Only July 13th I noticed this unbelievably sexist headline run by every one of the news organizations that uses the Canadian Press wire service:
“Peter MacKay’s wife says TD account closures harmed innocent Iranian Canadians” (see here)
Referencing Nazanin Afshin-Jam’s marriage to Peter MacKay is obviously news worthy but to totally disregard her as his “wife” even though she is a world-renowned human rights activist and author was extremely disrespectful and telling. Nor was this a one-of ‘mistake’ by the media as this other CBC headline shows:
“Defence minister’s wife opposed to Canadian troops in Iran” (see here)
After a few Twitter battles hi-lited with one female journo defending these types of headlines, I heard from Afshin-Jam after the National Post changed one of their headlines. (Twitter is currently down but I will include her Tweet in an update when it is working again)
All this came to head last night when Afshin-Jam blasted the PEI Guardian’s Jim Day on her Facebook page for an interview July 25th:
“I have a name you know” (see here)
Not only does she rip the Guardian for the headline “Time to bring Khadr home: defence minister’s wife” (see here) , she also takes Day apart for ignoring asking about her new book and trying to lead her into criticising the Conservative government over Omar Khadr. The National Post does a good run-down on it here with Day defending himself.
Tell me all these media outlets would do the same if it was a wife of a Liberal or NDP MP.
Update: The Globe and Mail have made it very clear now that they are intentionally trying to demean Afshin-Jam by running this headline “MacKay’s wife slams newspaper for ‘distorted’ Khadr comments” (see here)
July 26, 2012 at 8:54 AM
Sorry Ms Nazanin Afshin-Jam – methinks you protest too much. Would anyone interview her or give her a platform if she was not married to the Defense Minister? I think not. She is entitled to her views, but to pretend that this attention is unwarranted, is transparently self-serving. She is selling a book. Cheers.
July 26, 2012 at 9:02 AM
Unbelievably ridiculous statement based without a shred of fact of which you should be ashamed:
“Afshin-Jam continues to address human rights abuses worldwide particularly in relation to women and children in Iran and the Middle East including speeches at UN, EU, Canadian and UK Parliament. She has had media features on CNN, BBC, CBC, FOX, Al Jazeera and numerous radio shows, talk shows and print including Glamour, Seventeen, Chatelaine, Flare, Elle and Vanity Fair magazine”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazanin_Afshin-Jam
July 26, 2012 at 9:28 AM
It doesn’t matter if you believe (yeah, you’re entitled to your views, too) that the attention is “unwarranted”. You don’t know for sure or for a fact that her book would or wouldn’t garner her a “platform” or “an interview”, that is just YOU speculating.
I would like to believe that a woman can be afforded the basic respect of being referred to by the national media by her name rather than merely as “wife” to a given man. I can’t ever recall the national media ever having the termenity to refer to Mrs. Margaret Trudeau, Mrs. Aline Chretien, Ms. Zsuzsanna Zsohar, Ms. Janine Kreiber, or Ms. Olivia Chow as “wife”, can you? The fact that Ms. Nazanim Afshin-Jam is the spouse of a Minister of the Crown should garner her at least THAT much, even if Mr. McKay and she are Conservative. But I digress…………perhaps only those on the lib-left are worthy of THAT lofty privilidge.
July 26, 2012 at 10:54 AM
No surprise really, it’s typical Liberal parlance when reporting on a Conservative MP’s spouse and it’s totally sexist, yes but rabidly disrespectful to women, something the Liberal/Left media would rag on about if this were about one of their own kind.
Bravo to Nazanin Afshin-Jam for calling this PEI reporter on it. There’s really no excuse for playing politics with this,they need to apologize, of course they will not. I’m sure Wayne Easter is chuckling.
July 26, 2012 at 12:40 PM
I was quite harsh on Nazanin in the Guardian comment section. However at that time I did not realize that she had been set up in a squeeze play by the idiot Day. My apology to the nice lady.
July 26, 2012 at 12:46 PM
My issue is solely on the usage of the label “minister’s wife”. It is indefensible for any news org to use as a description.
July 26, 2012 at 3:25 PM
“oh and by the way folks I not just to be looked or refered too as ‘defence minister wife, I have a name and I am my own person who does work for the abuse of women and children, my name is Nazanin Afshin-Jam and I am married to Peter Mac Kay, the defence minister for canada.”
July 27, 2012 at 3:45 AM
Nazanin Afshin-Jam thought she was being interviewed regarding a book written by her which has nothing to do with the fact she is married to a cabinet minister. It’s difficult to understand the leftist media who scream and holler about women’s rights as persons in their own right, then pull stunts like this. Afshin-Jam may be the wife of Peter McKay Cabinet Minister but she speaks for herself, her own opinions may or may not jive with those of the government which she has nothing to do with but smart ass reporters will try to play the politics card.
If she were not married to McKay would Day have been interested in interviewing her?
July 27, 2012 at 6:42 AM
The only women the progressives’ show respect for are their own ilk, treating her like an appendage of MacKay is no different than treating her like a second class citizens.
July 27, 2012 at 7:00 AM
I agree Ms Afshin-Jam should not have been identified solely as the appendage of the Defence Minister. However, had she not been identified as Mr MacKay’s wife, I would have had no idea who she was, or her position in the Canadian political scene.
July 27, 2012 at 10:05 AM
For goodness sake, referring to her as the Defence Minister’s wife IS NOT sexist. Joachim Sauer would never be mentioned without first saying he is Angela Merkel’s husband. And he has at least as many accomplishments as, ah … what’s her name.
July 27, 2012 at 6:20 PM
Isn’t this the liberal left’s dream come true? A world-renowned human rights activist and author, presumably middle eastern, arguably a visible minority, decidedly female. Too bad she’s married to a Conservative. Maybe that’s what they are all so mad about.