More on Gratuitous Sexism

To build slightly on Scott’s post, let me recommend Lindsay Beyerstein’s excellent piece today decrying those who use Jenny McCarthy’s nude modeling as a reason to dismiss her crazy anti-vaccine views.

McCarthy’s career is totally irrelevant to the issue. She is wrong and dangerous because she is a public figure who has the power to influence people’s minds against vaccination based upon spurious data. But those who use sexist language to attack McCarthy are denigrating everyone involved, including themselves. I’d go so far to argue that sexist language goes so far as to hurt the cause of public health since it moves people like Lindsay (and me in a smaller way) to spend time talking about it instead of the kids getting whooping cough.

In other words, knock it off with the damned sexism.