons asserts that in addition to simply being unfair and unkind, insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, more harmful consequences. What are they? Summarize her arguments. Do you agree with Simons that insulting a woman’s appearance is a serious problem? Why or why not?
- So much of the politically-oriented writing in the US right now pits Democrats against Republicans or conservatives against liberals. Does Simons frame her argument in such a way? How can you tell? Point to specific passages to support your conclusion.
- Simons’s article presents evidence in the form of abundant quotations from numerous sources. How does Simons introduce the people she is quoting? Which of the moves described in Chapter 3 of your text does she employ? Would Simons’s essay have been more effective with fewer quotations? Why or why not?
- Read (or re-read) Ellen Ullman’s essay in Chapter 20 of your text. Ullman and Simons both address consequences of the objectification of women in the workplace, but they offer different strategies for dealing with it. How do their strategies differ? Whose advice might you repeat to a friend having similar workplace problems? Why?
- Simons argues that ordinary people should push back and object to unacceptable comments. Try it now. Find a current news report about a prominent woman that pays more attention to her appearance than to her views or statements (or use one of the links to such a report in Simons’s article). Write a letter to the person who made the unacceptable comment (and/or the organization that published or broadcast the comment), and explain your objection to what was said. Use the original comment as your They Say, and feel free to draw additional They Say support from Simons.
They Say I Blog 
Simons asserts that in addition to simply being unfair and unkind, insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, more harmful consequences. One of those consequences is allowing critics to dismiss female politicians without engaging in their ideas. If a woman’s power is threatening she is at risk of being referred to by her appearance to take away from the important things she is saying and doing. These attacks reinforce gender norms. They make women feel pressure to present themselves attractively. They have even persuaded women to get out of the public forefront. I agree the attack on a woman’s appearance is a problem. I too have experienced what it feels like to have my appearance attacked. You begin to feel as if you are an object with no voice. I served eight years in the United States Army where appearance meant everything and nothing at all. If you were not a physically toned male you were weak. However, your physical appearance most of the time was neither crucial nor beneficial to many of the jobs in the military.
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In Simons article, she explains how women in politics are scrutinized by males not for their political views, but for their appearance. This is simply because men are scared of women in charge. For years the gender roles or norms have been that males are superior and women shouldn’t do anything outside of the kitchen and now that we are breaking those gender roles, men don’t know how to respond. I agree with Simons in that is is more Democrat against Republican when it comes to tearing down women of power. The Democratic party is geared towards equality for all genders and races, while most Republicans are still stuck on old values and traditions. The biggest example of this is our wonderful new President Donald Trump and his degrading acts and comments towards women.
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Meredith Simon wrote an article that perfectly explains why President Trump behaves the way that he does. She called out the reporters who abuse their spotlight to voice their opinion on peoples appearances when they have no stronger points to address with them. This demonstrates ignorance and lack of knowledge. There are terrible consequences to this behavior becoming acceptable in the media. Young children watch the news at night with their family and they hear the language that their ‘role models’ use and that becomes acceptable to them. They hear women being critiqued by their chest size and their skin tone and they believe that it is okay. That creates adults who are likely to verbally abuse others. Simons makes another strong point that you never hear female reporters insulting males, like male reporters insult females. Again, the consequence is narcissistic males.
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Meredith Simon’s article shows that we have a serious problem of insulting a woman’s appearance be it fat-shaming or slut-shaming, criticism of a woman’s appearance rather than their ideas. If you don’t like what a woman is saying call her out on her appearance! It’s a time honoured tradition as she points out that a hundred years ago opponents of the suffrage movement portrayed the suffragettes as “snaggle-toothed hags”. We have to stop the undermining of women’s credibility and call it out for what it is, a dislike of what they are saying and their ideas.
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I agree with Tiffany Short that women have been criticized by their appearance to diminish their ideas, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people still believe that women have an equal voice in politics and our society. I believe that women’s voices have been pushed aside, especially when it comes to politics, because their opponents simply want to see them fail. Our country has allowed these diminishing actions to take place and not have a repercussion. I agree that to see a change, we need to call these behaviors out and bring a realization to them. Sports are another sector of our society that also gets a good bit of sexist attitude. Men are consistently seen as more talented and better treated, while women as pushed aside and not recognized nearly as much. I suggest that we need to begin to push back and show the world that gender is irrelevant and all ideas, talents, or opinions should be recognized.
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Although I agree with Cayce Hagan that women are often scrutinized for their physical appearance when the attacker is out of points in the stronger argument, I cannot accept her overriding assumption that men do this because of “ignorance” and “lack of knowledge”. As a woman, I am aware of the criticism that women face because of how they look. Men criticize, the media exaggerates, and women talk badly about each other. A women’s physical appearance is usually one of the first things that people examine. I don’t think men do this because they are ignorant; I think gender norms are such a defining characteristic in our society that blinds the conscience of men and allows them to make such hurtful comments. With the recent women’s movement, women have tried to defy gender norms and create gender equality by competing with men in the highest sectors of the workplace. Men, without a valid reason for retaliation, have turned to attacking women’s appearance as a way to kick them where it hurts. In other words, in our world where men dominate and women struggle to climb to their level, men are turning to immature tactics to stay ahead.
