suffragette city

Tonight, the better part of two hours was spent at a forum on "Sexism in the Media". It seemed like a nice enough way to spend a Wednesday evening when I learned of it last weekend. The title invoked memories of college sociology classes with generically named textbooks. Being interested in social politics and being a small dot on the media map myself, I was intrigued.

We sat near the center of the room, nibbling on our cheese cubes and cantaloupe cuts, choosing not to partake of the slim cash bar. People slowly shuffled in. We watched as two public relations students twiddled their thumbs diffidently, holding tight to their notepads, seemingly avoiding human contact. The demographic of the room definitely leaned more in favor of women twenty years older than us. I wasn't the only guy, but I was the only one without a piercing or distinctive hat. I wonder what that says.

The media in question were the news organizations. Nothing about any of the subjects or points that were brought up seemed surprising or particularly revelatory. I'm getting really tired of hearing about what Bill O'Reilly or Chris Matthews has said this time! The focus on the current Presidential election was really the only thing that separated this (as it turned out) NOW sponsored event from a somewhat out-of-date reference book. I realize preaching to the choir will get that sometimes.

I guess I was a little disappointed in the overall event, but I did enjoy getting in on the discussion. After a panel presented specific information, there was some round table action, followed by more honed in bullet points to take away. This segued right into some plugging of the organization and the necessary but shameless drive to get membership checks written.