Watch Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez annihilate the politician who called her "a f*cking bitch"
She joins the company of superstars like Deepika Padukone and Serena Williams who shut down sexist remarks in style
Too much coffee, flawless parallel parking and watching fierce women shut down sexists are three things that put a little extra power in my stride, making me feel like a badass superhero.
We grow up idealising helpless princesses trapped in towers, demure movie characters too shy to lift their heads and well, ‘good girls’ in general. So taking anything other than the “chhod na, yaar” approach makes eyebrows shoot up higher than Akshay’s mother’s BP.
Today we woke up to a fresh mic drop example. After being accosted in front of reporters by Ted Yoho, a fellow member of government, and being called “a f*cking bitch”, “crazy” and “out of her mind”, US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez strung Yoho up on the washing line and left him to dry.
When the abuser did not apologise, but instead, asked the speaker to “make excuses for his behaviour”, Ocasio-Cortez had had enough. “I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls that I go home to, I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse to see that.”
Scroll up for a concentrated shot of women power, and some valuable lessons in never allowing yourself to be spoken down to.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other inspiring women who smashed sexism
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Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave her fellow politician a much-needed lesson in treating women with respect.
Her speech that subsequently went viral came after Yoho was heard using abusive and derogatory language towards the congresswoman.
“I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over using abusive language towards women. But what I do have an issue with is using women or wives and daughters as shields and excuses for poor behaviour,” said Cortez in a powerful speech addressing Yoho’s skewed justification that insinuated that his 45-year-long marriage and two daughters were proof of him being cognisant of his remarks.
He then concluded by saying that “I cannot apologise for my passion.”
Deepika Padukone calls out a leading Indian newspaper
Supposedly India’s ‘LEADING’ newspaper and this is ‘NEWS’!!?? pic.twitter.com/D3wiVVXuyM
— Deepika Padukone (@deepikapadukone) September 14, 2014
The Times of India tried to pass off Padukone’s cleavage as legitimate news and the actor wasn’t having it.
“YES! I am a Woman. I have breasts AND a cleavage! You got a problem!!??” read her response, and she went on to ask the Indian daily not to milk women empowerment if they were in no mood to respect women.
The time Mithali Raj turned the tables around on sexism in sports
When asked who her favourite male cricketer was, Raj’s response didn’t just paint a vivid picture of sexism in sports but also schooled the media in responsible journalism.
“Do you ask the same question to a male cricketer? Do you ask them who their favourite female cricketer is?” asked the captain of the Indian women’s national cricket team.
When Serena Williams didn’t let sexists cramp her style
While the French Open exposes the extent of elitism in tennis @serenawilliams is rocking a tutu at the US Open. ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/3YEA06wzkz
— Jo Poultney🎈 (@dodgee_brummie) August 28, 2018
Williams turned heads when she wore an iconic catsuit to a French Open tournament in 2018, but it seemed to rub people the wrong way.
Shortly after Williams’ viral fashion moment, the French tennis officials issued a dress code that deemed Williams’ outfit unfit and banned the look. An act that rightly received tons of flack
“I’ve had a lot of problems with my blood clots, God I don’t know how many I’ve had in the past 12 months. I’ve been wearing pants in general a lot when I play so I can keep the blood circulation going,” she explained.
But not many knew that her actual comeback would be an iconic example of how sometimes outfits speak louder than words.
In a legendary act of rebellion Williams showed up to the US Open in a one-shouldered tennis dress with a tutu bottom and sparkling sneakers, making it very apparent that she wasn’t letting any fussy old-timers regulate her style.
When astronaut Yelena Serova was too busy reaching for the stars to think about HMU
In 2014, Serova became the fourth-ever female astronaut in Russian history.
During a press conference with two of her male colleagues, right before they embarked on their mission, a reporter asked Serova a question that was disappointing to say the least – “How are you planning to do your hair?”
Serova, who had other more important matters at hand, for instance like travelling to space, decided to smoothly direct the media person to maybe ask one of her male colleague the same question.
A burn of astronomical proportions we would say.