Harriet Miers may have broken through glass ceilings on her way to a Supreme Court nomination, but President Bush’s “work wife” has a long way to go with gender stereotyping in mainstream media coverage. Need proof? Compare news coverage in the days after her nomination with coverage this summer of the John Roberts nomination:
ROBERTS : “A career that had been marked by distinguished and relentless advancement.” (LA Times, 7/25/05)
MIERS: “She’s not somebody who is a gossip.” (AP, 10/4/05)
ROBERTS: “Brilliant but self-deprecating, earnest but not humorless.” (Boston Globe, 7/21/04)MIERS: “She never misses a birthday.” (LA Times, 10/4/05) ROBERTS: “Exceptional intellect. Exceptional temperament. A conservative judicial philosophy.” (LA Times, 7/25/05)
MIERS: “She makes a wonderful sweet potato pie. Many marshmallows.” (AP, 10/3/05)
ROBERTS: “Disciplined, self-assured and performance driven.” (Chicago Tribune, 7/24/05)
MIERS: “She would look at you blankly if you mentioned the name of a designer.” (Bloomberg, 10/4/05)
MIERS: “A pit bull in size 6 shoes.” (New York Times, 10/3/05)
ROBERTS: Sorry. No word on what size shoe John Roberts wears.