Hurling baseless accusations of misogyny comes as naturally to liberals as breathing. Other than culturally-sensitive yoga, it is perhaps the only sport in which they truly excel.
But Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., deserves all the outrage coming his way.
In a radio town hall Wednesday, Cramer went out of his way to explicitly disparage his female colleagues’ physical appearances in order to score a cheap point about President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.
According to Politico, in reference to female House Democrats’ decision to wear white pantsuits to the speech, Cramer asked listeners, “By the way, did you notice how poorly several of them were dressed as well?” The congressman continued, “There is no question, there is a disease associated with the notion that a bunch of women would wear bad-looking white pantsuits in solidarity with Hillary Clinton to celebrate her loss.”
In a follow-up interview with CNN, Cramer attempted to clarify the comments, arguing they were “really more metaphorical than literal.” Then he doubled down, saying, “But at the same time, they looked silly.”
STOP.
Yes, the matching white pantsuit stunt was an eyeroll-inducing dose of sanctimonious posturing.
But Cramer went way out of his way to highlight how “poorly” the women were dressed, call their outfits “bad-looking,” and say they “looked silly.” That is very different than critiquing the stunt itself.
There is so much wrong with Cramer’s comments it is difficult to adequately condemn them.
It is not appropriate for men in elected office, where there is a necessarily higher standard of conduct, to publicly critique their coworkers’ clothing. It is a textbook example of the condescending Mad Men-style sexism that we should have left behind with lava lamps and The Twist.
It’s also hurtful.
Yes, congressional women have thick skins and should be capable of tolerating mockery. This is not a barometer of pervasively resurgent misogyny. They will be fine.
But it’s not right, and it Cramer deserves to hear that from his conservative peers.
Even worse, Cramer just willfully gifted the liberal outrage industry an opportunity to validate its erroneous depiction of the GOP as a collection of Archie Bunkers in Brooks Brothers. Look no further than the Women’s March for proof that those efforts have understandably kicked into high gear in the Trump era.
So thanks a lot, Kevin Cramer. That flippant fashion policing will be held up as a reflection of your more gentlemanly conservative peers, damaging the movement’s credibility on women’s issues.
Conservatives devote much energy to debunking the baseless charges of sexism endlessly flung at us from politically-correct feminists. Cramer’s outright misogyny, though an absolute outlier, makes that work so much more difficult.
We have to be smarter than this.
It’s funny from Joan Rivers. It’s not funny from a male representative of the people. The only comedy to be found in Cramer’s comments is how hilariously bad his judgment was to make them.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
