"Despite being a legitimate candidate who had amassed delegates, Chisholm received just seven minutes of coverage during the entire convention broadcast."
This was a fraction of the screen time that her male counterparts got. And time in the spotlight is absolutely consequential. As a novelist, and y'all as movie goers, I know that "time" or space allotted to a character denotes their status in the story. The mains get the most face time; the lessers do not. It's simple math in the minds of readers or viewers. And so it goes with life.
And it works. At 62, I knew little about Chisholm until I saw the recent film "Shirley" (Of course it's called "Shirley"--whereas films about men use their last names). If you haven't seen it, check it out. And thanks, Azza, for another hurts-so-good analysis.
Such excellent points - the time we give to women, or notably, the time that is taken away from them is so striking and a huge problem. Thank you for the kind words and for reading!
Not getting a fair shot seems to be the pervasive theme-those in power will do anything to keep that power. Thanks for a fascinating and maddening analysis.
I remember her speech at the Democratic Convention and being impressed. I was only 11 at the time. It's hard to believe that over 50 years later things haven't changed much for women in politics.
Amazing that you watched it at such a young age! It must have been inspiring. It’s infuriating that half a century later we still couldn’t elect another charismatic Black woman…
No surprise in this racist and misogynist country. I hosted Shirley Chisholm as a visiting fellow l for five days at my school back in '89. She was one of the most brilliant, engaging, delightful and enjoyable people I've ever met. She knew how the system worked; she minced no words and told our students in talk after talk what she had faced. Brave and courageous, she met every challenge in and out of government - looked racist Congressmen in the eye and stared them down. It's discouraging how the media and the Democratic Party minimized her campaign for the presidency in '72 - and then ignored her for years. But It's also encouraging to see her importance in the civil rights struggle surface once again.
Omg, I never thought of this form of racist discrimination. Big fat white men in suits with gold chains. They might as well all be mafia. Well, I’m here to say white men and young people do it to white ladies too.
It’s like the Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlinson show (Grace and Frankie) episode where they go to the store for munchies b/c they are stoned out of their minds and it is as if they were invisible - old white ladies, nobody sees you or hears you or thinks you might actually have a brain (which I guess technically they did not at that moment).
I saw a protest sign on this contrarian site. An old white haired lady was holding it. Paraphrasing: it has gotten so bad that I use f**k like it was a comma. Boy howdy, I use commas, quotation marks, exclamation marks, colons, semicolons, question marks and many more Punctuation marks :) Happy weekend.
Thanks, I love this kind of analysis. In this piece you emphasize how the choices of the photographers led to a certain portrayal of Chisholm. How much responsibility do you feel the photography editors of the periodicals that published these images have for this portrayal? Is it possible that both Chisholm and McGovern were shot from high angles and low angles, for instance, but the editors chose to publish only the high-angled images for Chisholm?
This is a very good question! I think photo editors play a big role here. Photographers take many many images at events and editors are the ones who choose which get picked to go with the story. I recently taught a seminar with Danese Kenon, an amazing photo editor at the Philly Inquirer. She shared that there are only 14 Black women photo editors across the entire nation … so we need to diversify the field and also make sure people are considering how sexism and racism play into the images we consume. It’s going to be a team effort to fix this.
I never knew Ms Chisholm, but I get the photographic bias and the bizarre way Americans cannot/will not see black people’s elegance or power unless they are performers or athletes. When I was a teenager alone in London, I was awed by the regal beauty of many African women I saw on buses or walking down the street.
Thank you for this insight, Susan. I hate to say it but stay tuned for future pieces on how this visual sexism *also* affects women in sports and entertainment! I’ve focused on politics for this column but the same visual biases occur across industries …
Azza, I am 82 years old, and was a female in what was a male-dominated field. My colleagues treated me with respect because of our shared passion in our work. But outside that context I was "just a female" and thus what I had to say was not taken seriously. I say "was" but the fact is that it is still happening and is getting worse. I am angry that women like Shirley Chisholm (and most of the female role models as I grew up, matured, and aged) have to be resurrected. They should be part of the history that we all are taught. That is getting worse, too, as DOGE rips more of us, and more people of color, out of history.
