Fox News Turns To A Panel Of Men To Debate Whether Women Should Be Allowed To Wear Leggings

Fox's Arthur Aidala: “Obviously Her Physique, God Bless You, You've Worked Out, You've Earned” The Right To Wear Leggings

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Fox & Friends continued their history of on-air sexism when they turned to a panel of men to literally judge whether three women were appropriately wearing leggings. Fox News' flagship morning show has a long history of promoting sexism on-air, whether it's co-host Brian Kilmeade introducing his female colleagues by stating, “Let's see if the girls have clothes on,” or spending 13 minutes questioning women's driving abilities. To be fair, the network's programming overall isn't much better. Fox & Friends' overt sexism reached a new level during its October 27 edition in which a panel of three men were asked to judge the appropriateness of three women's appearances. Co-host Steve Doocy started things off by asking panelist Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, “Are you comfortable with the women in your life parading in public in leggings?” Throughout the segment the panelists weighed in on each outfit, with Robertson quipping, “I'd like a photo” of one of the models, and Fox's Arthur Aidala saying of another model's “physique,” “God bless you, you've worked out, you've earned that.” Aidala then joked, “We all took nitroglycerin pills before she came on, just to make sure.” To conclude the panel discussion, Doocy speculated that, “I don't think anybody is in too much trouble,” with Aidala agreeing, “No, I think we made it.” From the October 27 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY: Leggings ain't pants. Does she have a point? We have brought in an esteemed panel of fathers right here to see if they would allow their daughters to wear leggings to school. Joining us right now we have Duck Dynasty's Willie Robertson, round of applause for Willie, ladies and gentlemen. Fox News legal analyst, Arthur Aidala, and Andrew Sansone is the father of two young girls and he happens to be married to our own Fox News' Julie Banderas. Alright. Let's just start by asking general questions about leggings. Willie, are you comfortable with the women in your life parading in public in leggings?

WILLIE ROBERTSON: I am.

DOOCY: Because they ain't pants, I've heard.

ROBERTSON: They ain't pants. You know, but my girls, they wear like the longer shirts to cover up the lady parts. You know. It's a combination. But yeah, I think -- yeah, I'm okay with it. 

ARTHUR AIDALA: We basically have a rule in the Aidala household overall, between my niece Julianna and Madison and Carly, if it's not worn in the monastery, it's not worn out on the street. In the Aidala house it's very simple. It's easy. You know, it's very easy. It's black and white. 

DOOCY: I'm with you on that. Andrew? 

ANDREW SANSONE: Our girls are so young that they have, you know, diapers on, and it's fine. It looks kind of cute. 

AIDALA: But look into the the future, what's going to happen.

DOOCY: Well, let's put this to the test. We've got the fathers here. We have three young women who are wearing leggings. Kaitlyn come on over and --

AIDALA: Hi, Kaitlyn. Hi.

DOOCY: Kaitlyn, just stop right there. The guys are looking at Kaitlyn right now. 

AIDALA: Actually, I'm not looking. For the record, I'm looking away. 

DOOCY:  She's wearing leggings, and a hooded sweat shirt. Alright, now Willie, you think?

ROBERSTON: I think that's modest, yeah.

AIDALA: Modest? 

DOOCY: You think that -- but, you said earlier you would like to see something covering -- 

ROBERSTON: Well it's according to the material. See that's a kind of a spandex looking thing, so that's different. 

AIDALA: In other words, it's not so tight that you can see a tattoo on her leg. 

ROBERTSON: Right. They're not that tight. Yeah. 

AIDALA: They're not that tight that you can see a tattoo on her leg. 

DOOCY: You don't have tattoos, or is that too personal? 

KAITLYN:  No, I don't. 

DOOCY: OK, just asking.

AIDALA: Wow, we are in some dangerous territory here, folks. 

DOOCY: Thank you very much, come right out over here, we will validate your parking. Amanda, come on over here. You see, of the three --

ROBERTSON: See, this is what I was talking about, see. 

DOOCY: Something a little longer. 

AIDALA: Amanda can actually go to church like that. I mean -- 

DOOCY: That's monastery wear to you? 

AIDALA: Well, it's black. OK, it's black. It's more or less covered. There's not much going on. I think she looks very appropriate. 

DOOCY: Of the three models we have, I think this particular ensemble exemplifies what the woman we just ran in the viral video. She said you've got to cover your tail. 

AIDALA: Oh, tail is covered. 

DOOCY: Thank you, Amanda. Right over there toward Keith. Thank you very much. And our final contestant is Paige. All right. 

ROBERTSON: I'd like a photo of her. 

DOOCY: Paige is wearing purple leggings with a black tank top. It looks like Paige just came from pilates. 

PAIGE: No, I did not wake up that early. 

DOOCY: Okay. 

AIDALA: See, we all took nitroglycerin pills before she came on the set, just to make sure. 

DOOCY: Andrew, what do you think about what Paige is wearing? 

SANSONE: She looks great, going to the gym. 

DOOCY: What if she's at the mall. 

SANSONE: At the mall -- 

AIDALA: Come on. Step up. Step up. This is your daughter out there, son. 

SANSONE: Do I have a lifeline?  No? 

DOOCY: Yes, call Arthur. Arthur, what do you think?

AIDALA: Yeah, 1-800-ARTHUR. Obviously her physique, god bless you, you've worked out, you've earned that. And there are appropriate places to wear that. But I wouldn't wear that to church on Sunday. I wouldn't wear that -- 

DOOCY: I don't want to see you ever wearing anything like that. 

AIDALA: I don't want to see me wearing anything like that. But you know, there's an appropriate time and place, and if you're going to work out, then that's what you should be wearing. And if you're going to the mall, probably not. Right, Elisabeth? 

SANSONE: Agree.

DOOCY: Something like that ... What do you think about this? 

ELISABETH HASSELBECK: It makes mom proud. 

[...]

ROBERTSON: I think -- you throw a t-shirt on, after working out, no problem.

DOOCY: She needs a little more coverage.

ROBERTSON: Just a little more coverage. 

[...]

DOOCY: Thank you very much. I don't think anybody is in too much trouble.

AIDALA: No, I think we made it.