Even as the Democratic National Committee profits from the “Republican war on women” meme, liberals opposing Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., have decided to attack the governor by targeting a woman in his campaign on the basis of her history of “unnatural sexiness.”
Ciara Matthews, Walker’s communications director, is under fire for being both pro-life and a former Hooters restaurant waitress. “Profitting (sic) from selling a plasticized form of unnatural sexiness designed to arouse men while simultaneously believing that women should be forced to face the ‘consequences’ of actually giving into to their sexual desires is a pretty backward way of thinking,” the Jezebel’s Erin Gloria Ryan suggested, while apparently trying to embarrass Matthews by posting a “hilarious” photo of her wearing a Hooters uniform. (Curiously, Ryan also said that Matthews’ “shouldn’t be faulted” for working at Hooters.)
“What is the connection between my being pro-life and working at Hooters?” Matthews countered in an interview with The Capital Times, an outlet that self-describes as a “progressive voice” in Wisconsin. “Is there a hypocritical angle here that I’m not aware of? Is Hooters performing abortions?” Matthews also explained that she worked at Hooters to make money as a college student.
The Matthews hit recalls somewhat a Newsweek story attacking Karen Santorum for having a romantic relationship with an abortion doctor when she was unmarried and not particularly conservative. Both Newsweek and Jezebel failed to make a compelling charge of hypocrisy against either of the conservative women, but seemed very interested in using their sexuality to embarrass them.
The Capital Times justified the newsworthiness of the Hooters photo by echoing the Supreme Court’s famous definition of obscenity. “As we say in the biz: You know it when you see it,” the “progressive voice” explained.
Jezebel, notably, quoted an old blog in which Matthews said she wanted to “punch Hillary Clinton,” but the headline functioned more as a caption to the Hooters picture than anything else. The Capital Times focused exclusively on Scott “Walker’s Hooters connection” rather than the Clinton comment or any other of Matthews’ writings.
When Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a “slut,” Jezebel rejected his apology while denouncing his “paroxysm of misogyny.” The decision now to go after Matthews over a Hooters job she worked as a college student — rather than anything she has actually thought or said, no matter how embarrassing — suggests that these writers only respect the women who think like Jezebel.
