‘Man Up?’ What if Harry Reid Told Sharron Angle to ‘Act Like a Lady?’ – 204th Edition
One of the sound bites to emerge from last night’s Harry Reid vs. Sharron Angle debate has Angle telling Reid to “man up,” a popular line of attack on Reid from both sides of the political spectrum. While this kind of gender-based attack tends to generate nothing more than an “Oh, snap!” from most observers, imagine what would happen if Reid had told Angle to “act like a lady,” or if President Obama told Sarah Palin to “grow some breasts?”
Is Sharron Angle a sexist? And who is she really telling to “man up?”
While any suggestion that men in this country are downtrodden or oppressed would rightly be greeted with derisive laughter, attacks like this actually serve to reinforce the notion that women are inferior. Just as Sarah Palin’s attack on President Obama’s balls carried with it the inference that a mere vagina is inferior, Angle’s admonition for Reid to “man up” means that she judges him to be acting like a woman, and that this is not a good thing.
While telling her opponent to “man up” plays well in the cheap seats, it has the additional benefit of distracting from the substance of what Reid and Angle were actually debating: Social Security. Angle, like President George W. Bush and fellow gender-baiter Alan Simpson, seems to think that the solution to the government’s raiding of the Social Security trust fund is for the people who got raided to “man up.”
Reid correctly points out that there are ways to fix Social Security’s long-term problems without privatizing (or personalizing) it, a scheme that would have been devastating had it succeeded under Bush:
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Posted by Mighty Aphrodite
On October - 15 - 2010
Tags: big breasts, breast, breasts, breasts of girls, crystal bowersox, gay, Girl, model breast, sex, social security, twitter, vagina
26 comments
There can never really be gender equality until we stop forcing women to wear tops at the beach.
Mediaite Staff
I don’t know Tommy – “Man up” is a phrase that has very little to do with gender. What if Reid had fired back, “You should man up”?
Girls frequently call out to each other, “Hey, you guys.” This is an outrage!
So topless beaches gets a thumbs down, huh? To each his own I guess.
‘Man up’ has everything to do with gender. It signifies that too many men have been getting their ‘panties in a twist’ because too many women have been proving not to be the ‘weaker sex’.
Mediaite Staff
How does the phrase “man up” have very little to do with gender? Can you explain that?
Now, boys. (Wait. Was that a sexist comment?)
What if Harry Reid Told Sharron Angle to ‘Act Like a Lady?’ Do we really even have to speculate? I’ll tell you what would have happened. A post would have appeared on Mediaite, praising Reid, using words like “strength” and “fearlessness.” At no point would any form of the world “sexist” have appeared. The post would then go on to paint Angle as a “radical” or “right-winger”, and then continue to provide examples to “justify” Reid’s outburst.
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
man-up
Take control, take control of a (the) situation, be strong, rise to the moment
Back in the olden days, this was a man’s job, then came “Equal Opportunity”.
Not the same thing at all.
If he had told her to “act like a lady” then the proper response would have been for her to tell him “act like a gentleman”.
You’re confusing gender with gentrification. Being a woman doesn’t automatically make one a lady, nor does being a man automatically make one a gentleman.
“Man up” is the polite way of saying “grow a pair”. Probably way too late for Reid. Just saying. Anyway, in case you missed it the bout went to Angle.
TC:
First off, Harry Reid is male. So Angle correctly assessed Reid’s gender. She woud have been incorrect to tell Reid to “Woman Up”! (technically speaking)
Second: Here’s a list of “Man Up” definitions from the urban dictionary. Most are non-related to gender, some are. But AGAIN. Reid is male so, so technically Angle used the correct gendered term toward Reid. Aside whether she should have said that or not. So Krakauer also correct in his comment assessment.
Man Up
And TC, glad that you also believe that the government has “raided” social security trust fund! It’s a start. I’ve listened to many debates from incumbents and challengers this midterm season that argue that raiding of SS never took place and is a myth. Apparently you don’t believe that, regardless of the size or depth of the raid[ing].
Tommy asks “imagine what would happen if Reid had told Angle to “act like a lady,” ”
Nothing, that’s what.
Arlen Spector said exactly that to Michele Bachmann on January 21 of this year.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/21/specter-to-bachmann-act-like-a-lady/
Didn’t you and/or the MSNBC staff cover that? I don’t recall.
“Man Up”, in this case was used as a euphemism which is gender neutral. Good grief, do I have to school a so-called journalist?
I always thought it was an age, not gender, admonition. “Stop being a baby! Man up!”
But maybe that’s because I didn’t start by thinking women were inferior?
Question: ‘Man Up?’ What if Harry Reid Told Sharron Angle to ‘Act Like a Lady?’
Answer: The National Organization for (D-crat Socialist) Women would still fully support misogynist, women-demeaning dingy harry “Gillibrand is HOT” reid.
I just searched. Nope, Mediaite didn’t cover that little gem from a Democrat.
So is that a double standard?
Tommy… you just got pwned. BIGTIME. point, set, match.
Thanks “Knig”.
Man up, Tommy. You are loony lib that always wants to express faux outrage at anything a conservative says.
You have been exposed. LOL.
Mediaite Staff
Tommy, “man up” is a term that means “taking responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions; displaying bravery or toughness in the face of adversity.” It’s not like she said “Be a man” or something.
do you think this is sexist too? http://www.manupcampaign.org/
Here’s another perspective on that comment: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vote-2010-election-emasculation-politics-sharron-angle-tells/story?id=11891642
I Think its pretty clear sat this point that Timothy Christopher is a DNC operative and is doing his part. Anyone who reads this trash and thinks its “news”, needs their head examined. Its Democrat campaign propaganda, plain and simple.
You can GUARANTEE Timothy Christoper didn’t cover it.
This politically correct BS from progressives is sickening. Tommy is the only writer on Mediaite that lets his personal politics take control of his articles. While there are many other liberal writers (Frances, and Glynnis for example), their articles are always fair.
Although, I guess you didn’t call Angle a sexist, you just asked, and what’s wrong with asking questions, right?
If you think she’s a sexist call her that, don’t ask leading questions. Stop being such a coward and man up.
Arlen Specter to Michele Bachmann: “Act Like a Lady”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-6126494-503544.html
“Writes Glenn Thrush: “Bachmann is hardly a beloved figure in Democratic circles. But how many liberal women, whom Specter badly needs to defeat front-running Pat Toomey, would appreciate being told to ‘act like a lady’ by a male debate partner?”
They would be outraged….but since it was Michele, no one cared.
Harry reserves his insults for African and Hispanic Americans.
Mediaite Staff
I can’t answer for everyone here, but I know I had a pretty full slate when that remark was made. As I recall, vaguely, I didn’t hear about the remark until several days later. While I’d have to see what else we were reporting on at that time, it certainly seems like something we should have covered, but I wouldn’t chalk it up to a “double-standard.” This site is known for being hard on folks from both sides of the aisle.
Or called him a girlie man.
Though it isn’t exactly the same and this is off of my head in response to this post, but the amount of sexism may be somewhat equal to telling a woman to “quit your bitching”. Though it has an arguably sexist root like “man-up” over the past couple of years, “bitching” can be applied to both sexes.
I don’t know why, but I can picture an image from a popular television show of one female character telling another to “man-up” and it has been uttered countless times on other programs directed toward men. In other words, the phrase has basically entered popular culture and it isn’t quite the same, as it was just a few years ago.
IMHO