The Republican timewarp
As the elections get closer, women have heard a lot about what Republican candidates don’t support, things like paycheck fairness, or a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. We know they don’t support long-acting birth control methods like IUDs that are 20 times more effective than pills. And we know they don’t support personhood— except, of course, when they do.
Given the chance to tell us what they do stand for, however, Republicans have produced an eye-opening collection of campaign ads that tell a strangely sexist tale.
The new ads represent Republicans’ attempt to connect to women in a “more culturally relevant way,” College Republican National Committee (CRNC) chairman Alex Smith told TheWall Street Journal.
So the CRNC kicked off its nearly $1 million digital ad campaign with one of most sexist ads of the election. In a play on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” one ad compares Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez to a wedding dress.
The ad features a new college graduate— not in an office, but in a bridal boutique. Beauprez is the chic, strapless dress she tries on, while Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper is an outdated and more expensive frock. The ad is meant to appeal to Millennial women who, as Republicans see it, shop a lot and devote their time to reality TV.
Never mind that this is the most highly educated generation of women we’ve ever seen, who outpace men in college degrees. Or that 75 percent of Millennial women think the country must do more to promote gender equality, according to Pew Research.
In addition, only 26 percent of this generation is married, compared to 36 percent of Generation X at the same age, 48 percent of baby boomers, and 65 percent of the Silent Generation (who are, by the way, more likely to vote Republican).
Then there’s the “Dating Profile” ad, where a woman sits on her couch in pearls and a pink cardigan and talks about “breaking up” with what seems to be an abusive boyfriend. “In 2008, I fell in love. His online profile made him seem so perfect,” she said. “By 2012, our relationship was in trouble. But I stuck with him because he promised he’d be better. He’s great at promises.”
At first, the ad does seem culturally relevant, given the NFL’s recent headlines about domestic violence, and the powerful “Why I Stayed” social media campaign that voices the experience of abuse.
Instead, the “bad boyfriend” turns out to be President Obama. And while the woman can’t leave him for two more years, she can vote against his friends. How empowering. In a month dedicated to domestic violence awareness, it’s also an insensitive and insulting comparison.
Nostalgic Republicans are also fond of ads that place women— where else— in the kitchen. In an ad called “Talk” from Crossroads GPS, four women stand around a kitchen table with pink mugs and a plate of cookies, criticizing Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, who’s running against Republican Cory Gardner.
“We care about good jobs that support our families,” said one woman. Behind her hangs an apron on the kitchen door, freshly washed and ready for wear.
Younger women are also included in the Republican outreach. As the most active generation on social media, Millennial women are too familiar with the misogynist “make me a sandwich’’ meme used to attack women who speak up on the Internet by referencing their “place” in the kitchen.
Nevertheless, another anti-Udall Crossroads GPS ad called “Enough” features a youngwoman fretting over household bills— while she makes sandwiches in her kitchen.
Why is it that the party that wants to pitch an economic message to women can’t seem to envision them at work? The Republicans’ time-warped message to women is clear: Go back. Go back home. Go back to the kitchen. Go back to the 1950s. Fortunately, Colorado women know that
forward is a better direction.