History of Feminism
Related: About this forumAttacks On Wendy Davis’ Life Story Follow Classic Sexist Playbook
Here are the top three most sexist attacks in the Dallas Morning News profile:
She didn’t really struggle because she only lived in a trailer for a few months as a single mom. Claiming that “facts have been blurred” in her story, The Dallas Morning News’ Wayne Slater seized on Davis’ description of her struggles as a 19-year-old divorced single mom, pointing out that she was actually 21 when the divorce was finalized. In fact, Davis was a 19-year-old single mom who was only unofficially separated from her husband, and “lived only a few months in the family mobile home while separated from her husband before moving into an apartment with her daughter.”
She manipulated her husband into paying her tuition. After divorcing and enrolling in community college, Davis met her second husband, Jeff Davis, a 34-year-old lawyer, and married him after two years of dating. Davis helped her pay for the last two years of college and cashed in his 401(k) to help her pay for Harvard Law School while taking care of their children. He claimed Wendy left him “the next day” after he made the last payment on her Harvard Law loan.
She abandoned her children in order to pursue a career. Because Jeff Davis took care of their daughters while Wendy went to law school, therefore flipping traditional gender roles in childcare, right-wing pundits are now calling her a bad mother who “apparently abandoned her children.” “Wendy is tremendously ambitious,” one anonymous source, described as a former colleague and political supporter, told the Dallas Morning News. “She’s not going to let family or raising children or anything else get in her way.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2014/01/21/3184391/sexist-wendy-davis-attacks/
Abbott's campaign, in addition to the "Abortion Barbie" routine, has pulled out the "Bad Mother" and "Gold-Digger" bullet points from the MRA-GOP playbook pretty quickly. The Davis campaign has also out raised Abbott in recent contributions. Makes me think that they're a bit more concerned with her than they let on. However, it is interesting that they do not criticize any of her public policy positions, but only those things related to her sex.
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Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)
gaspee
(3,231 posts)of reading the comments on the article - disgusting
ismnotwasm
(42,538 posts)Few things get me truly furious but this is one of them. Disgusting.
redqueen
(115,177 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I did miss that one. Thanks!
nomorenomore08
(13,324 posts)financially. And IIRC she's still married to Jeff Davis, right? That kind of longevity certainly doesn't suggest a "sugar daddy" type relationship.
Lunacee_2013
(529 posts)Her policies are better than his! And, as usual, being ambitious is bad, bad, bad...if you're a woman, that is. If you're a man, then it means you're strong and willing. If you're female, it means that you abandon your children and use your husband's money to get ahead. For a woman, "ambitious" really means cold, uppity, workaholic, selfish, back-stabbing, ball-busting bitch. At least it does to the Texas GOP.
As for the divorce "scandal";19, 21, who really cares? She was separated from her first husband at 19 , and as everyone who's gone through a divorce in Texas knows, it can take awhile. Two of my close friends were divorced here; and it took one almost a year, while it took the other over two years. Both had separated from their husbands long before the divorces were finalized.
Screw the bastards who are calling her a bad mom and who are saying that being a 19 year-old single mom wasn't that bad. Motherhood is the single TOUGHEST job in the world! And I'm not even a mom! Her life was probably 10 times harder than their was, at least.
They really must be worried by her if this is the type of mud they're flinging. It's like they're throwing anything out there, just to find that sweet spot and see what sticks.
Well the sexist attacks are having the opposite effect on me. Not only am I voting for her, I think I'll do a little donation giving next month, too!