Two days before Christmas, The Hive, Vanity Fair’s political vertical, published a video of the its staffers sipping Champagne and offering 2018 resolutions for political figures for the upcoming new year. For Hillary Clinton, one staffer opined that she’d do well to leave politics behind, a not-unreasonable idea.
Intended to be biting and funny, writer Maya Kosoff ran aground — and ran afoul of many — when she suggested Clinton, “Take up a new hobby in the new year,” with the options being “Volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy ― literally anything that will keep you from running again.” It was the suggestion that the former secretary of state take up knitting that aroused ire across Twitter.
Specifically, users took umbrage with the sexist implications of telling a woman what to do and the inclusion of the very gendered imperative to knit. Others felt the video as a whole was unduly dismissive of Clinton’s political work beyond running for president, as you can see in the tweets on the next page.
This video is insulting. You should all be embarrassed of yourselves. Telling a woman what to do-specifically a woman of her accomplishments-is sexist and gross. Enjoy the fallout.
— Jamie Grayson (@TheJamieGrayson) December 27, 2017
Why did they think it was funny for their staff to stand around with champagne and suggest Hillary Clinton take up knitting. https://t.co/mSs4EtV3Wt
— Jessica Huseman (@JessicaHuseman) December 27, 2017
ok ok one last thing, imagine doing years of pro bono legal work in children's advocacy and being lectured by vanity fair to "try volunteering" did they even skim her wikipedia page
— Anna Fitzpatrick (@bananafitz) December 27, 2017
Even one of Clinton’s former advisors weighed in.
I went to bed on Christmas not disliking @VanityFair.
But, ya know. 2017
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) December 27, 2017
Agree. It was embarrassingly not funny. And awkward to watch. I want to believe they gave each of those individuals an opt-out opportunity but they genuinely looked happy to do it.
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) December 27, 2017
This suggested New Year’s resolution for Clinton was part of a larger series that also saw staffers offering ideas for White House Chief Economic Adviser Gary Cohn, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and President Donald Trump.
For her part, Kosoff responded to at least some of these critiques on Twitter. “I don’t appreciate being taken out of context to make me seem super sexist,” she wrote. “This wasn’t a hillary hit piece either, fwiw! we made silly new years resolutions for a bunch of politicians.” Kosoff has since switched her account and all her tweets to private.
I ended 2015 defending Hillary Clinton from sexist attacks.
I ended 2016 defending Hillary Clinton from sexist attacks.
I’m ending 2017 defending @HillaryClinton from sexist attacks.
So much for my Twitter break…— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) December 27, 2017
