Amal Clooney is trying to stop genocide and instead we’re talking about her ‘blossoming baby bump’

It appears that some members of the news media have learned nothing from this week’s Day Without A Woman protest and International Women’s Strike.

International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney stood before the United Nations this week and urged the world’s governing body to do something about ongoing acts of genocide committed by the Islamic State. With her was Nadia Murad, who at 22 was enslaved, terrorized and repeatedly raped by members of ISIS before she managed to escape and flee to Germany.

But all of that was just a sideshow, because what really mattered to more than a few publishing groups was a) Amal Clooney is George Clooney’s wife, b) she’s pregnant, and c) she wears nice clothes.

On March 9, Time tweeted this:

But wait, it gets better. The story began with the following lead (warning: you may be inclined to start breaking things): “Amal Clooney was all business on International Women’s Day.”

Paragraph two:

The mom-to-be (who also happens to be married to George Clooney) stepped out outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Wednesday, showing off her baby bump in a dark gray pencil skirt and matching cropped blazer.

Time wasn’t alone in its miss–the–entire–point–of–Women’s–History–Month coverage. The Washington Post compiled other sexist headlines like this one from the tabloid Mirror:

Amal Clooney is a vision in yellow as she shows off hint of baby bump in chic dress.

And this from Hollywood Life:

Amal Clooney Puts Her Growing Baby Bump on Display In Chic Yellow Dress for U.N. Speech.

And another from E! News:

Amal Clooney Shows Baby Bump in What Could be the Ultimate International Women’s Day Poster.

As The Washington Post’s Samantha Schmidt noted:

Some of the baby-bump hoopla made it seem as though the lawyer was gallivanting on a beach in a bathing suit, ‘showing off’ her pregnant belly, or posing for a photographer in a Beyoncé-esque, flower-adorned pregnancy announcement, resting her hand on her bare stomach.

Those watching her speech would have hardly noticed her barely visible bump, unless, of course, they were specifically looking for it. Most were more focused on her impassioned address, which she attended with her client, Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who was enslaved and raped by Islamic State militants.

Once again, social media users stepped in to point out the glaring hypocrisy and sexism of some members of the publishing world in the year 2017.