--- title: Annette Bosworth to Sexists: 'Conservative Women Fight Back' description: A GOP candidate for Senate in South Dakota holds a press conference in graffiti-covered room to tell sexist haters enough is enough canonical: https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-28T23:53:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:22.624Z og:title: Annette Bosworth to Sexists: 'Conservative Women Fight Back' og:description: A GOP candidate for Senate in South Dakota holds a press conference in graffiti-covered room to tell sexist haters enough is enough og:url: https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Annette Bosworth to Sexists: 'Conservative Women Fight Back' twitter:description: A GOP candidate for Senate in South Dakota holds a press conference in graffiti-covered room to tell sexist haters enough is enough twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # GOP Senate Candidate Declares War on Sexism: 'Our Country Has a Problem' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 28, 2014 11:53 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan May 28, 2014 11:53 PM UTC A Republican Senate candidate from South Dakota has a message for the people calling her vulgar names on the Internet: conservative women fight back. [Annette Bosworth](http://www.bosworthforsenate.com/about), a current state Representative and medical doctor, held a press conference Tuesday openly condemning the misogyny she says she’s encountered throughout her campaign for the U.S. Senate, largely at the hands of “supposedly tolerant liberals.” Bosworth’s passionate diatribe hit a nerve at a moment when much of the country is turning its attention to misogyny in the wake of a mass killing in California, where a young man stabbed and shot his way through a college town, driven by his sexist views. “Good morning, and welcome to the state of political discourse in 2014, “ Bosworth said while standing in a profane graffiti-covered room. She called the exhibit a representation of what’s facing women who “dare to challenge the status quo.” “What you see around you are the words which have been written about me on blogs, on the Internet throughout this campaign,” Bosworth said. “They are hateful, they are hurtful and no person should have to endure it. It is its own form of abuse.” Bosworth, who is challenging former Gov. Mike Rounds in the upcoming June primary, said she asked local artists to Google her and “pick a name. Spell it just as it’s spelled on the Internet and represent that on my campaign signs.” --- > “” --- She called attention to the Santa Barbara massacre: --- > “” --- She may be considered a “long-shot” as a Senate candidate, but her powerful stance against the vulgarity sends a much needed, powerful message to hatemongers: enough is enough. Watch the full video at [_Talking Points Memo_](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/annette-bosworth-senate-spray-paint-profanity). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/"},"headline":"GOP Senate Candidate Declares War on Sexism: 'Our Country Has a Problem'","datePublished":"2014-05-28T23:53:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:22.624Z","description":"Conservative women fight back","url":"https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/","keywords":["Living","Senate","politics","GOP","Conservatives","sexism","south dakota"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/134201/gop-senate-candidate-declares-war-on-sexism-our-country-has-a-problem/","name":"GOP Senate Candidate Declares War on Sexism: 'Our Country Has a Problem'"}}]}] ```