NPR Helpfully Describes Senator Gillibrand As “Petite, Blond, And Perky”

Culture

When you think of a bold and active member of a Congress like Senator Gillibrand, the words "petite, blonde, and perky" aren't the first to come to mind. Well, this morning, NPR appeared to be out of other qualifying terms, so it decided to opt to go with those you would use to describe a 6-year-old Bieber fan.

Although the piece on Senator Gillibrand was quickly modified to tone down its grossly infantile tone, thanks to the devoted sexism patrol, you can see the original distasteful article here.

Even with the new changes, Imran Siddiquee at MissRepresentation notes that the article still remains pretty darn offensive. It still features a quote from Harry Reid saying that she's hot, BUT still competent. It may come as news to NPR, but it's possible for women to be both attractive and intelligent. Those two things were mutually exclusive.

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid once called her the 'hottest member' of the U.S. Senate. But friends say the woman has scary grit — precisely the kind of person who can go head-to-head with the military about how it's handling sexual assault."

NPR. Fair and balanced? More like sexist and annoying.

For more on the representation of women in the media, follow me on Twitter: @feministabulous