I was active in the preparation for the Hands-Off event in my town, and my experience helped keep it focused. It was successful. Since then I watched as the "liberal" men gradually took over and closed out the women. I don't know where that will end up, but it shows we still have a long way to go.
Shirley Chisholm was a regular firecracker! I loved her and admired her. I had the good fortune to meet her once. My mother was a guidance counselor in an elementary school in Chisholm's district and organized a career day every year. One year she invited Chisholm, so I made sure to show up myself. I even had the honor to vote for her.
Maybe one reason that there was such limited coverage of her candidacy was that there really was no way she would either be nominated, or be elected. Hell, we can't elect a woman now. We certainly could not then.
An interesting note is when asked by an interviewer, Chisholm said that it was more difficult being a woman than being an African-American.
This is absolutely true although I didn’t realize it at the time. I remember Shirley Chisholm way back in 1969 with the National Urban League and Whitney Young. Obviously before her presidential candidacy, but she was a forced to be reckoned with. Brings back a few good memories. Thanks!
"Despite being a legitimate candidate who had amassed delegates, Chisholm received just seven minutes of coverage during the entire convention broadcast."
This was a fraction of the screen time that her male counterparts got. And time in the spotlight is absolutely consequential. As a novelist, and y'all as movie goers, I know that "time" or space allotted to a character denotes their status in the story. The mains get the most face time; the lessers do not. It's simple math in the minds of readers or viewers. And so it goes with life.
And it works. At 62, I knew little about Chisholm until I saw the recent film "Shirley" (Of course it's called "Shirley"--whereas films about men use their last names). If you haven't seen it, check it out. And thanks, Azza, for another hurts-so-good analysis.
Such excellent points - the time we give to women, or notably, the time that is taken away from them is so striking and a huge problem. Thank you for the kind words and for reading!
Excellent article! Thank you!
Thank you Joanne!
I loved Shirley Chisholm and voted for her! She was a breath of fresh air and knew what she was talking about. She is one of my heroes.
She was such a trailblazer. The more I researched, the more sad I was that she wasn’t given a fair shot.
Not getting a fair shot seems to be the pervasive theme-those in power will do anything to keep that power. Thanks for a fascinating and maddening analysis.
Thanks Pat! It’s true that the patriarchy will try to keep itself in power, although it hurts us all.
I remember her speech at the Democratic Convention and being impressed. I was only 11 at the time. It's hard to believe that over 50 years later things haven't changed much for women in politics.
Amazing that you watched it at such a young age! It must have been inspiring. It’s infuriating that half a century later we still couldn’t elect another charismatic Black woman…
No surprise in this racist and misogynist country. I hosted Shirley Chisholm as a visiting fellow l for five days at my school back in '89. She was one of the most brilliant, engaging, delightful and enjoyable people I've ever met. She knew how the system worked; she minced no words and told our students in talk after talk what she had faced. Brave and courageous, she met every challenge in and out of government - looked racist Congressmen in the eye and stared them down. It's discouraging how the media and the Democratic Party minimized her campaign for the presidency in '72 - and then ignored her for years. But It's also encouraging to see her importance in the civil rights struggle surface once again.
David, thank you for sharing your experience! It’s so cool that you got to host her.
And even more infuriating im sure to have seen how she was minimized and overlooked
I worked for Shirley Chisholm - she was excellent, but clearly ahead of her time.
Wow, Christine! What an inspiring experience you must have had working for her.
Her documentary is Netflix, and is excellent, really see her in action, she knew what she was up against misogyny, white racists, a masterpiece!
It was Shirley Chisholm's common sensibilities, advocacy, intelligence and of course, race and gender that intimidated some.
That’s exactly right. She was ahead of her time, and honestly, ahead of our time too.
Omg, I never thought of this form of racist discrimination. Big fat white men in suits with gold chains. They might as well all be mafia. Well, I’m here to say white men and young people do it to white ladies too.
