Excerpt: "Political analysts - and McCain herself - have called out Beck for his sexist comments. However, Beck isn't the only conservative radio host to comment on a well-known female's appearance. Rush Limbaugh made headlines in February when he went on a tirade about the eating habits of first lady Michelle Obama."
File photo, Meghan McCain and mother Cindy McCain. (photo: AP)
15 May 11
lenn Beck ignited a public furor on Wednesday when he blasted Meghan McCain - the daughter of Arizona senator John McCain - for appearing in a skin cancer awareness PSA.
"May I just say if you want to talk about essential, luscious, delicious, yummy, just - just a delectable appetizer for the main course, it would have to be Meghan McCain's naked commercial. Oh. My stomach, hang on. I might have eaten something bad," Beck said during his radio show. The soon-to-be-ex Fox News commentator then mimicked vomiting noises for several minutes.
This isn't the first time Beck has unleashed a tirade against McCain.
"Kids are pretty stupid - I think a lot of our twenty-somethings are becoming useful idiots. One of those useful idiots seems to be Meghan McCain," Beck said after McCain appeared on "The View" in 2010.
Political analysts - and McCain herself - have called out Beck for his sexist comments. However, Beck isn't the only conservative radio host to comment on a well-known female's appearance.
Rush Limbaugh made headlines in February when he went on a tirade about the eating habits of first lady Michelle Obama. Limbaugh - a fervent opponent of the first lady's Let's Move campaign - said that he doesn't think she's qualified to comment on others' eating habits.
"The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn't look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary, dietary advice. And then we hear that she's out eating ribs at 1,500 calories a serving with 141 grams of fat per serving," Limbaugh said, referring to Michelle's visit to a Colorado restaurant known for its ribs.
"I'm trying to say that our first lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you."
Limbaugh's tirades against Michelle have continued in the months since - he even refers to her as "Moo-chelle Obama."
Limbaugh's comments on the first lady are comical - he's not exactly svelte.
However, that's not the real issue here. The real issue is why conservative talk show hosts like Beck and Limbaugh continue to laud conservative female politicians like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann and then turn around and mock females that have opposing viewpoints.
Is it sexism, or are they just reverting to playground taunts because they have nothing else to say against them?
What's more concerning, though, is why leading females like Palin and Bachmann remain quiet while Beck and Limbaugh continue to disparage their gender. Does political gain mean more than standing up for their own sex? Apparently so.
Meagan Morris is a freelance multimedia journalist who focuses her work around important cultural and women's issues around the globe.
