On October 21, an animated and agitated Kimberly Guilfoyle blundered ignorantly in a recent segment of The Five, broadcasted on Fox News. From the second she began to speak–injecting into Bob Beckel’s sentence: “Ehhhhh”–you asked yourself when the madness was going to stop. For those of you who haven’t heard: according to Guilfoyle, young women shouldn’t vote. She explains that we, simply, lack wisdom. As young women, we “don’t get it”. The “it” refers to paying bills, mortgage, raising kids, being a part of the community, the crime rate, education, and health care. She thinks that young women should simply be excused, to “go back on Tinder and Match.com”.
As offensive as the rant is, I understand what she is trying to convey. In the midterm elections, politicians are focusing on wedge issues to entice voters, when we should really be focusing on fundamental issues. A wedge issue is a controversial, usually social topic that is used to split the political parties. Guilfoyle believes that young women get caught up in these wedge issues and are not able to cast a vote seeing beyond that. What she seems to miss, though, is that she is perpetuating the promotion of wedge issues. Stations like Fox News that identify themselves as either right wing or left wing are delivering news with a political slant.
It, then, comes down to the bottom line. Media outlets practice gatekeeping; a system that filters the stories that are delivered after advertisement time is allotted. It is in the best interest of the owner of these media outlets to provide stories that appeal to their advertisers. This means stories that are going to attract viewers. Stories that apply to wedge issues create controversy, and as we have seen by Guilfoyle’s statement, controversy creates conversation. Though she is creating conversation, it clearly isn’t the attention Fox News or it’s advertisers want. No one wants to be conveyed as a misogynistic media outlet in 2014.
Instead of Guilfoyle casting off young women voters and saying they are incapable of making rational decisions when it comes to the ballot, there should be an effort to educate them on the issues. The Midterm elections are important because: as of now the Republicans control the House of Representatives, but the Democrats control the Senate. If the Republicans gain control of both the House and the Senate, the stage is set for the 2016 presidential election. So because Guilfoyle chooses not to inform us on the basic issues, I will:
Economy: This is never a safe issue for either party; still climbing our way out of a recession you must look each party’s candidate’s position on federal policies and unemployment.
Immigration: Obama has decided to wait to handle this issue until after the election, so it is up to the voters to pick the representatives they think are best fit to address the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants that came to the United States this year. “Do you agree with giving these immigrants amnesty?” is a question you should ask yourself.
Foreign Policy: This is the biggest issue for most voters. We can continue to point fingers and place blame, or we can focus on the candidates that have a solid plan of action. We are addressing issues like ISIS, Ebola, and the Ukraine to name a few.
Though not all, those are some of the major issues we will be voting on in November. By Guilfoyle telling young women they shouldn’t vote, she is discounting an entire generation. We should be cultivating an educational environment that lets all young voters make informed decisions.
The easy thing is to tell us we shouldn’t vote; the right thing to do is to inform us. Why don’t we work towards requiring politics and government classes as a graduation requirement, so there is an understanding when we register to vote? But Guilfoyle addressed young women in particular, not Generation Y as a whole. What makes young women less capable of casting a vote than our male counterparts? I get that Guilfoyle was trying to deliver a greater message, but it was far from eloquent. Honestly, a woman’s right to vote is so 1920s and to tell us we shouldn’t is stripping us of our fundamental rights. That doesn’t make me “Left” or “Right,” that makes me an American.
Ms. Guilfoyle, to say young women are only capable of being promiscuous is insulting and demeaning. I should not have to grow up in a world where my elders think I am not capable of honoring a basic American right. Millennials are inheriting these crises our country is facing from prior generations. With that being stated, how does your vote matter more than mine? If you were to have a daughter instead of a son, would you be telling her to renew her Match.com membership this November, instead of casting her vote? You are throwing aspersions on my generation. As a young woman it is my right to watch wedding shows and dream of my happily-ever-after, to be in a relationship and express my sexuality, and to have an opinion on foreign policy. Just as a man can spend all Sunday watching football and gambling on his fantasy team, hunt, and hold a political office. Wake up, this is 2014—suppression is out and education is in.
Watch the broadcast below: