On his radio program, Rush Limbaugh asked the women in his audience: “How many of you in the secrecy and privacy of your own dreams and hopes would love to be hired as eye candy?”
Limbaugh on what women want: to be “hired as eye candy”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
On the January 10 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh asked the women in his audience: “How many of you in the secrecy and privacy of your own dreams and hopes would love to be hired as eye candy?” Limbaugh's question was part of a discussion about a January 10 report on the conservative news website NewsMax.com about six women who filed a lawsuit for sex discrimination against their company, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities, a division of Germany's Dresdner Bank. According to the article, the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan by five employees working in New York and one working in London, asserts that they were hired as “eye candy,” and that one woman was openly called “the Pamela Anderson of trading” by her boss.
Later in the broadcast, Limbaugh returned to the subject when he said:
LIMBAUGH: I'm not talking -- I know how many of you want to be sexually harassed -- that's not what I was asking. But, I mean, I -- if, if, if somebody wants to hire you to look good for whoever is the first to walk in the door every day, why not, if that's your asset?
Media Matters has previously noted that on the April 26, 2004, edition of his radio program, Limbaugh stated that women “actually wish” for sexual harassment.
Limbaugh continued this refrain during his January 10 broadcast throughout a discussion with a caller who said she was “not offended ... at all” by Limbaugh's comments and explained that she had been working in “promotions for 10 years, and it's a great part-time position.” At numerous points in the conversation, Rush referred to the caller's work as being “eye candy.”
Finally, concluding his discussion, Limbaugh told the caller, “I love people enthusiastic about being their jobs and, and especially people like you who are enthusiastic about being eye candy. ... [Y]ou know, the Democrats could use a whole lot of people like you. They have a deficiency in that area.”
From the January 10 edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: Now, I have, I have a real-world question for those of you women in the audience. Just something I, I'd like to know. How many of you in the secrecy and privacy of your own dreams and hopes would love to be hired as eye candy?
[...]
LIMBAUGH: All right, let me clarify this. I can't even -- I can't believe that -- and I'm probably gonna get into a lot of trouble here -- but there's a story. Six women have sued a German bank because they've been hired for eye candy. They were hired as eye candy. Which means they were hired for their looks. Maybe that's the stumbling block. Maybe -- I have to think women know that term. So they got hired for their looks and this offended them and so they're filing discrimination suits -- $1.4 billion discrimination suit which -- all, all I know -- I know, I mean -- (sighs) I know, I know, some women who would love to be flattered to be complimented to be hired as eye candy.
So I asked a question: How many of you women in the audience, in the deepest, dark secrets of your dreams and desires, would be flattered to be hired as eye candy? I'm not talking -- I know how many of you want to be sexually harassed -- that's not what I was asking. But, I mean, I -- if, if, if somebody wants to hire you to look good for whoever is the first to walk in the door every day, why not, if that's your asset? “Well, that offends me. I would not -- I, I, that's irrelevant, the way I look.” Oh, really? Why do you spend so much time on it then? “Well, it's not, Rush, it's” -- ah, that's the way the world is. This stuff matters. But I just happen to think there probably are a lot of women out there that wouldn't be offended by it. Now, I'm not talkin' about being chased around the desk. But probably some woman -- women wouldn't be bothered by that either. [Caller] in Green Bay, you're next on the EIB Network. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hi, Rush.
LIMBAUGH: Hi.
CALLER: I'm not offended by your comment at all.
LIMBAUGH: Good. Good. Yeah, woman of the '90s.
CALLER: Yes. I've been doing promotions for 10 years, and it's a great part-time position.
LIMBAUGH: Wait, wait, wait. You have been doing promotions?
CALLER: Yes, for companies that are promoting either liquor or MasterCard or Visas, hair products --
LIMBAUGH: Oh, you arrange promotional ideas for these people.
CALLER: Ah, no, I actually work with the customers. So I go out into bars and I let people sample the product.
LIMBAUGH: Let people -- you let people sample the product. So you are the eye candy.
CALLER: I am the eye candy.
LIMBAUGH: You are the eye candy and you let people sample the product.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: How, how much do you get paid for this? Now, I don't mean dollars, but I mean, is it enough for you to live part-time, or do you do something else?
CALLER: I'm also a stay-at-home mom.
LIMBAUGH: Oh, you're a stay-at-home mom, but you're also eye candy, so you're an eye-candy, stay-at-home mom.
CALLER: Exactly.
LIMBAUGH: And you do these part-time promotions.
CALLER: Yep.
LIMBAUGH: And, so, I gather the money is not the main thing to you. You just like being eye candy.
CALLER: Ah, yeah. That's true. I do.
LIMBAUGH: Well, see? This proves my point. Now, let me ask you: When you're eye candy and you're giving away shampoo, it means you're eye candy to women.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: How did you get into this gig? How did you find a job where you could be eye candy?
CALLER: Well, I started in college and basically --
LIMBAUGH: Your eye-candy career started in college?
CALLER: Yes. I started with a modeling company, and then after that I found jobs in the newspaper.
LIMBAUGH: Eye candy in newspapers?
CALLER: Yup. You know, just in the help-wanted ads. They were looking for people that could be outgoing and fun in a bar atmosphere.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: Well, it sounds like -- well, I love talkin' to people who love their jobs. I love people enthusiastic about being in their jobs, and especially people like you who are enthusiastic about being eye candy and don't feel the need to apologize for it or to -- or to -- to feel guilty. I could tell you, you know, the Democrats could use a whole lot of people like you. They have a deficiency in that area.