Meghan McCain appeared on The View today to talk about her call for a discussion among Republicans about the future of the party, and conservative Laura Ingraham's response that the fat girl should shut up.
Although Meghan Tweeted a short response last week, the long form appeared in The Daily Beast today. Meghan, who admits to being teased about her weight as a kid, said:
I expected substantive criticism from conservative pundits for my views, particularly my recent criticism of Ann Coulter. That is the nature of political discourse, and my intent was to generate discussion about the current problems facing the Republican Party. Unfortunately, even though Ingraham is more than 20 years older than I and has been a political pundit for longer, almost, than I have been alive, she responded in a form that was embarrassing to herself and to any woman listening to her radio program who was not a size 0.
In today's society this is, unfortunately, predictable.
I mean, she has a point. If Laura Ingraham is so stymied by the criticism of a 24-year-old newbie writer that she has to resort to mocking her accent and her weight, then that is truly embarrassing for Laura Ingraham's skills as a talking head. Meghan then asks:
Why, after all this time and all the progress feminists have made, is weight still such an issue? And in Laura's case, why in the world would a woman raise it?
Well, that's easy enough: women are not united. The idea that there is some female solidarity in the world is a false one, as everyone from Laura Ingraham to Phyllis Schlafly to Rian at The Skinny are more than happy to demonstrate. It would be great if it were true but the thing about the patriarchy about which I love to caterwaul is that it doesn't just affect men — either in terms of the opportunities it offers them or in terms of the stereotypes it inculcates in women.
Meghan — whose whole point, initially, was that the Republican party needs to do a better job of attracting young people — said on The View:
And what do young women think when I speak my mind about politics and I want to have a political discussion about the ideological future of the Republican Party and the answer is, "She's fat, she shouldn't have an opinion."
Meghan says that the dismissal of her political views because of her supposed weight "infuriates" her, as it does me.
On her radio program earlier today, Ms. Ingraham offered her a thoughtful analysis along with an obligatory mea culpa:
You wanna put yourself out there as someone who's going to redirect the future of the Republican party, and you're going to have to deal with satire. You're gonna have to deal with people teasing. You're gonna have to deal with, you know, sometimes the kitchen gets a little hot! …. You gotta just take a chill pill. … Can I say lighten up or is that offensive too?
I mean, on the one hand, I guess it's good that Ingraham, like Ann Coulter, has just admitted that she's a bad comedian rather than a thoughtful political commentator. Now if only Meghan McCain could take on Rush Limbaugh!
But, seriously, as a fellow non-size 0 girl myself, I'd rather just repeat Meghan's response to Ingraham and the rest of her body critics:
Kiss my fat ass!
The Politics of Size [The Daily Beast]
Meghan McCain Tells Laura Ingraham: ‘Kiss My Fat Ass!' Ingraham Responds That She Should ‘Lighten Up' [ThinkProgress]
Earlier: Body-Snarking, Abortion-Hating, Lieberman-Shunning: The All New Old GOP!
Team Meghan!
Ann Coulter, Bill Maher Bring Circus Act To Manhattan
DISCUSSION
"Can I say lighten up or is that offensive too?"
Oh, I almost missed that! So that's making fun of people who don't like racism! So bizarre.
(And for the record, I don't know of anyone who thinks the phrase ''lighten up" is a seriously offensive racist sentiment.)