It seems if you talk to anyone for more than 10 minutes in this country, the conversation inevitably turns toward politics. Everyone has their own opinions – which party they voted for, how long they think the coalition will last, if Liberman/Olmert/Katsav are really guilty and if ministers deserve those fancy cars and bodyguards.
People have strong opinions about politics, and about political figures, and they’re rarely afraid to express them. I’ve heard ministers and MKs referred to as bastards, traitors, anti-Israel, disgusting, sleazy, low-lifes, morons and other things not printable in the pages of The Jerusalem Post.
But when people talk about female politicians, particularly women lawmakers they dislike, the vocabulary is different. It becomes nastier, more personal, more obscene. I’ve heard people call Tzipi Livni, Shelly Yacimovich, Zehava Gal-On, Tzipi Hotovely and Orit Struk alike a b**ch, a bimbo, a piece of work, a ball-buster, ugly, repulsive and whore. The attacks focus on appearance, on traditional sexist stereotypes, on personality and not – at the end of the day – on policy or approaches.
We invite our users to read the complete article published June 16 2013
It seems if you talk to anyone for more than 10 minutes in this country, the conversation inevitably turns toward politics. Everyone has their own opinions – which party they voted for, how long they think the coalition will last, if Liberman/Olmert/Katsav are really guilty and if ministers deserve those fancy cars and bodyguards.
People have strong opinions about politics, and about political figures, and they’re rarely afraid to express them. I’ve heard ministers and MKs referred to as bastards, traitors, anti-Israel, disgusting, sleazy, low-lifes, morons and other things not printable in the pages of The Jerusalem Post.
But when people talk about female politicians, particularly women lawmakers they dislike, the vocabulary is different. It becomes nastier, more personal, more obscene. I’ve heard people call Tzipi Livni, Shelly Yacimovich, Zehava Gal-On, Tzipi Hotovely and Orit Struk alike a b**ch, a bimbo, a piece of work, a ball-buster, ugly, repulsive and whore. The attacks focus on appearance, on traditional sexist stereotypes, on personality and not – at the end of the day – on policy or approaches.
We invite our users to read the complete article published June 16 2013