We live in fractious times, and if you’re looking for proof, Exhibit A is an article at Mediaite tearing the Chicago Tribune a new one for a tweet that many people find sexist.
The tweet points back to an article about Olympian Corey Cogdell, who won a bronze medal for the U.S. in women’s trap shooting this past Sunday. (Yes, trap shooting is an Olympic sport.)
Without further ado, here’s the tweet:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Wife of a Bears' lineman wins a bronze medal today in Rio Olympics https://t.co/kwZoGY0xAX pic.twitter.com/VZrjOvr80h
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 7, 2016
And here’s the rub: The reference to Cogdell as someone’s “wife” strikes some as pretty dismissive, even if the someone is a player for the wildly popular (in Chicago) Bears.
I see their point; it’s hard not to. If nothing else, the tweet is guilty of the journalistic dereliction of misplaced emphasis. (The headline of the article at the Trib’s website — which reads “Corey Cogdell, wife of Bears lineman Mitch Unrein, wins bronze in Rio” — illustrates the problem. Some will still take issue with the identification of Cogdell as the less-famous spouse of a Bears defensive end, but some will take issue with anything.)
Mediaite provides a cross-section of the finger-wagging reactions on Twitter, and some are pretty good. I especially like this one:
you misspelled Olympian Corey Cogdell https://t.co/VjyU5M3NW5
— ziwe (@ziwe) August 7, 2016
But the best part of this admittedly minor kerfuffle comes in the comments section. Here are a couple that are typical:
Is anybody surprised by this?
The chicago tribune is a right-wing ragJeez. Such ginned up outrage. It’s a Chicago paper and the Bears are big there. Anyone clicking the link would get the full story including her name.
Idiots.
It doesn’t take long before politics and personality enter the picture:
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on now, you chauvinist pigs, let’s cut the little lady some slack here. If she’s delighted to have won a medal (what was it, bronze or zinc or something?) at the Olympics, good for her. Ok, OK. It’s not the 100 meter dash, but you try crap shooting some time. It ain’t easy. I’ve been in a lot of situations where whatever I did it was basically a crap shoot. What? Oh. Trap shoot. Ok. Sorry. Whatever.
One day she’ll be able to tell her young son or daughter, or both, “Honey, look what mommy won at the Olympics. A medal.” “What was your event, mom?” “I was in the trap shooting.” “Mom.” “Yes, dear.” “What the f*** is trap shooting?”
Yeah, that will hurt a little. But you know, you’ll always have your medal. So, I say go for it, lady. Go for it.
D-Reactor Philip Buzter • 3 hours ago
She won that medal for America, you unpatriotic, sexist, worthless piece of sh!t. You Trump-voting pathetic loser. No wonder morons like you support a delussional sexist pig like Trump. You Trumpbots are beginning to show to the world that America is the last thing on your mind. Scmucks like you are voting for that crooked and fraudulent Trump only because of his openly racist and sexist stand. So stop pretending you morons are patriotic.
Ricky Rick D-Reactor • 13 minutes ago
He had an opinion and he gave it with a little comedy. Your intolerance is exactly what I despise about Trump voters.
Or before the thread goes off topic — and the rails — entirely:
guns are bad
Blackadder csteve • 14 hours ago
Then don’t buy one.
Blackadder csteve • 14 hours ago
csteve Blackadder • 14 hours ago
Don’t tell me what to do.
Then you get the philosophical angle:
And then, finally, the attacks on the messenger itself:
