As the voice of 1950's America, Fox & Friends loves tradition and believes that anybody who doesn't is a tool of the Marxist/feminist/gay agenda. Elisabeth Hasselbeck and her Fox & Friends guest demonstrated this retro thinking when they dissed schools that have abandoned sacred tradition to allow gender neutral graduation robes.
Yesterday, after the patented Fox & Friends "PC Police" graphics and audio played, Elisabeth Hasselbeck reported that "the PC Police are on patrol in Maryland" because a high school is now requiring that graduation robes be gender neutral because of trouble making gay students who "pushed the principal to accommodate transgender students." She whined that the high school "will curtail traditional robes" - a change from the tradition of garbing the boys in blue and girls in white. Now, OMG, all students, starting in 2016, will wear blue.
The "PC Police" cartoon was played, again, as she introduced her guest, Julie Gumlock from the anti-feminist, Koch funded Independent Women's Forum. Hasselbeck was genuinely distressed as she asked Gumlock about this evil attempt "to remove gender from graduation because it might be offensive." She shouted "put everybody in blue."
Gumlock said that while she has sympathy for schools and kids who are deal with this issue, we need "perspective" on this issue. She pretty much exhorted students to STFU because it's just one hour in one day and that's no reason to "forget tradition." She continued: "I think it sets them up for a harsh reality in life, not everyone is going to respond to your demands in life and, you know, I just don't see this sort of rates high on the trauma scale. I think if you wear a robe that conflicts with your gender identity, I don't think that's a major problem." But just to let you know that she's a nice person, she expressed sympathy for schools that "are struggling with this."
Poor Elisabeth just couldn't seem to get her head around the fact that students support this. She played video of rabble rousing students who said that that she separation of students, by gender, is unnecessary and insensitive. She then read a statement from a student advocacy group who say that students shouldn't have to choose a color if they are uncomfortable doing so. As she spoke, the banner provided the Fox agitprop message that this is a bad thing: "Tradition Trounced."
Gunlock opined that "educators and parents should teach kids about real hardship in the world" like about how ISIS is raping women, throwing gays off buildings, and (OF COURSE) persecuting Christians. These, she noted, are the "real issues we should be concerned about" as opposed to wearing "a color that conflicts with your own identity for one hour." She described the issue as "overblown." (Oh, the irony!) She reiterated her support for students who are dealing with gender issues, but pontificated that "we don't need to scrap all traditions to sort of make everyone happy on their graduation day."
It's not students who are making this issue overblown - but Fox News which is taking something that isn't any of their business and using it as just another culture war cudgel. Gumlock was certainly a piece of work. While expressing sympathy for kids with gender issues, she basically told them to suck it up because ISIS. Who cares about genders sensitvities? Certainly, not Fox & Friends.
And BTW, aren't college graduation robes gender neutral? Just saying...
A more interesting question is WHY does anyone think that girls and boys shouldn’t wear the same color robes at graduation? oh, yeah, it’s “tradition”. Much like sexism, racism are “traditions”. Kudos to the students who examine traditions to see if they are still reflective of their views.
Yeah, it may be “only an hour” but it’s THEIR night and a big deal to them. It strikes me as rather cavalier of Gunlock to quip that being sorted out by color doesn’t rate “high on the trauma scale”. If Gunlock isn’t experiencing gender ID issues, then she has no idea the amount of trauma it can cause. Since it’s the majority of the students who want single colored gowns, perhaps Gunlock and Hasselback should be the ones who get some “perspective”. The students are looking to be inclusive and it IS, after all, the students’ graduation ceremony. Traditions change – that’s just a fact of life.
Btw, did she really drag ISIS into the discussion?! Ridiculous.