• by March 18, 2004

IS MARTHA STEWART THE VICTIM OF A BITCH HUNT? -- Before any feminist readers take arms up against the Riff, we'd like to point out that the question is being raised by none other than Ms. Magazine's MsMagazineOnline, which is sponsoring an interactive poll for readers to bitch about the issue themselves. In an open letter coming out in Stewart's defense, Ms. Editor-in-Chief Elaine Lafferty notes its own irony in the move: "Let's make it clear at the start: Martha Stewart has never been a feminist icon. While we may like her K-Mart paints or appreciate some of her suggestions for décor, she's never made the short list for Ms. Woman of the Year. It doesn't mean we don't consider her a feminist - we have no idea what Ms. Stewart calls herself - it's just that domestic perfection hasn't been one of our top priorities."

Nonetheless, Ms. is raising an important issue that Stewart may have been singled out and made an example of, not necessarily because she is an example of corporate or financial egress, but because she's a rich and powerful woman. Never mind that Stewart has been found guilty of the crime, in her letter, Lafferty says, "We're outraged about her recent prosecution and conviction. It's time for women to speak out. The issue is proportionality. John Ashcroft's Justice Department spent millions of dollars overzealously pursuing a case in which Martha Stewart saved herself $52,000 in stock losses by following an insider stock tip. And she wasn't even prosecuted for that--she was busted for lying about whether or not she'd sold her stock based on that tip."

Now obstruction of justice has never exactly been one of Ms. magazine's fortes, but the gals are making a great point. It's already crossed the Riff's minds that Stewart was being made and example of, and not just because she was rich, powerful and has a high profile. Otherwise, why haven't we seen similar indictments come down on some other alleged high-profile stock swindlers? According to Ms.'s Lafferty, they should include Vice President Dick Cheney, whose sale of Halliburton stock in 2000 grossed him $18.5 million. "The price of stock then was $52/share; sixty days later, when reports of poor earnings surfaced, it dropped to $13/share," noted Lafferty, adding, "Ordinary investors lost their life savings. Mr. Cheney is now being sued in civil court--but not by the federal government--for being part of a conspiracy to overstate company profits."

The differential treatment, asserts Lafferty, has more to do with gender than politics. This was not a serious case that protected Americans against criminals. This was a bitch hunt. Martha Stewart, after all, is a woman-you-love-to-hate. Despite her fans, a Gallup poll reported that 55 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of her."

Alas, this may not simply be a case of legal discrimination, but of a deeper and more profound social bias against powerful and authoritative women.

"Imagine a man in Martha Stewart's position. Would Donald Trump be pre-judged guilty for arrogance and conspicuous consumption? Better still, would Martha Stewart be considered decisive and even charming when she says 'You're fired!' to a reality show contestant vying for her favor? Hardly. We're conditioned to not like that sort of power in women. The government prosecutors who decided to make an example of Martha Stewart knew that."

CHEESE WIZZES -- We always thought the radio medium was ripe for a major food category campaign, but there's just something about all that sight- sound-and-motion hype pushed by the TV folks that has kept radio from getting a fair slice of the pie, or, as you are about to learn, from a wheel of cheese. The J. Brown Agency has won the "Grand Winner Best of Campaigns" at the radio industry's annual Mercury Awards for its trade advertising campaign promoting "the power of cheese." But the power the agency has really demonstrated is the ability of great advertising to break through the limitations of any medium.