Republican House member once lamented you can’t call women “sluts” anymore
Jason Lewis, the US representative from Minnesota’s Second District , said this in 2012: “Are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you can’t call her a slut?”
CNN went through hours upon hours of Lewis’s former radio show, which he hosted from 2009 to 2014 before he was elected to Congress in 2016. Apparently, Lewis had thoughts he wanted to share with his listeners about “sluts.”
“It used to be that women were held to a little bit of a higher standard. We required modesty from women,” Lewis said. “Now, are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you can’t call her a slut?”
Lewis’s comments have come to light during an election year when the #MeToo movement and the wins of Democratic women are defining the campaign. He will face a Democratic woman in his reelection campaign, Angie Craig, which is expected to be competitive after Lewis narrowly defeated Craig in 2016.
Here are Lewis’s comments, apparently originating in the Sandra Fluke-Rush Limbaugh controversy , in full from CNN:
“Well, the thing is, can we call anybody a slut? This is what begs the question. Take this woman out of it, take Rush out of it for a moment,” Lewis said in a March 2012 episode. “Does a woman now have the right to behave — and I know there’s a double standard between the way men chase women and running and running around — you know, I’m not going to get there, but you know what I’m talking about. But it used to be that women were held to a little bit of a higher standard. We required modesty from women. Now, are we beyond those days where a woman can behave as a slut, but you can’t call her a slut?”
There was more. Lewis brought up Madonna. She’s had a lot of sex and dressed provocatively, he observed and then asked: Would society not have once called her a slut? From CNN:
“Now Limbaugh’s reasoning was, look, if you’re demanding that the taxpayers pay for your contraception, you must use a lot of them and therefore, ergo, you’re very sexually active and in the old days, what we used to call people who were in college or even graduate school who were sexually active, we called them sluts.”
He continued, “Especially if you want somebody to pay for it. Now you know, obviously that’s a stretch. It was meant as an aspect of entertainment radio.”
He continued, “But have we really got to the point where you can’t refer to Madonna as a slut without being sued? I mean, Madonna has had a series of lovers, as have many in Hollywood. Now in the old days, what did we call this? Madonna dresses up in these sorts of prostitute-like outfits on stage, and she goes there and she sings and she shows half of her body. What did we call those people? 30 years ago? 40 years ago? 50 years ago? You can’t do that today, it’s too politically incorrect?”
“This has all been litigated before, and as Congressman Lewis has said time and time again, it was his job to be provocative while on the radio,” Lewis’s campaign manager Becky Alery told CNN.
Lewis narrowly won his first election in Minnesota’s Second District, which covers areas directly southeast of St. Paul. In 2016, he beat Democrat Angie Craig by 2 points. Cook Political Report rates his 2018 reelection campaign as a toss-up. He’ll again face Craig, a health care executive at St. Jude Medical.
The former radio jockey and author has also had some thoughts to share about slavery. He said this on audio commentary for a book he wrote, per the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
In fact, if you really want to be quite frank about it, how does somebody else owning a slave affect me? It doesn’t. If I don’t think it is right, I won’t own one, and people always say ‘well if you don’t want to marry somebody of the same sex, you don’t have to, but why tell somebody else they can’t. Uh, you know if you don’t want to own a slave, don’t. But don’t tell other people they can’t.
That was reported the February before Lewis was elected to Congress. He won anyway. Now he’s up again in November.
Absolutely, Congressman Lewis! You absolutely have the right to call a woman a slut.
And everyone else has the right to draw their conclusions about you for doing it...
Look, you jackass....there is a double standard. You admitted that there is one but you don't think it's important to talk about. How many women did you pork before you got married? If you weren't a virgin when you got married, I'm calling you a pig-slut
Do I detect a hint of disapproval??
Jackass was mild.
Man whore
And republicans wonder why they keep getting blamed for their war on women.
Maybe Republican males will cite the religious conscience clause for a defense of their misogyny?
And this is just downright stupid:
You don't take a goddamned pill every time you want to get lucky. Well, you men do. But we do pay for those.
Asshole
Excellent summary
deleted
removed for context
deleted
removed for context
His need to use 'slut' to a describe woman, then lamenting he can't use that derogatory term, tells me all I need to know about his character.
Exactly LynneA...
If I was to describe him, I would say LOW T....
Yes, unless you mean to express approval of her slutty behavior.
Aren't you the guy that thinks just holding a door makes him a gentleman? You really like that low bar, doncha.
Well, let's see . . . IS that something I said? Or did I simply say the act was one of good manners? If you're going to try to change my words, I am going to call you on it.
Why should I, you, or anybody else care what she does? It doesn't affect your drive to work, your day at work, or even your paycheck.
She who? Who are you talking about? And where did I say I cared what someone does? Sorry, but I don't see how your question has any connection to what I wrote.
Whatever woman you are calling a slut is the "she" in question. And "she" does not require your approval for anything
Let e see if I have this right...
An unknown Representative says in public what his feelings are on what he can and cant's say out loud......liberals say BAD
Nationwide known actors, talk show hosts and public figures come out on their soap box and declare conservative women cunts...over and over again....and liberals cry FREE SPEECH and THAT speech is good.
Freaking pathetic.
You don't.
I notice you have devolved into one and two word responses that in no way addresses the post. Were you not given the latest talking points and you are lost with the lack of knowing how to respond? deleted
Keep up that war on women. We especially love your mansplaining, keep talking. As a woman who values her rights, anybody that works against that is a problem. And when your party's leader is the bully asshole who 'tells it like it is' and you like it, you don't get to decide what we say in response to his enablers. Those women betray all of us.
That post made zero sense. Sorry if you think pointing out liberal hypocrisy is mansplaining.
I do, however, understand that you think it is OK for nationally known liberals that have a national soap box to call women cunts and other derogatory names, over and over again, but want to throw a fit when an unknown Representative makes one statement one time.
Liberalism truly has devolved. Sad...