I always thought Jillette was a loser
May. 14th, 2008 06:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeHis whole "I'm here to show you benighted people the truth" is way too heavy-handed for me--it's the flip side of obnoxious evangelists who preach on the corner. You're not a soothsayer, you weren't put here to "show" us anything, and you have nothing to teach me.
What prompted this is an article I came across today: Clinton Campaign Brought Sexism Out of Hiding.
Some charming excerpts:
Political discourse will at last be free of jokes like this one, told last week by magician Penn Jillette on MSNBC: "Obama did great in February, and that's because that was Black History Month. And now Hillary's doing much better 'cause it's White B---- Month, right?"
This jumped out at me (because Jillette bugs, as I said above) but then there's also this:
I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan "Bros before Hos." The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho) and they are widely sold on the Internet.
And this:
I won't miss episodes like the one in which the liberal radio personality Randi Rhodes called Clinton a "big f---in' whore" and said the same about former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro. Rhodes was appearing at an event sponsored by a San Francisco radio station, before an audience of appreciative Obama supporters -- one of whom had promoted the evening on the presumptive Democratic nominee's official campaign Web site.
What. The. Fuck.
Who do you think you're helping? Calling another woman a whore? Are you mad? Is that supposed to be some kind of intelligent discourse? Is that even supposed to be a witty insult? Jesus Christ. Reading that literally makes me sick. Why don't you just stone her instead? Go on, pick up your rocks and lob them at the whore. That's what she gets for shaking things up, right?
I have no problem with Obama. If he wins the nomination, he'll get my vote--I would die before voting for anti-choice McCain. No matter who gets the Dem nom, history is being made, and I'm thrilled. I think he'll make a great President and I know he's suffered his slings and arrows as well--this entry isn't about what he's had to face, it's about the difference between covert and overt. This blatant, fuck you, white bitch misogyny is literally sickening. It's especially disgusting when it's seen as somehow transgressive, when it's applauded as daring and "anti-PC." Why--why--WHY don't people see that this shit is just as unacceptable, just as disgusting, just as uncivilized as any overt racism? It's the same story all over again, it's just like all those school shootings where time after time girls were singled out and NO ONE TALKED ABOUT IT.
Sexism and misogyny are okay in a way that racism isn't. Systematically singling out girls to be lined up and shot is a pattern not even worthy of being noticed. Losers who troll Clinton rallies waving signs that say "iron my shirt" are barely mentioned in the media.
If you don't like Clinton's policies or her candidacy, that is fine with me. As I said, I'm no particular supporter of her over Obama. But if you call her a bitch or a whore, if you call her hysterical or think her hair or her dress is legitimate fodder for critique, if you slam her for her perceived inability to tread that elusive line between leadership and being a so-called nutcracker/ballbuster/pick your sexist pejorative, if you criticize her in any way that singles her out as a woman--if I hear any of this, I will call you out for the throwback misogynist you are. I have damn well had it.
What prompted this is an article I came across today: Clinton Campaign Brought Sexism Out of Hiding.
Some charming excerpts:
Political discourse will at last be free of jokes like this one, told last week by magician Penn Jillette on MSNBC: "Obama did great in February, and that's because that was Black History Month. And now Hillary's doing much better 'cause it's White B---- Month, right?"
This jumped out at me (because Jillette bugs, as I said above) but then there's also this:
I will not miss seeing advertisements for T-shirts that bear the slogan "Bros before Hos." The shirts depict Barack Obama (the Bro) and Hillary Clinton (the Ho) and they are widely sold on the Internet.
And this:
I won't miss episodes like the one in which the liberal radio personality Randi Rhodes called Clinton a "big f---in' whore" and said the same about former vice presidential nominee Geraldine Ferraro. Rhodes was appearing at an event sponsored by a San Francisco radio station, before an audience of appreciative Obama supporters -- one of whom had promoted the evening on the presumptive Democratic nominee's official campaign Web site.
What. The. Fuck.
Who do you think you're helping? Calling another woman a whore? Are you mad? Is that supposed to be some kind of intelligent discourse? Is that even supposed to be a witty insult? Jesus Christ. Reading that literally makes me sick. Why don't you just stone her instead? Go on, pick up your rocks and lob them at the whore. That's what she gets for shaking things up, right?
I have no problem with Obama. If he wins the nomination, he'll get my vote--I would die before voting for anti-choice McCain. No matter who gets the Dem nom, history is being made, and I'm thrilled. I think he'll make a great President and I know he's suffered his slings and arrows as well--this entry isn't about what he's had to face, it's about the difference between covert and overt. This blatant, fuck you, white bitch misogyny is literally sickening. It's especially disgusting when it's seen as somehow transgressive, when it's applauded as daring and "anti-PC." Why--why--WHY don't people see that this shit is just as unacceptable, just as disgusting, just as uncivilized as any overt racism? It's the same story all over again, it's just like all those school shootings where time after time girls were singled out and NO ONE TALKED ABOUT IT.
Sexism and misogyny are okay in a way that racism isn't. Systematically singling out girls to be lined up and shot is a pattern not even worthy of being noticed. Losers who troll Clinton rallies waving signs that say "iron my shirt" are barely mentioned in the media.
If you don't like Clinton's policies or her candidacy, that is fine with me. As I said, I'm no particular supporter of her over Obama. But if you call her a bitch or a whore, if you call her hysterical or think her hair or her dress is legitimate fodder for critique, if you slam her for her perceived inability to tread that elusive line between leadership and being a so-called nutcracker/ballbuster/pick your sexist pejorative, if you criticize her in any way that singles her out as a woman--if I hear any of this, I will call you out for the throwback misogynist you are. I have damn well had it.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-15 01:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-15 01:46 am (UTC)Names
Date: 2008-05-15 03:34 pm (UTC)Re: Names
Date: 2008-05-16 01:43 pm (UTC)That's a tricky issue--I'm sure one reason she chose that was to distinguish herself from that other politician named Clinton. And I've seen other campaigns where the literature/swag used the first name, as a kind of signifier of how unstuffy the politico is. That said, when the outside observer is comparing politicians (or anyone really) and consistently uses the first name for one, but the last name for another, it's worth asking if there's an issue of respect, just as if someone talking about Obama referred to him as "boy." I'm a linguist, language should be parsed, it's all significant.