A South Carolina legislator objected to her male colleague’s remarks implying that women were a “lesser cut of meat” and should be pregnant and barefoot in he kitchen.
State Sen. Tom Corbin (R) said he was joking and referred to Adam’s rib (of Adam and Eve from the Bible) and that “got her wearing shoes,” referring to women being barefoot and pregnant when speaking with his colleagues at the state capitol building on Tuesday. “We were all joking and laughing,” Corbin told The State.
But state Sen. Katrina Shealy (R) didn’t find the exchange all that amusing. “You’ve pushed me far enough. I worked three times harder than you did to get here … I deserve respect, and I’m going to get it,” The State reported she said.
Shealy later alluded to the remarks on her Facebook page, saying, “I have proven that women can effectively serve in the Legislature, and one of my colleagues has proven capable of talking like an idiot.”
The exchange came about during a discussion about a domestic violence bill, which Shealy supports, that would prevent those convicted of domestic violence from possessing a gun for a decade. Corbin said that a restraining order isn’t enough to justify revoking someone’s Second Amendment rights, and said Shealy was “trying to make me out to be a woman-hater.”
South Carolina ranks among the bottom in terms of representation of women in the state legislature. Shealy is the only woman in the state senate, and with only 21 women in the House of Representatives, women make up only about 13 percent of state legislators. South Carolina is one of four states with fewer than 15 percent of women making up its state legislative body.
Corbin has also made headlines for his outrageous statements before. During a debate in the capitol last year, he said that higher education in the state has drifted toward a “godlessness left.”
After The State reached out to him for comment, Corbin said he’d stop, even though he claimed Shealy also teased him for being overweight and balding. They were both elected to the state Senate in 2012. “If it bothers her, I’ll quit joking around with her,” he told The State.