{"id":4679,"date":"2016-02-25T10:44:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-25T15:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2016-02-25T10:44:56","modified_gmt":"2016-02-25T15:44:56","slug":"lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Land&#8217;s End Postscript: Sexism in Business &#038; Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>I\u2019ve been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land\u2019s End catalog, and I\u2019ve come to a second conclusion: It\u2019s sexist.<\/p>\n<p>My thinking began by mentally reviewing the other catalogs I receive. \u00a0None of them ever feature prominent political leaders in them. \u00a0To wit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Duluth Trader (they\u2019ll tell you about the model\u2019s horse farm or blacksmith shop, but politics are right out)<\/li>\n<li>Vinyard Vine (they\u2019ll tell you what department the pictured employees work in, but still no politics)<\/li>\n<li>L.L. Bean (are Labrador retrievers political animals?)<\/li>\n<li>Territory Ahead (politics aren\u2019t romantic, and they sell romance)<\/li>\n<li>The Company Store (they sell bedding \u2013 let\u2019s not go there).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even the vast array of religious vendors who fill my mailbox stay out of politics. \u00a0No sane man loses the sale of a First Communion dress over the outcome of an election.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, we have a presidential primary going on, and it\u2019s hotly contested. \u00a0Gloria Steinem has come out forcefully and publicly as part of the campaign machinery for Hilary Clinton. \u00a0She\u2019s so intensely invested in the outcome of the presidential elections <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2016\/02\/08\/us\/politics\/gloria-steinem-madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">that she\u2019s started forgetting her own values<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"460\" data-total-count=\"2188\">Women were expected to help power Mrs. Clinton to the Democratic nomination, but as she struggles to overcome a tough challenge from Mr. Sanders and trails him in New Hampshire polls, her support among them has been surprisingly shaky. Young women, in particular, have been drawn to the septuagenarian socialist from Vermont, and the dynamic has disappointed feminists who dreamed of Mrs. Clinton\u2019s election as a capstone to their long struggle for equality.<\/p>\n<p id=\"story-continues-4\" class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"349\" data-total-count=\"2537\">Ms. Steinem, 81, one of the most famous spokeswomen of the feminist movement, took the sentiment a step further on Friday in an interview with the talk show host Bill Maher. Explaining that women tend to become more active in politics as they become older, she suggested that younger women were backing Mr. Sanders just so they could meet young men.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"116\" data-total-count=\"2653\">\u201cWhen you\u2019re young, you\u2019re thinking: \u2018Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie,\u2019 \u201d Ms. Steinem said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"177\" data-total-count=\"2830\">Realizing that this was potentially offensive, Mr. Maher recoiled. \u201cOh. Now if I said that, \u2018They\u2019re for Bernie because that\u2019s where the boys are,\u2019 you\u2019d swat me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"story-body-text story-content\" data-para-count=\"72\" data-total-count=\"2902\">But Ms. Steinem laughed it off, replying, \u201cHow well do you know me?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In this presidential race, Gloria Steinem is unequivocally campaigning for a particular candidate. \u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0as partisan as they come.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So why on earth would a clothing catalog run a puff-piece interview with a prominent backer of one of the candidates, smack in the middle of the primaries?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now for all that Land\u2019s End used the interview to announce it\u2019s financial backing for a constitutional amendment, the Gloria Steinem interview wasn\u2019t about political parties and elections specifically. \u00a0One almost gets the impression Land\u2019s End management doesn\u2019t realize that Steinem is a political figure.<\/p>\n<p>This makes no sense. \u00a0If another company ran a massive spread featuring a prominent Donald Trump or Jeb Bush or Bernie Sanders campaigner \u2014 someone who was actively in the media right now during the primaries explicitly promoting the election of his candidate \u2014 we\u2019d reasonably conclude it was meant as a political piece unless there was some explicit maneuvering to show otherwise. (\u201cGee, let\u2019s forget elections, tell me about your Labrador retrievers.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>So how could Land\u2019s End fail to notice that Gloria Steinem is one of the faces of the Hilary Clinton campaign?<\/p>\n<p>I propose it\u2019s because she\u2019s a woman.<\/p>\n<h4>The Sexism of Too Much Praise<\/h4>\n<p>For women of my generation, the fact that a female can be a doctor or a lawyer or a political hack is just not news. \u00a0We aren\u2019t amazed. \u00a0We don\u2019t gape in awe. \u00a0In the playground circles I run in, it\u2019s more surprising to discover a mom who doesn\u2019t have an advanced degree and a professional life than one who does. \u00a0We take it for granted that women are perfectly capable of professional pursuits. \u00a0(And we take it for granted that this is true regardless of her race \u2014 it\u2019s not only the white-girl 40-somethings who can flash an impressive resume.)<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s just no market among we liberated types for articles that say, \u201cWow! \u00a0A Woman Engineer!\u201d or \u201cWow! A Woman Governor!\u201d \u00a0The girls my age are governor, or district attorney, or state senator, or whatever you like. \u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/rebecca-griffin\/would-you-say-that-to-a-man_b_9229404.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Please don\u2019t be amazed at our competence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If Gloria Steinem\u2019s place in history were strictly one of campaigning for equal pay for equal work and the like, she would no longer be in the news. \u00a0We\u2019d all be grateful, and she\u2019d have taken up some new activity now. \u00a0That is not who she is, professionally or personally.