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I strongly agree with Tiffany Shorts post. Being insulted on appearance, when it is completely irrelevant, causes the woman to lose sight of what she was talking about and the argument she was making. It makes her feel unimportant and question whether its even worth it to continue speaking or not. Somehow, for men this does not happen nearly as much. It targets girls specifically and causes them to speak less and not put their ideas out there as much as they would like to. Irrelevant comments about a womans appearance is taking away from her argument, which is what is important.
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I agree with Tiffany. The effects of one’s appearance should not be a distraction to what you have to say or a stipulation to get more attention. The real focus should be on what the person has to say. Simons makes a good point when she says “It seems that any woman who has the audacity to speak in a public forum will be evaluated not only on the substance of what she says or how well she does her job, but on what she weighs, what she’s wearing, and what her hairstyle says about her.” I think this shows how societal and gender norms have left us to be so judgmental. Rather than evaluate data or facts, many will use ad-hominem attacks as part of their arguments instead. I agree that attacks like these have deterred females to participate in many political and STEM fields.
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I agree fully with Tiffany Shorts. Its sad how are world is based around looks and not the inside. If a women is speaking out, and a male or anyone for that matter disagrees, then the women is shot down and their looks are being insulted. They do not give a reason as to why she was wrong, they just simply target the woman’s looks. If a women has a strong argument towards a male but she looks weak, the male will bring her down and start insulting her. Our world bases everything on appearance and not personality. If you are a girl you are weak and a slut. No matter if it it true or not, those adjectives are always shot towards women when in reality, men do much worse and sometimes are even more weak whether it is a mental or physical mindset.
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As a male, I completely agree with all these comments. It’s not fair but then again, nothing in life is fair.
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I agree with all of the comments above but I do not see a universal way to fix the problem at hand. This will have to be a lengthy. step-by-step process if we want to see change.
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I agree with Tiffany Shorts. It honestly is sad that in life it is women who are picked on the most. Women can’t even speak their opinion without being shot down or rebelled against just because they are women. Also, because she was shot down for her appearance is wrong. Just because of the way you look should not matter when it comes to addressing an issue. A woman should not be shot down for wanting to express her opinions and beliefs just because her appearance isn’t what you expect it to be. Later, this makes the woman feel self conscious about her body and because of this she will not show up anywhere to voice her opinion about what she believes in. Women make strong arguments too!
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I agree with Emily Jamison because some men are afraid to see women in power. Men do not like to see women achieving the impossible, or simply achieving what they fail to do. The republican party especially are typically strict conservatives as you mentioned, making your example a strong example.
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I agree with Sharon Whitton. She stated that women are being called out on their looks just because a person does not like what the woman is saying. That should not be the case. If the person is in objection to what the woman is saying they should argue about the topic being discussed instead of bringing her looks into the arguement.
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In response to Tiffany Short I would say that yes I agree that a lot of times people are disregarded because of how they look and not because of what they believe however I don’t think it is just happening to women. What about people like Donald Trump who gets made fun of all the time for his hair or the color of his skin and that has nothing to do with what he believes. Donald Trump also was threatening the power of the liberal democrats and they didn’t like it so how do they deal with it? They make fun of how he looks. See the problem is not that we are sexist, the problem is that we don’t know how to respectfully disagree with our opponent. And another thing as a side note if women really want equality then it shouldn’t matter if it is a woman being made fun of because as they say we are all the same (which just so you know the Bible makes it clear that we are not the same and we were not created the same by God. He made us with our own strengths and weaknesses and we were never meant to be the same.).
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i completely agree with tiffany short. its quite insulting when one clearly cares more about how you look over the importance of the words you are trying to speak. women feel they have to present themselves a certain way just so their voice will be heard, and that is not okay. its 2017, why are gender norms still so prominent?sadly, i think we all know these standards and expectations will never be put to rest.
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I agree with Emily Jackson when she says that men bash women on their appearance because men are scared of women in charge. I think that it has to do more with the fact that for many years, men have seen themselves as superior to women because they were the “bread winners” and provided for the family, whereas the wife would stay and clean the house. These were known as gender roles. Men will try to taunt women in order to keep them in their place as supposed passive humans, which is not fair.
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I agree with Tiffany Short in saying that now a days women feel as if we have no voice because we have been robbed of that. Now when we try to demonstrate our rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protests we get emotionally abused and shamed for voicing our opinions and using our constitutional rights. We are in 2017; we have made so much progress in the elimination of gender norms but I feel that now we are backtracking, when will people realize that just because there are biological differences between males and females one gender is not inferior to the other.
