#CancelVanityFair is trending today because of a sexist Hillary Clinton joke
In case you missed it, a recent New Year’s-themed Vanity Fair video suggested that Hillary Clinton should take up knitting as a hobby, and it’s garnered a ton of backlash. The video, which was released Saturday, December 23rd, features a number of editors from the magazine’s politics and business vertical, Hive, and appears to mock the former presidential candidate.
Basically, the “jokey” video urges Clinton to pick up a new hobby in the new year in order to prevent her from running for office again.
“Take up a new hobby in the new year,” Vanity Fair writer Maya Kosoff suggests. “Volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy ― literally anything that will keep you from running again.”
Maybe it's time for Hillary Clinton to take up a new hobby in 2018 pic.twitter.com/sbE78rA5At
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) December 23, 2017
Although the video received little attention over the Christmas holidays, it’s since been met with angry reactions from Clinton supporters, who called for Vanity Fair subscribers to cancel their subscriptions. Even actress Patricia Arquette spoke out on the video and its underlying message.
Hey STOP TELLING WOMEN WHAT THE F-CK THEY SHOULD DO OR CAN DO. Get over your mommy issues.
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) December 27, 2017
Does Vanity Fair NOT realize how many readers of their magazine they have just alienated? They mock the first woman to ever win the popular vote in a general election? A woman who got the second most votes EVER! #CancelVanityFair
— Robert Shearer (@robjshearer) December 27, 2017
Goodbye Vanity Fair! Have been unimpressed this past year and now disgusted at your “humorous” attack on HRC. Misogyny doesn’t suite anyone. Telling a brilliant woman to go knit? You can knit this!!
— Irene Boniece (@irbnyc) December 27, 2017
Following the backlash, Kosoff responded on Twitter saying that she nor the VF staff ever intended to insult Clinton.
“I don’t appreciate being taken out of context to make me seem super sexist,” she tweeted on Tuesday night before setting her account to private.
While Vanity Fair likely did not intend to single Clinton out with sexist remarks (they released similar vids directed at other public political figures, like White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Donald Trump), the fact of the matter is sexism has a long and insidious history in our country, and is still alive and well. So insinuating that a woman should stay home and “knit” instead of pursuing her goals is tone deaf at best, and outright offensive at worst, and it makes total sense that the phrasing would strike a nerve with many viewers.
We’re honestly surprised that the Vanity Fair creative team failed to consider this, and we hope they’ll be more careful with their word choice the next time around.
