Fox & Friends Spends More Than 13 Minutes Questioning Women's Driving Abilities
Written by Hannah Groch-Begley
Published
Fox & Friends spent more than 13 minutes of airtime to questioning whether women can drive or park well, including a “park-off” pitting male and female hosts against each other in a “battle of the sexes.”
On May 1, the hosts hyped a home video of a female driver parallel parking in Belfast, Ireland, and co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade challenged Gretchen Carlson and meteorologist Maria Molina to a “park-off,” in which the men competed against the women to see which team could park better. Carlson hyped the event as “stereotypes played out to perfection,” while Doocy referred to it as “the battle of the sexes park-off.”
The show devoted several segments to the topic, including mentions while reading other news headlines, for a total of 13 minutes and 39 seconds of airtime.
Sexism has long had a home at Fox & Friends. In June 2010, Kilmeade referred to women as “babes, chicks,” and “skirts” during a segment on which cars appeal to women. In September 2010, Kilmeade advised a sports reporter who allegedly suffered sexual harassment from football players to "[g]et a Whoopi Goldberg outfit, like a big tent." Kilmeade, Doocy, and Fox News host Geraldo Rivera repeatedly used sexual innuendo when discussing Victoria's Secret models in January 2013. Fox & Friends guests have also made sexist comments on the show.