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I agree with multiple points that Meredith Simons made throughout her article. While reading this article I realized that I am kind of blind to the issues that women face dealing with sexism in our society. Simons does a good job using people who hold important positions and showing what some of them say and how sexist it can be. Simons shows some of the other side of the argument too towards the end of her article. I feel as though Simons made generalizations that society and men with power treat women poorly, which is one point I do not agree with. Simons makes us believe this by stating,”Knowingly or not, these lawmakers were participating in a long, bipartisan tradition of denigrating women in politics by criticizing their appearance rather their ideas.”
Simons does a good job of making her side of the argument well known and also uses credible sources for her information. Simons uses the credibility of professor of Gender and the Law at Duke University School of Law, Katherine Bartlett, when she says,”. . . woman tend to put more time and energy into their appearance than men.” I agree with this statement because I feel as though women do that and I myself do that because of the criticism that women receive all the time. In conclusion, Meredith Simons writes an excellent essay on a topic that most of us don’t think about because we are so used to women being treated this poorly.
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It has become common today to simply dismiss women not based on their opinions, but on their wardrobe, weight, and age. Although it is believed that women have already won the war against sexism, Meredith Simons proves with numerous examples the battle is not over. We agree with Simons thoughts on the sexism in the modern day, specifically looking at politics. In addition to giving multiple political samples, Simon explains how “it’s a way of undermining their credibility” (Simon). As women ourselves we understand the use of the fallacy and have seen it in our daily lives often. Simon ends by giving her own stance on how to combat the sexism many women, “women can ameliorate the effects of appearance coverage by calling it out when they see it” (Simon).
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In “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly” Meredith Simons states that women are criticized on their appearances in activities that have nothing to do with how cute or ugly you are. Others will say that women’s emotions get the best of them and they shouldn’t take things so hard.
Women are degraded in their job because of their appearance, and men feel less masculine knowing that women are overcoming them in the job perspective. Men say objectifying slurs in order to make women feel bad about their appearance. Speaking of which, perhaps the only aspect of Hillary Clinton’s life that has generated more media coverage than her emails is her hair, which has been a topic of public conversation since the ’70s, when she reportedly “felt a need to frost her hair” for the sake of “her husband’s gubernatorial career”(1).
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I agree with Meredith Simons with the statement of how women are objectified and criticized with their appearance in the media. “After one day in office, Trump managed to achieve something that no one else has been able to do: he got a million fat women out walking,” stated Judge Bailey Moseley. This is the start of something that leads into Simon’s argument that not only targets society overall, but specifically women in general. Simons towards the end of the article mentions the other side of the article. She has very reliable sources crediting back to her stating of the GOP debate back in 2011.
Simons does a great job on her topic of how girls are being judged in society. She states how by the way we do our hair and the way we dress doesn’t define who you are as a person. The stigma behind media towards woman disassociates from the actual argument being made: “Don’t like her clothes, call her fat.” It is the true definition of degradation and objectification toward women and the distortion of the body towards younger women today. Sexism starts with your comments and ends with equality.
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I agree with Tiffany Short’s idea that if a woman has power in society, then she is more likely to be attacked about her physical appearance. However, I also believe it works the other way around. A women’s physical appearance will cause other individuals to demote and dismiss the importance of her ideas solely based on her physical appearance. This is prominent in politics because targeting a women’s flaws is much easier than arguing against certain beliefs she may have. Targeting an individual’s flaws is simply a punch at self-esteem, which is used to cause a woman to lose sight of what is at hand. Males have always been dominant in the political realm, therefore, feel threated when a woman of greater power is elected or liked more by fellow citizens.
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In The Washington Post article “Don’t like what women is saying? Call her ugly”, it talks about cruel treatment of women on various media outlets based on their given appearances. Simons in her article outlines several examples of hateful and sexist comments by an array of powerful people. These examples range from a Judge of East Texas to an Indiana State Senator, and even comments by our current President. She uses these examples to substantiate her central claim, that through the use of cruel and sexist comments, regarding gender norms and looks, the consequences of such acts goes to disempower women which ultimately dismisses their opinions and ideas in the eyes of the public. Simons concludes her article by asking and then answering a question. She asks, “so what’s a women in the public eye to do?” She ends the article by using several quotes and examples to answer this question; she says that appearances and gender norms should not and are not appropriate standards on which to judge the integrity of someone’s ideas or opinions.
I agree that abusive and discriminatory behaviors towards women based on appearances are detestable and have serious consequences to society. I strongly agree with all of Simon’s main ideas in her article, which talk about the cruel treatment of women in the public eye and the consequences associated with them. I particularly agree with her idea about the way in which males attempt to discredit or shift attention away from valid ideas or opinions through abusive comments of female appearance. This sexist trend sets unequal political influence and is just straight up mean. All in all, I agree with Simons in that nobody’s opinions, ideas, or personal merit should be determined based on appearance.
