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Edited on Fri Mar-02-07 10:51 PM by babylonsister
http://mediamatters.org/items/200703030001"Barbarian" O'Reilly: "In a lot of places, women have formed cabals to terrorize the men" On the February 28 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly told co-host Lis Wiehl that "women were treated better than men" at ABC News and CBS News because "they had a little cabal; and they intimidated the men in the organization and said, 'If you look at me cross-eyed, I'm gonna bring you up to Human Resources and destroy your life.' " O'Reilly added that "every man in the place was terrified of them." He later stated that, "in a lot of places, women have formed cabals to terrorize the men because they take advantage of, 'Oh, we're downtrodden. You're kicking us in the teeth.' " He then discussed how, in every country he'd "ever been to, women are treated worse in the United States. ... Guys are gonna put their hands on you in that society in Italy, in Spain." O'Reilly concluded: "So, all of this whining about American women -- 'We don't have this; we don't have that' -- to me, I'm not real sympathetic. But I am a barbarian." As Media Matters for America has noted, O'Reilly has a history of making derogatory remarks to Wiehl, such as asking her to protest outside CBS studios in a bikini. In 2004, he settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by his former producer, Andrea Mackris; and, Fox News Network also reportedly settled a sex discrimination lawsuit in 2006.
Additionally, O'Reilly argued that employers should not be required to cover female employees' birth control prescriptions even if the employer covers male employees' Viagra prescriptions because birth control pills are not used to treat "a medical condition." O'Reilly contended: "There's still a distinction between a physical condition that doesn't allow you to perform. ... There's a difference between a medical condition that debilitates a guy in this area and you and women having birth control. Buy your own. I don't wanna pay for your birth control. I'm sorry, I don't." In response to Wiehl's objections, O'Reilly mocked: "Give me, take me, buy me, I want. I -- I want. I want."
In fact, oral contraceptives, in addition for use in preventing pregnancy, are also used to treat numerous medical conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, adenomyosis, irregular menstrual cycles, acne, and severe menstrual cramping, among other conditions.
As Media Matters noted, O'Reilly has also falsely claimed that it "is never the case" that a "mother's life is in danger" during the course of a pregnancy, when, in fact, there are several potential pregnancy complications that can threaten the life of a pregnant woman.
Later in the February 28 show, discussing workplace discrimination, a female caller said she was "angry with" O'Reilly because she said she had "no idea" that he was "so sexist and so discriminatory." O'Reilly dismissed the caller's concerns as coming from "an angry woman." When Wiehl offered to send the caller a copy of her new book, The 51% Minority: How Women Still Are Not Equal and What You Can do About it (Random House, February 2007), O'Reilly told Wiehl, "But you just make her more angry," and joked that because of Wiehl's book, "some guy's gonna get popped." O'Reilly later suggested that women were mentally and physically unfit for combat: "If it were me, I wouldn't have any women in combat. That's how much of a barbarian I am. I wouldn't put any of them on the frontline for physical reasons, all right -- and for camaraderie and a lot of other different reasons: psychological, emotional, all kinds of stuff."
In October 2004, O'Reilly settled a sexual harassment suit brought by Mackris. As The Washington Post reported, the lawsuit "charged that he spoke to Mackris about sexual fantasies, masturbation and vibrators while sometimes seeming to pleasure himself." According to the Post, "O'Reilly and his attorney, Ronald Green, never denied that the Fox commentator had used such language, but said he never broke the law and questioned whether Mackris was truly offended or was taking words and phrases out of context." The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount of money.
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