Today on Awearness we’re looking at feminism and slut-shaming in the political arena.
We all know about the controversial joke that David Letterman told a few weeks ago about Sarah Palin’s daughter. We also know that Sarah took the airwaves demanding an apology and David gave her one…eventually. So here’s why they both need to apologize to us:
David told a joke that was not offensive just because he targeted an underage girl (Willow Palin) — it was offensive because his excuse that he was targeting Bristol Palin was an act in slut-shaming. Apparently, since Bristol has already been knocked up, it’s funny if she were again. Either way, it was a bad joke that hinged on the sexualization of women.
Sarah owes us an apology for not defending Bristol from the slut-shaming aspect of the joke. She got all hot and bothered about little Willow, but no mama bear claws came out on behalf of Bristol.
Sarah also told an equally poor joke on the “Today Show”: “it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.” Eewww!! I think that goes right up there with Jessica Simpson’s dad on the list of “inappropriate things said by parents about their children.”
But really, I think they owe us both an apology for having this thing drag on so darn long. David, why didn’t you just come out and apologize right away? Now Sarah’s supporters are waging a campaign against the show’s sponsors and David is being rewarded with an uptick in ratings. Perhaps both of them are laughing behind all of our backs as they reap the rewards of their behavior.