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I agree with Tiffany Short that if a woman’s power is threatening, then she is at risk of being insulted. I believe that people feel it is okay to insult powerful women in order to belittle them and feel as if they are nothing. Personally attacking someone does nothing, and in my opinion it is childish. Every time someone personally attacks a woman of higher position, children hear about it and see what is happening. They will then believe that this behavior is acceptable when it absolutely is not. No one should be judged on their appearance because someone else disagrees with them. I believe that if you disagree with someone, then you should discuss why instead of going straight for attacking their appearance or views.
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Although I agree with Julianne up to a point, I cannot accept her overriding assumption that the most detrimental consequence of sexist attitudes on appearance is that they cause a loss of confidence in the woman being attacked. I do agree that any attack on one’s looks is very hurtful, but I think many women are able to maintain their composure in such a situation and stick to their script. In my mind, the more damaging effect is on society as a whole and the public’s perception of women. As the author points out, when a woman’s appearance is insulted, it takes attention away from her ideas and her message. Society suffers the most when all ideas are not heard and considered equally, when the potential contributions of women are overlooked in favor of discussions on their looks. This effect is multiplied when other women opt out of public life to avoid such treatment. The result is a cycle of women who are hesitant to participate in public life, and a public who do not hear what women say when they do speak.
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Meredith Simmons does a great job in this article explaining how women are objectified by media and criticized for their looks rather than their ideas when it comes to women voicing their opinions in the spotlight. She uses Trump as a lead example in her argument, illustrating how often times men undermine women’s credibility when it comes to politics or any platform when stating their opinion. This unfair visual presentation that women are so harshly judged is not just in politics, but in journalism, sports, and almost all other areas of society alike. In addition, she recognizes that these unfair, sexist conventions cause women to shy away from stating their opinions on the larger platform.
Simmons theory of women being judged on their appearance is extremely useful because it sheds light on the difficult problem of women equality. I agree with Simmons assertion that women and voters who are not politicians play a crucial role in voicing their opinions of what is acceptable and what is not. In order to fix these unfair standards that women in the spotlight face, it is up to society to back the women that are brave enough to take a stand and voice their opinions. If the community at whole does not take a stand against these sexist remarks, the problem will simply prevail.
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5) Tiffany Short I agree that these sexist remarks would make you feel as if you were an object with no voice and in the military appearance can be everything because my experience in the military confirms it. If you are a woman in the military, it is presumed that you are weaker than the rest and a liability to the mission at hand. However, this is entirely wrong. Some of the greatest soldiers that I have met are women. The simple fact that appearance weighs so heavily on judgement towards females is corrupt. Furthermore, you are also right about the physical strength that you are being judged for not even being applicable to most jobs in the military. My sister was also in the military and I agree that these sexist views need to change.
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I believe that Meredith Simons writer of “Don’t Like What a Woman is Saying? Call Her Ugly” is right in being offended by what political figures are saying. It is outrageous that these privileged white males can get away with the remarks they make about women. I think it is important for young women to recognize that they way men talk about women is vulgar. They would certainly not want their children’s reputation to be tarnished by men like themselves. Young women should be taught to exercise their rights to protest. Thoreau felt it was every person’s right to civil disobedience, and I believe that in this instance he would turn over in his grave. Simons lists several comments that are commenting on women’s appearance and their exercise habits, but these men fail to deconstruct the cause they are protesting for. These men only care to dehumanize women and make them into objects to eye, rather than as human beings. Another male, Indiana Senator Jack Sandlin, felt the need to not only make a cruel derogatory remark about the women marching, but he felt it was necessary to criticize another woman in the process, Michelle Obama. Simons reports that Sandlin takes not accountability for this ending up on his timeline, but this man is supposed to represent Indiana? How can a man hold a high place in office when he cannot have an ounce of intellectual humility? I believe it is important for this to be made an example for young women to stay informed and fight for what they believe no matter what these privileged males are saying about them. What they choose to criticize should not discredit any advancements they are making. It is setting a bad example for young women everywhere in the nation when they see these important officials talking down on the difference women are making in the world of politics today.
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In this article, it talks about the way that men in politics, or the general population, talk about the way women look. Instead of criticizing the woman’s ideas, they criticize her looks. Men do this when a women’s ideas or power feels like a threat as a way to take attention away from what the woman is saying. In doing this, men push the idea of being in the public eye to the back of women’s minds. Many women who go into print journalism instead of television do so because they do not want to be criticized in this way. I believe that this is problematic in many ways. First, this makes many women afraid to voice their opinions. It also stops any dialogue that a woman’s differing opinion might create. The men in politics should not be doing this as a means of stopping woman from creating opinions. Also, it is unfair that men do not receive the same treatment that they give to women. In society, there are many more ways to be unattractive when you are a woman than when you are a man. This creates a problem when the validity of someone’s argument is based off of how attractive they are. An argument should only be based off of merit and evidence. If this is not what an argument is based off of, there is no way to create a dialogue in hopes of solving any disagreement. This mistreatment of woman who are in the public eye is going to lead to less woman trying to speak their mind in the field. Many women will feel that they are only meant to look good and agree with others. It is very hard for woman to have a differing opinion be taken seriously when everyone is focused on the way that they look.
