According to a new poll conducted the AP, Romney has closed the gender gap, with Obama’s wide 16-point margin almost erased. We’ll have to see, though, how the menstrual cycles of America’s women line up on November 6 to know for certain how they’ll be voting. Wait, what? Yesterday CNN reported on the results of a new “study” done at the University of Texas, San Antonio that concluded that women’s voting patterns are determined by, you guessed it, their hormones. Not surprisingly, the post was taken down after CNN determined that “some elements of the story did not meet the editorial standards of CNN.” That’s quite the understatement.
The Daily Kos has the full piece available on their website, but the gist is this: Women’s preferences for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are governed by their ovulation cycles. The author of the piece for CNN took to Twitter in self-defense after the piece was pulled and more or less said, “But… but… it’s SCIENCE!” The study, conducted over the internet with less than 300 participants, draws some pretty outrageous conclusions given the study’s size and methodology. They conclude:
When women are ovulating, they “feel sexier,” and therefore lean more toward liberal attitudes on abortion and marriage equality. Married women have the same hormones firing, but tend to take the opposite viewpoint on these issues, she [the study’s author] says.
“I think they’re overcompensating for the increase of the hormones motivating them to have sex with other men,” she said. It’s a way of convincing themselves that they’re not the type to give in to such sexual urges, she said.
That study was funded by a public university and accomplished something incredible: Readers, regardless of their political leanings, were offended and confused about how such a study with such poorly argued findings could possibly end up on the CNN homepage, regardless of how many caveats the author may have included. The liberal feminist reaction to the story has been particularly amusing. Jezebel’s headline proclaimed: “CNN Thinks Crazy Ladies Can’t Help Voting With Their Vaginas Instead of Their Brains.” The irony of this headline given their coverage of women voters dressed as vaginas at the latest GOP convention is, I’m sure, lost on those who on one hand demand that women vote with their female reproductive organs and on the other are offended at the insinuation that they already do.
This was a yet another reminder of just how low journalistic standards have sunk at CNN (and in general). This is an important lesson to keep in mind, especially while reading the Middle East headlines on CNN’s home page today. While there, it’s easy for one to discover that four have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, however the communities in Israel bordering Gaza currently under heavy rocket fire have yet to deserve a mention.
