Fox News Commentators Mock Female Pilot, Veterans Respond
Fox News commentators Greg Gutfeld and Eric Bolling made some sexist remarks about a female pilot from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) participating in the fight against the terrorist group, ISIS.
According to a report from The Guardian, Kimberly Guilfoyle attempted to pay tribute to 35-year-old Major Mariam al-Mansouri during an airing of The Five on Fox News.
“Hey, ISIS, you were bombed by a woman… I hope that hurt extra bad for you because, in some countries, women can’t even drive.”
After some more praise from Guilfoyle, Gutfeld chimed in with a joke about the pilot.
“The problem is after she bombed it, she couldn’t park it.”
And then Bolling decided to make a joke during the Fox News program.
“Would that be considered boobs on the ground or no?”
Guilfoyle was noticeably embarrassed by her Fox News co-hosts’ comments.
The next day, Bolling apologized for his comments during the Fox News program’s final moments.
But the Fox News commentator’s apology didn’t work for some people. According to Talking Points Memo, veterans from different branches of the military issued an open letter to both of the Fox News commentators, calling their remarks “unwarranted” and “offensive.”
“First, foremost, and most obvious to everyone other than yourselves, your remarks were immensely inappropriate. Your co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle was so right to call attention to an inspiring story of a woman shattering glass ceilings in a society where doing so is immeasurably difficult. We never heard an answer to her question: why did you feel so compelled to ‘ruin her thing?'”
The veterans then educated the Fox News commentators about the fact that women have served in the military for quite some time.
“As it turns out, women have been flying combat aircraft since before either of you were born. Over 1,000 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew during World War II. Seeing as U.S. Army Air Forces Commander ‘Hap’ Arnold said, ‘Now in 1944, it is on the record that women can fly as well as men,’ we can probably guess he thought their parking was adequate.”
The letter continued by stating that the jokes made by the Fox News commentators were not funny.
“…before you jump to the standby excuse that you were ‘just making a joke’ or ‘having a laugh,’ let the men amongst our number preemptively respond: You are not funny. You are not clever. And you are not excused. Perhaps the phrase ‘boys will be boys’—inevitably uttered wherever misogyny is present—is relevant. Men would never insult and demean a fellow service member; boys think saying the word ‘boobs’ is funny.”
And even though Bolling apologized, the veterans felt that they would do a better job than the Fox News commentators.
“We issue an apology on your behalf to Major Al Mansouri knowing that anything your producers force you to say will be contrived and insincere. Major, we’re sincerely sorry for the rudeness; clearly, these boys don’t take your service seriously, but we and the rest of the American public do.”
[Images credited to Fox News via New York Daily News]
