When I was a newspaper reporter, I used to watch Bill O’Reilly every night. I figured I needed to stay in the know, and his show did present several sides of an issue, at least two sides. My liberal friends cringed at the thought and asked how I could stand him. “I don’t like watching him,” I replied. “I like to watch the sparring.”
In the late 1990s, O’Reilly did seem to cover important topics, inviting many liberals to come on his show to debate. He also had many show biz types like Suzanne Somers who was writing books about nontraditional and holistic cancer treatment. Being a man, he fawned over her, smiling while discussing her monumental stardom after just one year on “Three’s Company.” Keeping her hair white blonde didn’t hurt. Besides, her eyes sparkled, too.
O’Reilly kept his show cool bringing in Republicans from heavy metal bands to Hollywood actors and actresses. The question always came up about people of their stature turning conservative, usually a quality their fans did not realize or assume. The answer was the same: They had traveled the world and seen dire poverty and social injustice. Their minds were opened to the benefits of capitalism especially in nondemocratic and socialist nations. O’Reilly smiled, his eyes sparkled in agreement.
Then something happened that turned me off “The O’Reilly Factor.” George W. Bush was running for president, and O’Reilly appeared to be his number one fan. Bush would come on the show and unpretentiously say things like, “Why do I need to go talk to Al Sharpton?” O’Reilly gushed: finally a political candidate unconcerned about political correctness. O’Reilly had lost his objectivity.
I stopped watching “O’Reilly” every night, catching it occasionally while flipping the channels to see a topic of interest. What I started noticing especially on Thursday nights was the ‘babes’ he had on to ‘spar’ with him. These professional women usually were educated attorneys well respected in their fields with specific details on topical and controversial court cases or arrests and could provide insight and maybe a counter to O’Reilly’s societal cynicism.
But I couldn’t get past the visual: the lips, the makeup, the hair, the tight dress, the full bosom, the cleavage. What’s up with that? The FOX network came along with shows like “Married with Children” and “The Simpsons” to cater to America’s love of the bawdy and OK maybe the body, the female body. Somehow this in-your-face sex appeal crossed over into the FOX News division, too. No other female network newscasters and reporters look or dress like the FOX girls. There’s a reason.
Oh and somehow FOX News becomes the leader in conservative news. How can this be? Just put two and two together. Or just two. For all the sizzling hot female correspondents sparring on “the no spin zone,” O’Reilly remained aged and aging, turkey neck in check. Never a face lift or jowl tightening. Good thing for him there’s a double standard.
So what I’m saying is a professional woman cannot be taken seriously by men, white or blue collar, when she’s showing her cleavage. It just isn’t possible. My God, men are only human! As much as I would like to blame O’Reilly for sexist jerk comments and boorish behavior—to the tune of millions of dollars in she-said-he-said pay offs—the women have to accept some part. Sexy is a game we can never win in the real work world. To my younger sisters who think they can portray themselves as overtly sexy and still be respected for brains and beauty … you can’t fool Mother Nature.