Sometimes, Cosmo content surprises us... and not in the "'I Walked in on a Foursome' and 15 Other OMG Confessions" kind of way.
While the liberal, feminist magazine usually pushes progressive content, it occasionally runs trenchant pieces by conservative authors. At least one editor there must realize that conservative and liberal women can agree on several important tenets of feminism. For example, women should not be targeted or demeaned simply for their sex.
In a March 6 article for Cosmo, former Sen. Cruz (R-T.X.) communications director Amanda Carpenter raised this point by tackling the left’s sexist treatment of Kellyanne Conway.
Carpenter first brought up the widely circulated photo of President Trump’s advisor kneeling on an Oval Office couch while looking at her phone. Several days after the much-talked-of picture broke, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-L.A.) commented that Conway “really looked kind of familiar there in that position,” garnering some backlash. But not enough backlash, according to Carpenter.
“It would be nice,” she wrote, “if more people who claim to be champions of woman would lend Conway some support, like Chelsea Clinton did...” But Carpenter also would have liked to hear from the Democratic big shots. “In fact, it would have been much more meaningful if Chelsea’s mom had spoken up for Conway as well,” she continued.
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 3, 2017
But Hillary Clinton remained silent, as did House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-C.A.). When CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Pelosi if Rep. Richmond should apologize for his inappropriate comment, she claimed she did not “know the particulars” of the situation.
The couch incident was not the first time Conway had borne the brunt of a sexualized joke. In February, SNL ran a controversial sketch implying that Conway would sleep with correspondents in exchange for airtime.
It did generate controversy, but again, not enough from the very feminists who supposedly decry such pointed sexism.
Importantly, Carpenter did note that Conway’s politics and job performance were fair game for attack. “She shouldn’t, however, have to answer for being a woman while she’s at it,” Carpenter pointed out.
Indeed, Conway should be a “feminist icon,” Carpenter argued, as the first “winning female presidential campaign manager” and a dedicated working mother. Instead, most liberal feminists despise her.
In a March 6 article for The Slot, Jezebel contributor Stassa Edwards explored whether feminists “owe” Conway anything. The day before, The New York Times’ Susan Chira had pointed to graciousness, commenting that liberal women must defend women of all political stripes against sexism in order to be consistent. But Edwards had difficulty buying it. “Do feminists owe Conway a vocal defense,” Edwards questioned, “particularly when that defense will only be used to empower a spokeswoman for everything we ostensibly stand against?”
Apparently, Clinton and Pelosi think not.