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Men in politics have been attacking the appearance of women since the dawn of time, because, to be honest, it is their only “leverage.” Whenever I have seen interviews or debates between a man and a women, the man will often fall on this tactic, insulting the woman’s appearance or her outfit, or making stereotypical comments about her attitude as a result of her “time of the month.” These comments are always made when the woman presents a good argument or point. However, if the situation is reversed, with the woman saying something degrading about a man’s appearance, he will resort to calling the woman stupid or childish. While I do not call myself a feminist, I can recognize the ways in which men in media degrade and demean women in order to get an advantage in the discussion. These situations happen when it seems the man’s intelligence is threatened, which forces him to then degrade the woman he is debating in order to make himself appear superior. The double-standard for these kinds of comments in the media are ridiculous, and men’s comments are made and are played off as a joke, while similar comments made by women are looked on as extremely offensive and a personal attack on the man.
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In this article, Simons accurately proclaims what is happening in our country related to the judgement of woman. No matter where women are from or who they are, men will try to find something wrong about them. Its almost as if they don’t have anything better to do. Men in this country spend more of their time degrading woman than they could ever spend doing something positive for themselves or others, especially men in our government. It is almost like a game for example President Trump. He gains support and attention when he degrades women and negativity talks about anyone that’s not a white male. This is not the country I want to live in. America is all about freedom, but what is freedom if we get judged and looked down upon by our own president, senators, and congress, the people who are supposed to protect and represent us.
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Caitlan Shaughnessy
Professor Louis
English 11-06
1 November 2017
Response to Meredith Simmons Article
In her article, Simmons talks lot about how women are subject to worse criticisms than men. These criticisms are worse because they have nothing to do with what the woman is saying or doing, but just have to do with her appearance. Jabs at anyone’s appearance is just plain mean, but to do it as a way to put a woman’s opinions aside is really harsh. Judging women based on their looks is degrading, making women see themselves as inferior to men. Women in the public eye are being judged based on their weight, hairstyle, nails, and clothes. This is crazy because women are being criticized for things that do not even relate to their jobs. Simmons goes on to say that women’s ideas are “dismissed” when men do not like them. The easiest way to dismiss an idea is to call a woman a name based on her looks. This causes the ideas that many women have to not be heard. And who knows these ideas could change the world, but the ideas are tossed aside. Many women do not want to put themselves into the position to be attacked, so they do not go into any job that has do to with speaking in public. Also, since women are being targeted for their appearances, they must put more time into their appearance if they want their ideas to be heard, which is not right. I agree with Simmons. I believe that insulting women on their appearance is completely wrong. It is so difficult to comprehend that someone would think that attacking a woman, based on her looks alone, is okay. Women are treated very unkindly, which is a problem. These criticisms on their appearance can stay with them forever. You might think that something you say cannot or will not impact someone that much, but something mean stays with someone a lot longer than a few nice words. It is important to put an end to this cycle. Men should not be allowed to treat women in a way that degrades them. Women and men should be treated as equals.
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In the article, Simons writes and expresses the more harmful consequences of prominent women being insulted based on their appearance. She first tells the reader that women are critiqued based on things not related to their job, what she says or how well they perform in their job. One of the main purposes of judging women is based on what they weigh, what they are wearing, and what is said about her and her personality based on her hairstyle. Another one of the more harmful consequences is putting women down based on what is said about their appearance. This is specifically seen when women make it clear that their priorities are much greater than just pleasing man, which relates to them looking “hot.” This is known as women violating their traditional gender roles, in which they are insulted by those who would prefer them to maintain those roles. The purpose of these insults, to women, is to make “an attempt to hurt and to punish.” These attacks are also a way to reinforce gender norms, which makes women pressured to present themselves in an attractive way or, even worse, make women stay out of the public eye altogether.
While I understand and agree with most of what Simons is saying, I disagree in a different way about the women’s appearance. I agree that insulting a woman’s appearance is a serious problem, especially when it is not related to the work field of the woman herself. The part I disagree on is the way a woman expresses themselves, in terms of hotness. Personally, I am the type of girl who likes to dress comfortably, with leggings as part of my usual daily attire, a long-sleeve shirt, comfortable shoes, hair down or a possible ponytail, and I rarely apply makeup unless I really feel like it or it is an important or special event. In addition to believing that a girl should dress as she feels she wants to, I feel that no man has the right to judge based on how she dresses, how she does her hair, if she wears makeup or not, etc. This relates to the saying of “don’t judge a book by its cover,” in which a girl you see, who wears in sweatpants a lot and never has makeup on, may have a great personality and there might be a connection. I feel that men need to give ladies a little bit of slack, because it is harder for women to look nicer than men, and we just have to those sweatpants days when we’re too tired to try.
