Steinem, Fonda to Clear Channel, FCC: Dump Rush

Limbaugh's hate speech is eating valuable radio spectrum, feminists say
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 11, 2012 9:37 AM CDT
Steinem, Fonda to Clear Channel, FCC: Dump Rush
Jane Fonda arrives at the 2012 HBO Golden Globe After Party at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012.   (AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)

Three of the biggest names in American feminism—Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem—are calling on the FCC to yank the licenses of channels that air Rush Limbaugh, saying his "degrading" and "dehumanizing" language is not in the public interest. "Spectrum is a scarce government resource. Radio broadcasters are obligated to act in the public interest and serve their respective communities," they write in a joint column at CNN. But stations that air Limbaugh's program are not doing so in "permitting such dehumanizing speech."

The original comment that got Limbaugh into trouble, calling law student Sandra Fluke a "slut," "was not much worse than his regular broadcast of sexist, racist, and homophobic hate speech," they write. "His longtime favorite term for women, 'femi-nazi,' doesn't even raise eyebrows anymore, an example of how rhetoric spreads when unchallenged by coarsened cultural norms." And for good measure, they also compare Limbaugh's rhetoric to Josef Goebbels. For the full column, click here. (More Gloria Steinem stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X