Newsweek has, once again, lowered its already low standards and come out with horribly sexist magazine cover. Its victim is the far right conservative presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann. Of course, it pains me to defend such a morally reprehensible person, but, as a feminist, I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t.

The Newsweek cover (pictured to the right) is sexist for a couple reasons…

Right off the bat, you’ll notice that she is made to look insane. Yes, she is known for having a stare that can be a bit unnerving, but this picture was chosen for a reason. If you have seen pictures of Bachmann before, you should know that this is not a good representation of her. Many people find her attractive (not me… I have a hard time finding bigots attractive), and there are literally thousands of great pictures out there… including the ones Newsweek itself took for the cover story. Newsweek was obviously trying to make her look unhinged or “nuts”. This is a common occurrence with female politicians and, really, females in general. Another example is Hillary Clinton. She will never be taken seriously because the media has made her out to be some kind of crazy woman. They talk about her “cackle” and commonly post unflattering pictures of her that make her look unbalanced.

And as if the image wasn’t bad enough, the headline is bad as well. The Queen of Rage? Come on now, Newsweek. Michele Bachmann is definitely a passionate person, but she’s no “Queen of Rage”. She actually seems like a very nice woman. It’s quite obvious that they chose that language to further their “she’s an unstable woman” angle. Compare this to the famous “Hysterical Hillary” cover that The New Republic put out in 2008. Same ugly tactics.

Obviously, I’m not the only one who felt this way. Here’s what the National Organization for Women (NOW) had to say about the cover:

Via The Daily Caller:

“It’s sexist,” NOW president Terry O’Neill told TheDC. “Casting her in that expression and then adding ‘The Queen of Rage’ I think [it is]. Gloria Steinem has a very simple test: If this were done to a man or would it ever be done to a man – has it ever been done to a man? Surely this has never been done to a man.”

While some have pointed out that Newsweek has used unflattering photos of men such as Rush Limbaugh and John McCain on its cover, O’Neill says that is not the issue.

“Who has ever called a man ‘The King of Rage?’ Basically what Newsweek magazine – and this is important, what Newsweek magazine, not a blog, Newsweek magazine – what they are saying of a woman who is a serious contender for President of the United States of America. They are basically casting her as a nut job,” O’Neill said. “The ‘Queen of Rage’ is something you apply to wrestlers or somebody who is crazy. They didn’t even do this to Howard Dean when he had his famous scream.”

Completely agree with NOW. The double standard is clear. Even Megyn Kelly, who I usually disagree with, made a damn good point on her show on Fox News:

We’ve talked before on the program about how certain women politicians – it’s not limited to conservative women, but you see that often – get deemed (and pardon the terms, folks) as either “nuts or sluts” when they’re running for office.

Nuts or sluts. Yep. Pretty much sums up the way Main Stream Media sees women. Pathetic.

Look, Newsweek, if you wanted to make Michele Bachmann look bad, you didn’t need to go all sexist on her. You just needed to be honest about her. Here. Watch the video below. This is what is wrong with Bachmann. This is why I cannot stand or respect her. She’s ignorant, bigoted, and, seemingly, uneducated. She has a glaring lack of understanding of economics and her social politics belong in the 50s.