It’s like the Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlinson show (Grace and Frankie) episode where they go to the store for munchies b/c they are stoned out of their minds and it is as if they were invisible - old white ladies, nobody sees you or hears you or thinks you might actually have a brain (which I guess technically they did not at that moment).
I saw a protest sign on this contrarian site. An old white haired lady was holding it. Paraphrasing: it has gotten so bad that I use f**k like it was a comma. Boy howdy, I use commas, quotation marks, exclamation marks, colons, semicolons, question marks and many more Punctuation marks :) Happy weekend.
Damn spell check, I know it is Lily Tomlin.
Thanks, I love this kind of analysis. In this piece you emphasize how the choices of the photographers led to a certain portrayal of Chisholm. How much responsibility do you feel the photography editors of the periodicals that published these images have for this portrayal? Is it possible that both Chisholm and McGovern were shot from high angles and low angles, for instance, but the editors chose to publish only the high-angled images for Chisholm?
This is a very good question! I think photo editors play a big role here. Photographers take many many images at events and editors are the ones who choose which get picked to go with the story. I recently taught a seminar with Danese Kenon, an amazing photo editor at the Philly Inquirer. She shared that there are only 14 Black women photo editors across the entire nation … so we need to diversify the field and also make sure people are considering how sexism and racism play into the images we consume. It’s going to be a team effort to fix this.
Thank you for this article. I will be looking for these negative nuances in the future. Keep educating us on how to see.
Thanks so much Patricia! Please send your ideas to submit@contrariannews.org
I never knew Ms Chisholm, but I get the photographic bias and the bizarre way Americans cannot/will not see black people’s elegance or power unless they are performers or athletes. When I was a teenager alone in London, I was awed by the regal beauty of many African women I saw on buses or walking down the street.
Thank you for this insight, Susan. I hate to say it but stay tuned for future pieces on how this visual sexism *also* affects women in sports and entertainment! I’ve focused on politics for this column but the same visual biases occur across industries …
Azza, I am 82 years old, and was a female in what was a male-dominated field. My colleagues treated me with respect because of our shared passion in our work. But outside that context I was "just a female" and thus what I had to say was not taken seriously. I say "was" but the fact is that it is still happening and is getting worse. I am angry that women like Shirley Chisholm (and most of the female role models as I grew up, matured, and aged) have to be resurrected. They should be part of the history that we all are taught. That is getting worse, too, as DOGE rips more of us, and more people of color, out of history.
I was active in the preparation for the Hands-Off event in my town, and my experience helped keep it focused. It was successful. Since then I watched as the "liberal" men gradually took over and closed out the women. I don't know where that will end up, but it shows we still have a long way to go.
Shirley Chisholm was a regular firecracker! I loved her and admired her. I had the good fortune to meet her once. My mother was a guidance counselor in an elementary school in Chisholm's district and organized a career day every year. One year she invited Chisholm, so I made sure to show up myself. I even had the honor to vote for her.
Maybe one reason that there was such limited coverage of her candidacy was that there really was no way she would either be nominated, or be elected. Hell, we can't elect a woman now. We certainly could not then.
An interesting note is when asked by an interviewer, Chisholm said that it was more difficult being a woman than being an African-American.
Thanks for sharing DW - what an amazing story. Of course she would show up for career day at an elementary school. She should have been president.
Yes, she was one of the most intelligent people of her generation. She spoke so clearly.
It appears that they were intentionally trying to make her look smaller.
I think that’s exactly what they were trying to do Michelle
This is absolutely true although I didn’t realize it at the time. I remember Shirley Chisholm way back in 1969 with the National Urban League and Whitney Young. Obviously before her presidential candidacy, but she was a forced to be reckoned with. Brings back a few good memories. Thanks!
Thank you Wendy! She was truly brilliant.
Amazing. I certainly was not aware of how women and people of color are belittled by how they've historically been photographed.
Signed by the onetime "girl engineer"
Karen, thank you for reading! And you go “girl engineer” 🤓