Lawson: The View: Girl Talk or Male Propaganda

Angelica Lawson

You would think a show designed by women, for women and hosted by women would support women. But that is not the case with ABC’s “The View.”

This show has recently exposed its sexist way of thinking — once again — and shown that it is nothing short of a mockery.

“The View” is a national daytime talk show that airs weekdays on ABC. It has a target viewing audience of women between the ages of 18 and 49. “The View” is not only known for its disputes among its cast but it is no stranger to the limelight when it comes to issues of sexism and racism.

Panel members Rosie O’Donnell and Raven-Symoné have had conflicts in regard to the Bill Cosby sex scandals that came to light in 2014. 

Rosie Perez, a former panel member, quit the show in August. The controversy from her departure arose when Kelly Osbourne made a racist comment concerning Donald Trump and his wishes to remove Latinos from the United States. 

While the facts are still up for debate, Perez left the show, and “The View” has not missed one offensive beat.

The panel reviewed the Miss America Pageant during one show and stumbled upon the talent portion. One contestant, Miss Colorado, who is a trained nurse, came up during the recap.

She had written a monologue about her experiences as a nurse. While her monologue had some hits and misses, that was not the topic of conversation. Instead, the women of “The View” focused on her nursing uniform and the fact that she had a “doctor’s stethoscope”.

A comment made by panel member Joy Behar created a storm of anger targeted at the show. The aftermath only got worse because the show was already disappointing audiences with its non-thoughtful comments.

An outcry from nurses and supporters called for a boycott of the show, claiming it doesn’t support women or nurses because of that belittling comment.

Since this recent display of carelessness, the show has issued apologies regarding the comment, claiming it “loves” and “supports” nurses.

But the damage has been done.

Many things have come from that episode. Social media outlets have been trending with #nursesunite and Tumblr has exploded with microblogs dedicated to nurses.

People have been posting their personal nursing stories and how nurses have measurable impacts on people’s lives.

“The View” has a knack for grabbing ahold of its controversies and trying to turn them into higher ratings.

The show has not been performing well in the realm of rating and now is scraping the bottom of the barrel for entertainment.

A show that is supposed to be women-related and women-driven is not. This show is driven by the stereotype of what women should be talking about. This is women taking each other down on national television. Enough of this is already out there in the media, and the last thing we need to be doing is perpetuating this bashing cycle.

Women are being misrepresented by the members of this panel who enjoy this type of careless, thoughtless banter. They have been fostering male agenda of what women think, and frankly, it’s enough. Either stand behind your mission or abandon ship and align with what you are doing.

Did the show apologize for each of it indiscretions? Of course it did. But these indiscretions could be avoided entirely. As public figures, these women should have to think before they speak.

The show has a vast audience base and still manages to offend someone.

It is really disappointing that a show that once was held with high regard is now creating content based on what offended people from yesterday’s show. “The View” is in need of a serious revamp. It has to start creating content that will add to its viewership and not become a “guilty” pleasure.