Sexist joke spurs State House debate

A male senator’s offensive joke to South Carolina’s only female state senator is driving a debate about sexism under the State House dome.

That debate is unfolding as more women than ever before hold seats in the state Legislature.

Those numbers have ticked up in recent years, slowly lifting South Carolina from dead last to 47th in state rankings by the Center for American Women in Politics for the percentage of women who hold office in state legislatures.

Allegations of sexism have rattled the State House before.

In 2001, for example, an anonymous memo directed female House pages to wear revealing blouses, consider underwear “optional” and view terms such as “babe,” “honey,” “sugar” and “little missy” as compliments and “terms of endearment.”

In 2010, then-state Rep. Nikki Haley was accused of having an extramarital affair. The allegations came, some noted suspiciously, just as the little-known legislator was taking the lead in a heated primary race for the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination. In 2012, Gov. Haley riled critics by calling a Charleston reporter a “little girl.” Haley later said she regretted her choice of words.

The focus of last week’s controversy was a “joke” that state Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, made while at dinner with lawmakers, including state Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, the Senate’s only female member.

Corbin said he repeated “an old joke” that women are a “lesser cut of meat,” a biblical reference to Eve being created from Adam’s rib.

After media reports, Corbin apologized publicly Tuesday in the Senate.

Shealy then followed Corbin’s comments with her own, warning women they will face obstacles to their success.

“(T)hese ... remarks are never acceptable in public or in private,” Shealy said, her voice wavering. “We are all created equal and, as such, deserve respect.”

‘Set the record straight’

Women who have served in the General Assembly applauded Shealy for speaking out.

“Sometimes, women need to stand up and set the record straight,” said Molly Spearman, a former state representative who became the fifth S.C. woman ever to win a statewide office in November, when she was elected state education superintendent. “Sometimes, men forget that some things that are said in a joking way may not come across that way.”

Spearman and other women who have been in the Legislature said their interactions with male lawmakers have been mostly professional.

But some said they have, from time to time, experienced a different kind of disrespect from male colleagues.

“Some male colleagues say, ‘Oh, you look pretty today.’ ‘Oh, you look good today,’ ‘Oh, you smell good,’ ” said state Rep. Mia McLeod, D-Richland.

McLeod used to answer compliments about her looks by asking, “Would you say that to your male colleague?”

Now, she said she lets those comments go, adding they let her know what others really think.

Spearman recalled “one older gentleman” from “another era” who sometimes said inappropriate things to her.

“I finally had to say something to him,” she said, not wanting to name the now-deceased legislator. “I took care of it if it went over the line.”

Paid her dues

The path female legislators are carving out in S.C. politics is not well-worn, compared to the one that their male counterparts follow.

The S.C. Legislature has 170 members. But Shealy is one of just 89 female legislators ever elected to the General Assembly since Mary Gordon Ellis of Jasper County became the first, winning a Senate seat in 1928.

This year, Shealy is one of 23 women in the General Assembly – the most who ever have been in office at the same time. All but Shealy are in the 124-member House.

Elected after a tough fight against longtime GOP state Sen. Jake Knotts, Shealy’s 2012 win ended a four-year span when no women held a seat in the Senate.

No more than three women ever have held seats at the same time in the state’s 46-member upper legislative chamber.

Changes come slowly.

This year, nine-term state Rep. Rita Allison, R-Spartanburg, was appointed to chair the House Education and Public Works Committee – a rare leadership position for a woman to hold.

When House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, initially called her about the job, Allison said she thought he was going to ask her for a reference for someone else.

“But when he asked me to take it, I was very honored and humble,” she said. “But I wanted to think through it.”

Allison said her hesitation was because she “didn’t want to let down (her) gender” or take a position she was not ready for. But after a week or so, Allison decided she had “paid her dues,” working on the House’s budget panel, and asking for leadership roles and positions that would expand her knowledge.

As a female legislator, Allison thought she had to be proactive about gaining experience. “There are fewer of us than our male counterparts, so we do double time to make sure our voices are heard.”

Breaking the glass ceiling

Breaking into higher offices is tough for S.C. women.

Only five have won election to statewide offices. Haley became the fourth with her wins in 2010 and 2014, making history as the state’s first female minority governor.

Spearman, also a Republican, became the fifth to win a state position when she took office this year as education superintendent.

Another five S.C. women have won seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But four of those women were widows of congressmen, urged to run to finish their deceased husbands’ terms – a Southern tradition known as the “widow’s mandate” where both political parties nominate the deceased man’s wife to complete his term as a gesture of sympathy.

Only one S.C. congresswoman, Democrat Liz Patterson of Spartanburg, did not follow in her late husband’s footsteps. But Patterson was the daughter of former S.C. Gov. Olin Johnston, who also served in the U.S. Senate for 20 years.

After winning the 4th District seat in 1986, Patterson served three terms in Congress. She lost the seat in 1992 to Republican Bob Inglis.

‘When you tell a joke and no one laughs’

Shealy said she had a tough time addressing the full Senate Tuesday about Corbin’s remark, which she said she would rather put behind her.

“It was hard, just to stand up there and talk about it,” Shealy said Friday. “I didn’t want to keep drawing attention to it. There are more important things to do in the Senate.”

But someone at the dinner leaked the comments to a reporter, Shealy said, and she thought it important to respond publicly.

Shealy said she also has received support from male colleagues in the Senate, including Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee.

Peeler said Shealy does not want special treatment. She only wants to be treated the same as men in the Senate.

For example, Peeler said he wants senators, when addressing the body, to address the Senate’s president and “members,” not “gentleman and lady,” as is common now.

Peeler also said he gave Corbin the “benefit of the doubt” that he did not intend to be insulting with his comment. But, he added, “When you tell a joke and no one laughs, odds are, it's not funny.”

Corbin followed with an “unsuccessful attempt at apologizing,” Peeler said.

Miffed that Shealy chose to speak about the issue on the Senate floor after his apology, Corbin told The State that Shealy “chose to be offended and make a big deal out of all this.”

Then, Corbin said Shealy likely really was angry at him for fighting gun restrictions in a domestic violence bill that she is pushing.

That comment, Shealy said, angered her even more.

“It took away his apology.”

This story was originally published February 21, 2015 at 5:37 PM with the headline "Sexist joke spurs State House debate."