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In addition to simply being unfair and unkind, Simons asserts that insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, more harmful consequences. One such consequence is the fact that insulting a woman’s appearance diverts people’s attention to her looks rather than what she has to say. In the realm of politics this causes many female politicians to struggle in covering what they believe for they are mainly being viewed based off of their appearance. For example, Simons mentions that Hillary Clinton has faced a lot of criticism about her hair dating back to when her husband was president. Simons said that, “The only aspect of Hillary Clinton’s life that has generated more media coverage than her emails is her hair.” This meant that more focus was put into her appearance instead of the important things she had to say as well as the scandal with her emails. I agree, that insulting a woman’s appearance is a serious problem. Not only does it promote traditional gender roles that force women to subject to the authority of men, it also causes women who break from those roles to have no effect on society for they are seen solely for their looks.
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One of the more serious consequences is shutting down their ideas, because they view that as power fro the woman. They then feel like they are is threatened so they start making remarks totally unrelated to what theyre doing such as her weight, what she is wearing, or even little things like hair style. Yes using a woman appearance is a serious problem because just because they may not be the skinniest or most attractive doesnt mean they are not really good at what they do. Who cares if someone is 500 lbs is they are the best at what they do then nobody should criticize them. That is why i think its a serious problem.
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Simons states that calling a women unattractive is more harmful than just the obvious because it is cruel and unkind, but rather it also diminishes the words that she is saying. It trivializes her point and makes everything about her appearance. I agree that insulting a woman’s appearance is not only shameful but harmful because I agree with Simons’s point that making everything a women only her appearance belittles her to such an extent that people are unable to see what she is really saying and takes the meaning out of her speech. I believe this is a serious problem because it puts women in a corner, it makes them feel as though they are only worth their looks and that their looks is all that matters.Simons states that calling a women unattractive is more harmful than just the obvious because it is cruel and unkind, but rather it also diminishes the words that she is saying. It trivializes her point and makes everything about her appearance. I agree that insulting a woman’s appearance is not only shameful but harmful because I agree with Simons’s point that making everything a women only her appearance belittles her to such an extent that people are unable to see what she is really saying and takes the meaning out of her speech. I believe this is a serious problem because it puts women in a corner, it makes them feel as though they are only worth their looks and that their looks is all that matters.
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Simons explains that in addition to being unfair and unkind, insulting the appearance of prominent women has other, harmful consequences. One of those consequences is allowing critics to dismiss female politicians without listening to their ideas. If a woman’s power threatens a power of a man, she is most likely going to be recognized and viewed by her appearance and therefore takes away from the important things she is talking about. These attacks then in turn reinforce gender norms. Simons talks about how historically women were valued by their bodies and appearances, however, women who stray from this tradition often find that they are being attacked by those who prefer to maintain traditional gender roles. These people make women feel pressure to present themselves attractively rather than focusing on their ideas. They have even persuaded women to get out of the public eye. I agree the attack on a woman’s appearance is a problem. I do believe that this is a serious problem. Simons also talks a lot about Donald Trump, our president. I think it is very important that our country commander and chef should act in a way where he is not downgrading women based on their appearances. At the end of this article, Simons explains how it is the responsibility of female voters to stand up and let their voice be heard. As a male, I believe that it is just as important for men to stand up and tell reporters and government officials that they are wrong for what they are saying.
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I do agree with Simons comments because what she is saying is true. From a males standpoint it is easy to see other females commenting on how they look, what they wear, etc. I think it is wrong because it isn’t easy being criticized on things, especially something that is so pointless to comment on. It isn’t fair for them to be criticized like that for the clothes they wear or where they are from, but that is the world that we live in, but it should change.
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Simons claims that other than women being treated unfair, unkind, and insulting the appearance of prominent women there are further and more harmful consequences. One of these consequences includes critics dismissing the thoughts and ideas of female politicians without fully engaging in them. Another one of these consequences is one that happens even before a female politician is insulted. If a man believes that his power is being threatened or at risk then he will attack the female’s appearance to distract from what she says and does. All of these consequences are what Simon claims.
I do not agree with what Simon says at all and I do not believe that insulting a woman’s appearance is a serious problem. While it is extremely degrading, women have done the same to men and even men have insulted other males appearances. I think that the 2016 presidential election has clearly put a divide between men and women, liberals and conservatives in politics and arguments that they make such as this become clearly one sided. With this divide I think it is a great example of both men and women insulting each other on their appearances. Throughout the election Clinton was insulted multiple times in regard to her clothing, hair, and even makeup. On the flip side the same thing went on with Trump in regard to his hand size, hair, and skin color. At the end of the day no insult regarding anyone’s appearance should be taking seriously considering it is happening across the board. It is politics in every sense and neither side should be fragile enough to take any of those comments that seriously.