<\/p>\n<p>Although a portion of her life\u2019s work is politically neutral (as can be said for any other political figure), the bulk of it is not. \u00a0To dismiss her with a gee-whiz puff piece is to fail to notice the vast portion of her career. \u00a0It would be like running an article about <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Christine_Lagarde\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Christine Lagarde<\/a> in which you somehow failed to remember she directs the IMF.<\/p>\n<p>What could make you do that? \u00a0What could make you suddenly forget the very public, highly partisan career of a major political figure?<\/p>\n<p>The only thing I can figure is that ovaries are terribly distracting.<\/p>\n<h3>Even Our Opponents Deserve Respect<\/h3>\n<p>I could not be more strongly opposed to Gloria Steinem\u2019s politics. \u00a0The pages of this blog I hope demonstrate that amply. \u00a0But the irony of the Land\u2019s End interview is that it insults us both. \u00a0For me, it\u2019s a question of a vendor presuming to send political propaganda into my home. \u00a0For Steinem though, it\u2019s worse, whether she knows it or not. \u00a0 In air-brushing her accomplishments, Land\u2019s End treats a significant chunk of Steinem\u2019s political work as if it simply weren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t feel like equal treatment to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/0b\/Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\/425px-Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\" alt=\"File:Democratic presidential ticket 1864b.jpg\" width=\"305\" height=\"430\"><\/p>\n<p><em>Artwork:Currier and Ives [Public domain], <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3ADemocratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land\u2019s End catalog, and I\u2019ve come to a second conclusion: It\u2019s sexist. My thinking began by mentally reviewing the other catalogs I receive. \u00a0None of them ever feature prominent political leaders in them. \u00a0To wit: Duluth Trader (they\u2019ll tell you about the model\u2019s horse [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[418,216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-facepalm","category-its-all-catholic"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Land&#039;s End Postscript: Sexism in Business &amp; Politics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I&#039;ve been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land&#039;s End catalog, and I&#039;ve come to a second conclusion: It&#039;s sexist. My thinking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Land&#039;s End Postscript: Sexism in Business &amp; Politics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I&#039;ve been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land&#039;s End catalog, and I&#039;ve come to a second conclusion: It&#039;s sexist. My thinking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sticking the Corners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/0b\/Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\/425px-Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jennifer Fitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Jennifer_Fitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jennifer Fitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/\",\"name\":\"Land's End Postscript: Sexism in Business & Politics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3\"},\"description\":\"I've been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land's End catalog, and I've come to a second conclusion: It's sexist. My thinking\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Land&#8217;s End Postscript: Sexism in Business &#038; Politics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\",\"name\":\"Sticking the Corners\",\"description\":\"Live it like you mean it.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3\",\"name\":\"Jennifer Fitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jennifer Fitz\"},\"description\":\"Jennifer Fitz is the mother of four fantabulous children, and author of Classroom Management for Catechists. She writes online for Patheos and for the Catholic Conspiracy. When she isn't blogging, teaching, or complaining about something, she likes to play outside.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jennifer_Fitz\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/author\/jenniferfitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Land's End Postscript: Sexism in Business & Politics","description":"I've been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land's End catalog, and I've come to a second conclusion: It's sexist. My thinking","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Land's End Postscript: Sexism in Business & Politics","og_description":"I've been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land's End catalog, and I've come to a second conclusion: It's sexist. My thinking","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/","og_site_name":"Sticking the Corners","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/0\/0b\/Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg\/425px-Democratic_presidential_ticket_1864b.jpg"}],"author":"Jennifer Fitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Jennifer_Fitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jennifer Fitz","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/","name":"Land's End Postscript: Sexism in Business & Politics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-25T15:44:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3"},"description":"I've been further puzzling over the Gloria Steinem interview in the Land's End catalog, and I've come to a second conclusion: It's sexist. My thinking","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2016\/02\/lands-end-postscript-sexism-in-business-politics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Land&#8217;s End Postscript: Sexism in Business &#038; Politics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/","name":"Sticking the Corners","description":"Live it like you mean it.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/a1a80a6198996fd8f065088c38a255c3","name":"Jennifer Fitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3aa95bdcebf0f9f0962d1a672129e152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jennifer Fitz"},"description":"Jennifer Fitz is the mother of four fantabulous children, and author of Classroom Management for Catechists. She writes online for Patheos and for the Catholic Conspiracy. When she isn't blogging, teaching, or complaining about something, she likes to play outside.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JenFitz.Writes\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jennifer_Fitz"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/author\/jenniferfitz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}