Vanity Fair Thought It Was a Good Idea to Suggest That Hillary Clinton Take up Knitting
Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Politics News Hillary Clinton
In the year of the Women’s March, pussy hats and #MeToo, the push against rampant casual sexism is strong and prominent. But then you have this shit from Vanity Fair slipping in. The magazine’s politics and business vertical, Hive, put out a series of videos suggesting some New Year’s resolutions for politicians. One suggestion in particular, made for Hillary Clinton, has provoked the ire of the Twittersphere. You’ll find it below, assuming it has not yet been deleted:
Maybe it’s time for Hillary Clinton to take up a new hobby in 2018 pic.twitter.com/sbE78rA5At
— VANITY FAIR (@VanityFair) December 23, 2017
“Take up a new hobby in the new year,” Vanity Fair writer Maya Kosoff suggested, wielding a glass of champagne. “Volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy, literally anything that will keep you [Hillary Clinton] from running [for President] again.”
While Hive may have taken their potshots at figures like Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Donald Trump as well, the fact that Clinton is getting such equal treatment is just plain silly. While the former of Secretary of State may not be the most popular political figure as of now, to say that such a figure with an extensive political career and experience should throw in the towel during a dire time for many Americans is a complete and utter absurdity.
Not to mention—knitting? Really? Was “learning to cook” too over the line?
Predictably, people had words for Vanity Fair:
Hey STOP TELLING WOMEN WHAT THE F-CK THEY SHOULD DO OR CAN DO. Get over your mommy issues.
— Patricia Arquette (@PattyArquette) December 27, 2017
Vanity Fair tl;dr: Six young white people holding glasses of champagne would like Hillary Clinton to abandon her life’s work and platform and just shut up. Good to know. https://t.co/cELDKdVmYd
— Summer Brennan (@summerbrennan) December 26, 2017
ok ok one last thing, imagine doing years of pro bono legal work in children’s advocacy and being lectured by vanity fair to “try volunteering” did they even skim her wikipedia page
— Anna Fitzpatrick (@bananafitz) December 27, 2017
Needless to say, this brand of “political satire” didn’t sit well with everyone.
Kosoff responded in a tweet from her now-private Twitter account:
i don’t appreciate being taken out of context to make me seem super sexist. this wasn’t a hillary hit piece either, fwiw! we made silly new years resolutions for a bunch of politicians
Sure, the joke may not have been intentionally sexist, but engaging in this odd witch hunt certainly was not worth the laughs that the video was going for.