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Insulting the appearence of prominent women leads to harmful consequences such as the dismiss of women in politics, or power, by critics. When prominent women are criticized, it takes away from the importance of what they are trying to say or do and turns the power to whoever is criticizing them. This enforces gender norms because women tend to feel pressured to look appealing so men and critics don’t make rude comments towards them. This also strays women away from becoming active members in politics because they don’t ant to be treated with as much respect as men do.I do agree that this is a serious problem because it stops women from becoming political leaders and it forces the role of gender norms.
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Maggie Emmert
Professor Louis
English 11, Sect. 17
2 November 2017
The article “Don’t like what a woman is saying? Call her ugly” by Meredith Simon, emphasizes how prominent the issue of using appearance as a means of criticism is. Simon says “…any woman who has the audacity to speak in a public forum will be evaluated not only on the substance of what she says or how well she does her job, but on what she weighs, what she’s wearing, and what her hairstyle says about her.” Because public figures are pointing out the appearance of women running for office, voters are beginning to be swayed solely based on looks. More attractive women are looked at as better candidates, whereas, candidates who may have spent more time on preparing their ideas rather than their looks are looked down upon. In turn, less qualified candidates are taking office because of this appearance bias. The over analysis on looks is beginning to cause women to retract from positions dealing with the public eye and start expressing their opinions from behind computer screens. It is also retracting our society to less equality between man and woman, making men more superior. I am in complete agreement with Simons that insulting the appearance of women is a major issue that we need to deal with. No person, man or woman, should ever be subject to judgment based on his or her looks. Women should not feel as though their appearance will be torn apart if they decide to take office that deals with the public. I personally believe that everyone should be treated as equals and the appearance of a person should not affect the way that they or their ideas are perceived. For example, Donald Trump attacked Hilary Clinton, which in my opinion may have affected who won the presidency. These harsh attacks on appearance have caused huge changes in society and have negatively affected the way in which we judge women.
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Answer to question 1: Yes, insulting the appearance of prominent women has more harmful consequences than being simply unfair and unkind. Some of these include holding women back from running for office or positions of power just because of their outer appearance. Another would be for them to not be able to speak their mind because they are too afraid that the person make negative remarks about their image just to bring them down. I do agree that insulting a women’s appearance is definitely a serious problem. Yes, men are judged for their looks too but not nearly as much as women. Women may not even be taken seriously just by the way they look when really they are a deeply educated individual with many strengths. As a women I feel awful knowing that in todays society, outer beauty may be more important to some people than inner-self intelligence. I think that this has a lot to do with social medial, as people hiding behind a screen have more courage to say something that they might not be able to say in person.
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In recent discussion of sexism, a controversial issue has been whether insulting the appearance of prominent women has harmful effects on women and destroys a woman’s credibility. On one hand, some argue that making fun of prominent women does not do anything to them. From this perspective, the woman being made fun does not dt care about what is said about her appearance, and she is “asking for it” by being in a position of authority. On the other hand, however, many argue that making fun of women discredits them, and keeps other woman from speaking out due to the reinforcing of sexist gender roles. In the words of Meridith Simmons, one of this view’s main proponents, “Describing women as fat or ugly allows critics to dismiss female politicians (or activists) without engaging with their ideas. It’s a way of undermining their credibility…“When women’s ideas are threatening or women’s power is threatening, you often see them referred to in terms of their appearance,” she said. “It’s a way to distract, to trivialize and to divert attention from the important things women are saying and doing.”.” According to this view, when a woman in power’s idea threatens a man, a way to discredit her has been to make comments on her appearance, and discredit what she has to say. In sum, then, the issue is whether this has a long term and harmful effect on women.
My own view is that does indeed have a harmful effect on women. Though I concede that you can criticize what someone has said, I still maintain that their appearance should be left out of the criticism. I disagree with discrediting what someone has to say in any circumstance, based on their appearance. Someone’s appearance or gender should have no bearing on the credibility of their argument. For example, practicing this tactic of dis-credibility, is harmful not only to women but also to the women that grow up in her footprints. Those girls will be much less likely to run for important positions because they see these gender stereotypes reinforced and fear being scrutinized themselves. Although some might object that saying mean comments is only skin deep, I would reply that in general being mean is not ok. This issue is important because many women face this scrutiny and it is not ok. For our world to be more equal we need to stop discrediting women’s ideas based on their appearance
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In recent discussion of women’s protests for equal rights, a controversial issue has been whether their appearances or ideas should be seen as credible. On one hand, some argue that women are inferior to men. From this perspective, women are seen as objects and unimpressive, while men are seen as intelligent and successful. On the other hand, however, others argue that a woman’s appearance should not override her values. In the words of Lake, one of this view’s main proponents, “When you make fun of someone’s appearance, you tilt the field in your favor.” According to this view, people will respect what you have to say if you are bringing someone else down. In sum, then, the issue is whether women will ever be respected for their values or if society will always be like a battlefield.
