Down with sexism, sorta

It’s not exactly the language they preferred, but a group of women who had supported Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid is happy with a proposed Democratic Party platform plank that denounces sexism.

The women, part of a political group called WomenCount, were unhappy with the way Clinton was treated during the Democratic primary.

They contend that TV personalities, bloggers and others demeaned her because she’s a woman.

They asked the Democratic Party to include language in the platform that would demand that party leaders take “immediate and public” steps to condemn any future instances of gender bias.

It doesn’t look like they’ll get that exact wording. But a draft of the 51-page platform reads in part: “Demeaning portrayals of women cheapen our debates, dampen the dreams of our daughters, and deny us the contributions of too many. Responsibility lies with us.”

WomenCount is pleased, saying in a statement:

“WomenCount staked out a specific goal -- to ‘stop the silence’ about sexism in the media and throughout our society. Indeed, it is not enough simply to identify examples of gender bias; the Democratic Party needs to create a system of accountability. The platform draft does this and concludes the language with ‘Responsibility lies with us all.’ We’ll take it.”

The party’s platform committee is to consider the proposal in Pittsburgh this weekend.

-- Peter Nicholas