"Fox and Friends Weekend" is the Saturday and Sunday destination to watch the news for many in the nation today because it's so upbeat and fun while you are catching up on the events of the day. All weekend long they offer up segments like DIY projects or they explore the newest gadgets on the market in between offering up what is happening in the world.
Last weekend Abby Huntsman took on the task of Spring Cleaning with an expert who visited the show. While she wasn't really dressed for such an occasion with a short-tight dress and nose-bleed height heels, she did the best she could and it was lighthearted and funny.
Clayton Morris narration
It was informative and they had fun with it, as her co-host Clayton Morris unofficially and very comedian-like narrated the segment for the viewers at home. What some were seeing was perceived differently than just a fun segment of spring cleaning tasks.
Female co-host cleans
Jezebel asks, " Is the male co-host making gross noises about watching his female co-host clean the most vile offense the network has waged against women? They then answer "certainly not."
Huntsman lightheartedly yells over to her two male co-workers "Guys I know you are thrilled about all of these," referring to the cleaning tips she was learning. Clayton Morris replied, "I'm excited to watch you do it," in a sarcastic, but friendly tone.
Political correctness to the max?
Jezebel writes about this back and forth between Huntsman and Morris, "Smiles all around! Really makes you wonder how such a fun, lighthearted atmosphere could possibly spawn all those dark allegations of sexual harassment, doesn’t it?"
Is it coming to a point where political correctness will get in the way of something so generic as a cleaning segment?
The Raw Story also reports on this "Fox and Friends Weekend" segment.
Their headline says:
‘I’m excited to watch you’: Male Fox News hosts make women presenters demonstrate spring cleaning tips." They present the segment as two females clean while the males don't. This is all going on as they play the background music of "Yakety Yak," which is a 1962 song by the Coasters.
Song not defaming women
The song's lyrics lists a number of chores like sweeping, taking out the garbage and cleaning your room. The song makes it sound as if these chores are being handed down to someone by a person in authority, with the chorus being "Yakety Yak, Don't Talk Back." This song is conveying parents telling their kids to finish their chores. If they don't do these chores then they don't get money and they can't go out. It is not a song that conveys a man ordering a woman around.
He 'makes' her do it?
The Raw Story reports that the males "make" the females clean? That brings some strange visions to the mind's eye. The women weren't forced to clean that mock bedroom. This segment was not unlike the many other segments this "Fox News" morning show offers.
There have been many times where one of the co-hosts takes on a task and the others comically narrate.
These guys are funny and they make getting up on the weekend mornings a little easier. On the cleaning segment over the weekend, it could have very well been Clayton doing the cleaning and Abby throwing the sarcastic comments his way. It has happened that way in the past.
Woman's work is never done - not the case!
They have taken turns over the duration of this show, it is not as if Abby and the other females are tasked with what some might perceive as "woman's work." Is this segment really going to get blown out of proportion?
