Have you seen this?  Apparently, (in Jan.) a couple of “protestors” interrupted a Hillary Clinton speech by waving signs and chanting “Iron My Shirt.” 

According to electiongeek.com, the media reported it as a protest of sorts, but the Web site Hot Air found out it was a radio stunt pulled off by employees of a Boston station WBCN 104.1 FM.

The interesting part was the fallout to the radio stunt.

A NYTimes article said:
A contest between a woman and an African-American raises the inevitable question about whether it is harder to overcome racial bias than gender bias. … some also argue that the media is not as quick to recognize misogyny as it is to recognize racism. “The media is on eggshells about race, but has blinders on about sex and gender stereotyping”

The Nation writer, Katha Pollitt, wrote;

“The hysterical insults flung at Hillary Clinton are just a franker, crazier version of the everyday insults — shrill, strident, angry, ranting, unattractive — that are flung at any vaguely liberal mildly feminist woman who shows a bit of spirit and independence,”“Every woman I know who calls herself a feminist, or is even just doing well, especially in a field in which men also contend,” Ms. Pollitt wrote, “deals with some version of this.”

I think back to the Kathy Sierra story, a year ago, to which Robert Scoble said:

“It’s this culture of attacking women that has especially got to stop. (snipped) …whenever I post a video of a female technologist there invariably are snide remarks about body parts and other things that simply wouldn’t happen if the interviewee were a man“  

I have to wonder… would that same radio station send hecklers to yell “stop cheating on your wife” if the speaker was male? Hello, Spitzer!  

I know what station I’d boycott if I lived in Boston.

Bah. Here’s what I want to know.  Why does gender bias still exist in 2008? Ideas?

Here’s the video clip, in case you want to watch it… keep in mind no one knew this was a radio stunt at the time.

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