MediaCulturePoliticsraceObama

Sotomayor and Dr. Benjamin in the Media: An Open Thread

by Kjerstin Johnson
Published on July 16, 2009 at 10:28am

As the hearings for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor continue, media coverage has ranged from the good, the bad, and the ugly. Meanwhile, Obama’s recent nomination of Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General has gotten people talking about her weight rather than her wealth of qualifications. As the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sotomayor has faced a slew of sexist and racist coverage. Will Dr. Benjamin expect the same as a powerful, successful woman of color?

What have you seen that’s outraged, inspired, or enlightened?

by Kjerstin Johnson
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Kjerstin Johnson is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. She is the former editor in chief of Bitch. She tweets at @kajerstin. 

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6 Comments Have Been Posted

Do they ever ask a white

Anonymous replied on

Do they ever ask a white male if his experience and background could affect his judgment?

oh, the pain

slowgraffiti replied on

man, getting through that clip video on sotomayor with all of my hair and my eyeballs intact was a serious effort in willpower. idiots. the one that got me the most was the guy, pat buchanan i think it was, that was like, "he clearly wanted to choose a woman... four final nominees and they were all women!" wow dude, why don't you just make one eensy weensy tiny mental effort and *reverse that logic* ... then apply it to the majority of supreme court nominee lists for the history of this mothereffing country. just, gah! douchebags.

so true

Eisley_Rose replied on

OMG! I know. Considering that there are more women in this country then men that shouldn't be surprising, but unfortunately we are the minority majority. Yes, she is racist you see because she is a woman who can recognize racism.

Those mean, tempermental women!

Maya Dusenbery replied on

I agree wholeheartedly that this week's Douchebag Decree honor belongs to Senator Lindsey Graham. I was amazed to see Graham really push the "temperament problem" angle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Nmc04Sf5Q&feature=player_embedded). I kinda thought that everyone had already realized that calling Judge Sotomayor "mean" and "aggressive" when male judges like Antonin Scalia are on the bench is clearly just sexist. But no. Graham really goes for it, listing unattributed complaint after unattributed complaint about her temperament problem, and finally closing with the condescending suggestion that perhaps these hearings should be a time for "self-reflection." Unbelievable.

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