My own view is that a woman should not be criticized for her looks. Though I concede that it is easy to judge a book by its cover, I still maintain that using a woman’s appearance as an excuse to reject her beliefs is unacceptable. For example, throughout the entirety of the women’s marches in January, men were shooting down what they were fighting for because they are “fat” or “ugly”. Although some might object that these attacks are necessary to maintain gender norms, I would reply that their appearances are irrelevant to what they are speaking out about. This issue is important because in today’s society, women are beginning to back away from pursuing higher job roles out of fear of being attacked for what they look like in the public eye.
In conclusion, then as I suggested earlier, defenders of strict gender roles can’t have it both ways. Their assertion that women are fat, ugly, etc. is contradicted by their claim that it correlates to their job or what they participate in.
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Meredith Simmons discusses the harmful consequences of insulting women based on their appearance in her article. She states that these insults “undermine women’s credibility,” meaning people lose focus on women’s abilities and focus of their “imperfections”, putting women at a disadvantage in the work force. Also, it is mentioned that these insults distract people from a women full potential. The article highlights the idea that these insults put women under pressure to look a certain way in order to please men and be accepted by society. In my own opinion, I agree with Simmons that this is a serious problem in modern day culture. When women are undermined of their capabilities the world is put at a disadvantage, meaning their ideas that can change the world will be ignored. Also, depending on the woman, insulting a women can cause serious instability, directing a woman towards confidence issues. However, there are some strong women that fin determination to prove men wrong when they are insulted, and those are the women helping to put an end to the issue of sexism and degrading women.
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I agree with the author’s comments that there are harmful consequences to insulting a woman’s appearance. In some cases, these comments can make a woman seem to care less about what the points they’re trying to make and care more about their appearance as a way to fight off bad comments. But the main issue is that with these comments going around, it takes away from the point that a prominent woman is trying to make. Her credibility goes down if she’s being insulted for something else. It is a problem because it’s very demeaning to all women in general, and there’s not reason to insult someone on something like appearance; something that doesn’t make a difference and is completely off topic.
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An Ugly Problem
In recent discussion of gender inequality, a controversial issue has been that women in politics are criticized for how they look rather than what they are saying. On one hand, some argue that this is not an issue. From this perspective, people believe that men and women are criticized equally for their appearances. On the other hand, however, others argue that this an inappropriate and sexist criticism that affects women in the politics.
My own view is that this a sexist act that takes away from what women in politics are saying and doing. Though I concede that the issue is going to continue to occur because there will always be sexism in the world, I still maintain that it can be decreased by people being aware of it and ignoring it so it will lose its effect. For example, if a female politician has a negative article written about her looks the voters need to simply ignore it so it has no effect on the arguments she was making. Although some might object that this will not solve the problem, I would reply that it is the main way we can combat the problem because you cannot control what other people say. This issue is important because sexism is an issue that effects women across the world.
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Meredith Simmons discusses the importance of recognizing the criticisms that women face based on their overall appearance rather than their intellectual standpoints. I agree fully with Simmons ideology that putting women down based on their appearance should not be tolerated for it has other harmful consequences. Women’s ideas are often overlooked because media only shines a light on the beauty, or lack of beauty that one woman may, or may not have. Brilliant ideas and strong female leaders do not get to make the impact they should because people only seem to be concerned with appearances. Making a comment based on a women appearance does not only hurt one’s feelings, but it hurts one’s opportunities. Women are more likely to refrain from conversation and situations where the will not be taken seriously. Media in today’s society is a serious problem for most people find humor in the hateful comments aimed at appearances. It is the peoples job to finally open their ears to hear what woman have to say, rather than opening their eyes and mouths to make comments on their appearances.
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Simons brings to light the unfair treatment that prominent women receive. There are harmful consequences from this treatment, one of the main being that it distracts people from the ideas that women are trying to voice. Women who are politicians, reporters, journalists, etc. are trying to express their ideas and arguments about issues, but lose their credibility when men insult their appearance. I agree with Simons that insulting a women’s appearance is a serious problem because it prevents women from having a prominent role in society. As Simons quotes, “When women’s ideas are threatening or women’s power is threatening, you often see them referred to in terms of their appearance. It’s a way to distract, to trivialize and to divert attention from the important things women are saying and doing.” Basically, the only way society views women are through their appearances. Due to gender roles, women are unable to make a statement about an issue, without also getting judged for her appearance. This importance of women’s appearance prevents them from being able to receive equality in all aspects of society. Therefore the issue is serious and pressing. Women need to be seen solely through their beliefs and ideas, not what clothes they are wearing or if they meet the standards of men. The only person that should be concerned with a women’s appearance is herself.
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