California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger denigrated members of the California Legislature by referring to them as ‘girlie men’ at a rally on Saturday. The comment came in a speech to drum up support for the governor’s budget, which is currently more than two weeks late, according to the LA Times. Members of the state legislature, of which one-fourth are women, were angered by the governor’s belittling remark and the homophobia and sexism it contained. Senator Sheila Kuehl (D) told the LA Times, “It’s really painful to hear the governor resort to such blatant homophobia. It’s like he can’t get his way so he resorts to some kind of name-calling.” The Miami Herald reports that Governor Schwarzenegger was unapologetic for his comments, though he omitted any mention of lawmakers as Ôgirlie men’ in a subsequent speech given Sunday. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, commented on the misogyny that underlies the governor’s comment: “Women are strong. And to denigrate half the human race is pretty sick. But that’s what he’s doing. He’s trying to denigrate the males by denigrating females.” JOIN the Feminist Majority
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