Upset by the jokes uttered by Fox News' Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfield and aimed at a female United Arab Emirates fighter pilot, 60 veterans of the U.S. armed forces penned a letter calling out their "misogyny" and issued an apology to the pilot on their behalf.
"First, foremost, and most obvious to everyone other than yourselves, your remarks were immensely inappropriate," the letter says, addressing the Fox News hosts.
Their beef stems from Wednesday's The Five, when co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle recognized Major Mariam Al Mansouri as the first female fighter pilot for the UAE and saluted her for leading her country's airstrikes against ISIS.
Guilfoyle pointed out the significance of this accomplishment with how women are generally regarded and treated in the Middle East. This opened the door for Gutfield to joke, "The problem is after she bombed it, she couldn't park it." Bolling immediately jumped in with, "Would that be considered boobs on the ground or no?"
Guilfoyle recoiled and said, "Oh my gosh, why did they ruin my thing?"
The letter continues:
Your co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle was so right to call attention to an inspiring story of a woman shattering glass ceilings in a society where doing so is immeasurably difficult. We never heard an answer to her question: why did you feel so compelled to 'ruin her thing?'
The veterans point out the many women who have served in the United States military including the 1,000 plus WASPs (Women Airforce Service Pilots) who flew during World War II and Lt. Heather "Lucky" Penney who flew an unarmed F-16 the day of 9/11, standing ready to take down any other threats. "Thus the skill of women as fighter pilots is well established," the letter states.
The letter ends charging the hosts with "misogyny" and ridiculing their childish humor, complete with a refusal to accept any apologies and instead issues an apology on their behalf:
And before you jump to the standby excuse that you were “just making a joke” or “having a laugh,” let the men amongst our number preemptively respond: You are not funny. You are not clever. And you are not excused. Perhaps the phrase “boys will be boys”—inevitably uttered wherever misogyny is present—is relevant. Men would never insult and demean a fellow service member; boys think saying the word ‘boobs’ is funny.
The less obvious implication of your remarks, however, is that by offending an ally and cheapening her contribution, you are actively hurting the mission. We need to send a clear message that anyone, male or female, who will stand up to ISIS and get the job done is worthy of our respect and gratitude.
We issue an apology on your behalf to Major Al Mansouri knowing that anything your producers force you to say will be contrived and insincere. Major, we’re sincerely sorry for the rudeness; clearly, these boys don’t take your service seriously, but we and the rest of the American public do.
