Barbra Streisand attacks media over Hillary Clinton coverage

Barbra Streisand has lashed out at America's media for the way reporters are covering Hillary Clinton's presidential run.

The longtime gender rights activist and Clinton supporter has accused many U.S. news outlets of "outright sexism" for the way journalists are following the presidential campaign.

In an essay for The Huffington Post, Barbra writes: "It's been 24 years since I said in a speech for Women in Film, 'Men and women are clearly measured by a different yardstick. And that makes me angry. Of course, I'm not supposed to be angry. A woman should be soft-spoken, agreeable, ladylike, understated. In other words, stifled. Language gives us an insight into the way women are viewed in a male-dominated society'."

The filmmaker, actress and singer insists little has changed and accomplished women, like her friend Hillary, are still being treated with suspicion.

And she takes aim at reports from Fox News and MSNBC, claiming male political pundits are wrong to fixate on how stern the presidential hopeful appears.

"Hillary Clinton has a great smile and smiles often," she adds. "So does Barack Obama. So does Bill Clinton. But no one would tell those two men to smile."

Barbra also takes aim at Hillary's Republican rival Donald Trump, calling him the "joke that isn't funny".

She rages: "I notice the press doesn't even call him (Trump) out on his own lies or his refusal to answer questions. If you repeat a lie loudly and long enough, people may come to believe it is true... And what would the press say, for instance, if Hillary Clinton displayed anything like the crassness of Donald Trump in debates? Or his staggering lack of knowledge on foreign or domestic policy?"

She concludes her essay by urging Americans to "stop being afraid" of women", adding, "Hillary Clinton isn't afraid. It's about time that a woman with strength, experience and compassion leads our already great nation in this time of global insecurity."