Read more about this: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is You & Me—She is Every Woman.
Disgusting, crazy, out of your freaking mind, a f*cking bitch.
No, she wasn’t hurled with these derogatory words by a drunk man in a New York subway. These were uttered by a “respected” and “dignified” Congressman Ted Yoho (R-Florida).
On Monday, July 21, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Florida) accosted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) on the stairs of the Capitol building, calling her disgusting, crazy, and out of her mind, and also dangerous, due to her stance on a policy matter.
She responded with, “That’s rude.”
How dare a woman not accept my abuses with silence and shame. He was incensed. A few more steps, in front of reporters, he let his passion get the better of him and called her “a fucking bitch”
Their exchange went viral. I bet Rep. Yoho regrets not keeping his testosterone in check in front of reporters. So, on Wednesday, July 22, he spoke on the House floor in a vain attempt to give an apology or rather shift the blame, because he didn’t even try to package his statement as an apology.
In fact, he said he would not “apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, or my country,” which influenced his interaction with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
AOC had decided to let it pass and move on with life, and keep working for her country until Rep. Yoho added that having a wife and two daughters made him “very cognizant” of the words he used and that his words had been misconstrued.
As if having a wife and/or a daughter is somehow proof that men are not sexist.
AOC responded by rejecting his “non-apology” in her 8-minute iconic speech on the House floor on Thursday, July 23. {Watch the video below for her full speech.}
Some excerpts:
“I am someone’s daughter too.”
“I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.”
“What Mr. YoHo did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters, in using that language in front of the press, he gave that permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community. And I am here to stand up to say that that is not acceptable.”
“Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man. When a decent man messes up, as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize, not to save face, not to win a vote. He apologizes genuinely to repair and acknowledge the harm done so that we can all move on.”
That was brilliance, grace, intelligence, and complete dedication to what justice, equality, and dignity in the United States look like. That is our colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and we are so grateful for her voice. ~ Rep. Pramila Jayapal
Rep. Jayapal, lauded AOC for asserting herself in the face of sexist verbal violence, and then shared the history of when and how the word “bitch” became a pejorative, and why it rose to prominence in the 1920s.
Watch this video to hear AOC’s brilliant and dignified response as well as Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s subsequent remarks.
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Following AOC’s speech, fellow Representatives Pramila Jayapal, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Nydia Velázquez, Brenda Lawrence, Al Green, Jackie Speier, and others spoke to the pervasive culture of misogyny.
Hear all these representatives share thier perspectives here: https://www.themarysue.com/in-scathing-speech-aoc-calls-out-cultural-misogyny-and-the-power-of-privilege/
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AUTHOR: SUKRITI CHOPRA
IMAGE: SAWYER HACKETT/TWITTER
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