Fox News Has Awful New Years Advice For Women

The new year may be prime time for new beginnings and changes, but if there's one thing that remains constant in this unpredictable world, it's Fox News' track record of misogyny. On Thursday, the hosts of Fox & Friends suggested the worst possible New Year's resolutions for women ever, and unfortunately, surprised no one in the process. And in 2015, if your calling card is rampant sexism, you're doing something terribly, terribly wrong.

The ill-fated segment, featuring co-hosts Clayton Morris and Ainsley Earhardt, started off innocently enough, with a relationship expert offering advice on how to create or maintain new interpersonal relationships. "Give to give" seemed to be one of the main takeaways — that is to say, get rid of all your expectations of reciprocity when it comes to doing things for others. Fair enough, wouldn't you say? But then, this recommendation took a rather unexpected turn when it was applied to what Fox News termed, "Men's Brutally Honest Dating Tips For Women." On this list were gems like, "No matter where a woman was in life, she should always be able to cater to her man's needs," "When he gets his ego stroked, he will be more inclined to love you more," and "Prepare his meals, draw him a bath and massage his feet every now and then."

Now, granted, Fox News probably meant this as satire. After all, no one in their right minds could possibly offer up such advice in all seriousness, right? But then again, the network does have a rather, shall we say, uncomfortable history when it comes to women. There was that time that Eric Bolling made fun of United Arab Emirates first female fighter pilot (who fought against ISIS, for the record), by calling her "boobs on the ground." And then there was that time when Roger Ailes, the president of Fox News, noted that he "didn't spent money to give Paula Zahn a glass desk only to have her wear pants — he wanted viewers to see her legs." Oh, and then there's also the fact that Gretchen Carlson, a former Fox and Friends host herself, told Brian Kilmeade, "Pants were not allowed" for female anchors of the show. Yikes on bikes.

So was it satirical? Or was this just another in a long line of poorly thought out, generally insensitive anti-women's liberation presentations? I mean, Fox did really drive the point home by offering a handy dandy chart on its Facebook page, asking women what they thought of the 1950's-style advice. The host of Fox and Friends, however, particularly the men, seemed rather pleased by the suggestions, with Morris proudly proclaiming, "My wife is at home taking notes right now." He added, "My wife does cook, and she does give me foot massages." And that, my friends, is the key to a happy, Republican marriage.

While Earhardt, the sole female anchor present for the segment, seemed rather offended by the majority of the advice, she did authenticate the idea that stroking a man's ego is key to a more loving relationship. "That's true," she exclaimed, and Morris verified this information as well, calling it "100 percent accurate." Of course, how women should go about stroking their men's egos has yet to be determined, though general servitude seems to be the theme of the day, or the 19th century.

Of course, Earhardt did warn women against ever starting such behaviors unless they are willing to continue them throughout the relationship. Laughing (probably in order to conceal her horror), Earhardt said, "Once you start these things, once you start though, women, you gotta continue it. So if you start that in the dating, you gotta continue it all the way through. Don't ever do it." But this was problematic for Mr. Morris, who seemed appalled by the idea that once women were married, they could be allowed to stop the cooking, and the foot massaging, and the catering to a man's every need. Because what is the point of marriage then!?

But Earhardt had quite the retort for her co-host, accusing men of turning off all the charm and all the romance once the wedding is over. "That's what you guys do," she said, "You stop dating the women when you get married." Unfortunately, this went quite over Morris' head (which is apparently stuck in a previous generation), as he thought that Earhardt only meant that men were required to stop dating other women once they got married. Yes, Mr. Morris, that is indeed Marriage 101.

As fun as it is to bash Fox News, the real culprits here are obviously the men (who are both single and married, shockingly enough), who put together the terrible list. For the record, they are all based in New York, that supposedly liberal bastion of single life. So happy 2015 ladies! Here's to a new year and a new man.

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