In keeping with my new-found bipartisanship, I have to admit that I've also found several posts at Echidne of the Snakes with which I agree. I would tell her that, of course, were I not banned from her site and I don't feel like going down to the library and using their computers atm.
First, there's the "Well Worth Reading" post, discussing why so many women--including women like me who wouldn't have voted for Hillary Clinton--were insulted by so many of the barbs hurled at Hillary.
I know that I was hurt when I saw Bill Kristol chuckling so companionably with the other guy pundits inside my television set over the problem that is white women, for example, and it wasn't because Bill was being a Big Meanie. It was because I suddenly realized that the "woman problem" for these guys really is something to guffaw about. Women are hilarious! Though of course not as comedians but as the butt of the jokes.
Remember when Mike Barnicle told us that Hillary Clinton reminds all men of their ex-wives at the probate court? That was funny, too! So many memories of laughing pundits! And that Hillary Nutcracker? And the C.U.N.T. t-shirt? Smart marketing moves and so funny, because you have to think for a second or two before you get that the joke is not really about Hillary but about women.
As a conservative, I was irritated and embarrassed by the obvious sexism of so much that passes for criticism of Hillary Clinton from the Right (and as an ex-wife, I wanted to point out that the reason more women file for divorce than men isn't because they are shrews but because there are problems with the relationship that the couple doesn't want to or can't deal with). And I've stated time and again that you can reasonably discuss disagreeing with Hillary Clinton without resorting to sexism. It just goes to show that sexism is far more acceptable than racism. Imagine if, instead of "Iron my shirt" signs at Hillary's campaign appearances, there had been "Pick my cotton" signs at Barack's rallies. How long would those protesters have lasted and would TV pundits have laughed it off? I think not.
Second, there is the post "F.U. Or: A Short Essay On Fuck You," which discusses the usage of curse words on lefty blogs for political purposes and why those "dirty words" are still largely misogynistic.
The extensive use of foul language also has problems.
One of the worst for me is that so much foul language consists of the liberal use of words "cunt", "bitch" and "slut", whether applied in the original meaning to hate on women or whether used in the new enlightened sense of gender-blind cuntery, bitchiness or sluttery. All your enemies can now be cunts! Even men! This means that we can use those words freely and be all for legal abortions. Yeah.
But the words still drag their old misogynistic messages with them. Nothing can be done about that, you know, and so women reading these blogs get frequent reminders of their ultimate stinkiness. It's unpleasant, like someone's claws continuously scraping at your lower back or your inner arms. Even if you go to the doctor and get told that this condition is nothing to worry about, that "cunt" doesn't mean "you" nowadays, the scraping still goes on.
It's interesting that feminists have tried to embrace this language and use it as an in-your-face way of reversing the meaning of these terms. Unfortunately, no matter how much you tell yourself that drunk bitch could be a term used at a man or a woman, you know inside that it is a swipe at your femaleness as much as a disagreement over politics.
I've noticed this a lot when I argue with liberals. The same people who will tell me I "hate women" or complain about men and misogyny will turn around and call me a gold plated bitch on wheels, thinking, I suppose, that the misogyny at play is justified.
I think the campaign to embrace one's bitch-ness is silly and unproductive. I try not to cuss like a sailor on blogs because, regardless of juvenile arguments to the contrary, it does, in fact, project the image of a vulgar mind and limited vocabulary. Better to find more creative insults, imo.
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