Boobs On the Ground?

ISIS in Syria was bombed by a woman. That’s right. A WOMAN. More specifically, the Emirati Air Force’s very first female pilot, Major Marium Al Mansouri, led the airstrike mission—this remarkable woman is described by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador as a, “fully qualified, highly trained, combat-ready pilot.” Mansouri achieved a feat that shattered the plexi-glass ceilings in an immeasurably gendered society. The amount of adversity she faced in her journey to serve as a fighter pilot for UAE, where in some countries women can’t even drive, is simply beyond comprehension.

Just days following the historic event, some ridiculous bullshit went down on Fox 5 News. The Five’s co-host, Kimberly Guilfoyle, recognized Major Mariam Al Mansouri for her historic accomplishment and saluted her for leading her country’s airstrikes against ISIS. Her colleague on the show, Greg Gutfeld, took it upon himself to crudely joke, “The problem is after she bombed it, she couldn’t park it.” Co-host Eric Bolling immediately followed suit by asking, “Would that be considered boobs on the ground, or no?”

More often than not, sexist political commentary—on Fox News and elsewhere—is devastatingly ignored. It is accepted, excused or dismissed as unimportant. The world moves on. Not THIS time people. Public figures like Gutfeld and Bolling cannot be permitted to air out their misogynistic views on national TV. They should not even feel the slightest inclination to do so…as if it is ever EVER be acceptable to vocalize sexist pig commentary about serious global issues. This should go without saying but people in the public-eye have the innate and dangerous power to lead by example. Shoving this kind of behavior under the rug only enables it. Major Mariam Al Mansouri deserves a certain level of respect. Every woman deserves that same respect.

And, yeah. That’s not all. Then, Bolling attempts to pedal backward to excuse his behavior by making a public “apology” in which he “makes it clear to all of you” that he was only joking. Nice. Soooo Mr. Bolling, since you decided to run with the excuse that you were, “just making a joke,” let me clue you in: You’re NOT FUNNY. You are not clever.  Not witty. In an open letter to Fox News, 60 veterans of the United States armed forces let Bolling and Gutfeld absolutely HAVE it. They notified the gentlemen that their remarks were “most definitely not excused.” The letter goes on to say:

Perhaps the phrase “boys will be boys”—inevitably uttered wherever misogyny is present—is relevant. Men would never insult and demean a fellow servicemember; boys think saying the word “boobs” is funny.

To be clear, only two types of men (boys) tell these sorts of “jokes” in public, let alone on national television: Men stuck in the 1950’s who seemingly do not know any better OR really bitter social rejects who mask their inadequacies with foul-mouthed sexism. Gutfeld and Bolling need to shut their unprofessional mouths and only grace the people, who have the immense displeasure of sharing their acquaintance, with their thoughts about women.