By Maya Dusenbery • @mayadusenbery • 10 years ago

Quote of the Day: “Radical bitches” edition

Are you kidding me?

Steve Kush is the executive director of the Bernalillo County Republican Party in New Mexico. On Tuesday, the county commission considered a proposal to raise the minimum wage. Kush apparently spent this time on social media mocking the Working American advocates–or “chicks”–who came to testify in favor of the proposal.

Here’s what he had to say about a 19-year-old Working America volunteer.

nice hat Working American chick but damn damn you are a radical bitch

On Facebook, Kush posted, “Uh oh another Working America chick…nice boots…I know she makes more than min wage.” He added that she “was hot enough to almost make me register democrat.” Bob Cornelius, the former executive director of the Bernalillo County GOP–I guess being a sexist asshole is requirement for the gig?–responded by writing, “Maybe she used those shoes to walk Central,” referring to a street in Albuquerque known for prostitution. Classy.

The good news is Kush has been suspended indefinitely, and the commission voted to raise the minimum wage to $8.50. The real lesson here? Radical bitches get shit done.

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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