Thread by @monaeltahawy

This essay about James Bennett is a necessary reminder of the misogyny & boys club undergirding US media and how white men protect each other. Bennett - who left the NYT after publishing a fascist senator’s oped - has predictably landed on his feet. jenzerb.medium.com/i-left-my-care…

I was a contributing opinion writer at the NYT 2014-2018. Last time I I spoke to Bennett he told me to stop saying “fuck” on Twitter. So I started #WhyISayFuck. I explain here with background feministgiant.com/p/essay-why-i-…

I understand - because they write to me in private - that many in the US media can’t name shitty misogynist bosses and editors. I work for myself and I started this newsletter because I don’t give a fuck and I am beholden to no one feministgiant.com

Reflect on the fact that Trump was the fruition of white supremacist patriarchy. A misogynist in the highest office in the land is a reflection of all the misogyny that land tolerates.James Bennett is the brother of a US Senator. Reflect on that white power - media and political

And answer:
- How many white men run newsrooms in the US?
- Who can go up against them?

It’s 2021 and fuck this shit.

"The same men who continually fuck up are still in charge of the media. They shape the world...Despite even major public failings, they keep coming back because they work behind the scenes to protect themselves and each other to stay in power and preserve the status quo."

Know that it os even worse for Black or women of colour: "It’s just a boys club, people would say. You have to learn to fit in. So I did. I adapted...But my boss had a rage problem. And it was largely directed at women." jenzerb.medium.com/i-left-my-care…

When abusive white men are effectively holding newsrooms hostage like that and protecting each other:
- What stories are not told?
- Who is excluded and marginalized? From the newsroom and from the news that is reported?

To be clear, he told me and told the editor who worked directly on my copy to tell me to stop saying “fuck” on Twitter or the NYT wouldn’t publish me. I risked my life writing about the Egyptian regime and “fuck” was a problem. He published fascists & “fuck” was the problem

https://twitter.com/monaeltahawy/status/1354491330517479426

These are the white men in US newsrooms for whom Steve Bannon is a great headliner at festivals and at debates, for whom the fuckery that so many of us struggle to endure & survive are ideas for debate in their endless “both sides” carousel.

And for every essay like the one ☝🏽 that doesn’t even name Bennett but we know who it’s about, know that there are many other women who worked with him and other abusive media men who can’t write of what they endured because the boy’s club will ruin their future career.