Barack Obama Will Surrender to Mexico!

Or so says the ever-growing anti-Obama lunatics. Apparently it's not enough anymore to claim that you disagree with someone. For instance, I am not showing proper involvement in the political process by saying something like, "I can not support John McCain for president. While there are many reasons for this, chief among them are his stated inclination to continue American aggression in the Middle East, his unwillingness to address serious economic concerns, and a belief that the Supreme Court should not be shifted any further to the right." Instead, I need to up the ante to be competitive. For instance, I could say, "John McCain is a secret bastard grandchild of Adolph Hitler, bent on carrying out his grandsire's plan for world domination. He drinks the blood of non-Christians to maintain his vigor, and plans to force all young Americans to spend two years as prisoners in a POW camp to 'build character'." Isn't that better? Isn't that good, rational politics?

Anyway, here's the video clip that came through my e-mail with a lot of bluster attached.



The general message attached to this video was, "See? Obama is a Muslim, because he wants your children to learn Spanish, and Spain was once a Muslim country! And it means he thinks all Americans should speak Spanish instead of English! English is the language of the World, but not once Obama becomes president!" There is no apparent recognition of the irony involved, as Obama's more general point about American education is underscored by the proud display, intentional or otherwise, of poor aural comprehension.

The worst part about this is that such bullshit is always perpetuated by exactly the people who stand to gain the most through educational improvement. There is no doubt that education is a mark of class in this country. The wealthiest send their children to private schools, where their children will learn Latin and at least one other language. The upper-middle class send their children to well-funded public schools where numerous language classes are available, some starting as early as third grade. Knowing a foreign language in America is a class marker; like foreign travel and an understanding of world history, the wealthiest Americans instill it in their children while underhanded nationalistic marketing targeted to the middle and lower classes convinces them that such endeavors are useless and unamerican. Anyone who thinks that America is a classless society has been fooled into thinking so by those who want to maintain their position.

Parsing the "C Word"

I talked about my issues with the word cunt recently, and my problems with the notion of the word being reclaimed.

Amy has, as usual, nailed this one.

I defer to her rhetorical might.

I'm Complaining, Not Bitching

I suppose the title of this entry is going to get me in trouble, but then, this whole post is likely to evoke trouble from people I deeply respect, so I might as well get right to it. What I'm trying to say is that I don't use the word 'bitching' in that context, because I'm aware that it carries with it misogynist undertones. 'Complaining' works just as well, so I use it instead.

Melissa over at Shakespeare's Sister wrote a piece about misogynist language that is, at very least, worth reading. A glimpse at my sidebar will make evident that I enjoy Melissa's blog and respect her work, as well as that of the other contributors to the site. The above-mentioned essay is no exception; it is well-written and persuasive.

I can not help, however, but to take some exception to parts of it. I realize this may get me stoned by any of Melissa's fervent fans who manage to find this entry... the comment thread is a warning sign to any who would question the piece, where poor behavior by critics is met with stunningly worse behavior by supporters. In fact, I'm blogging about it here because the environment on that comments log simply got too hostile for me to speak comfortably. Besides, I didn't want to monopolize a comment thread.

I am brutally clipping the article, which should be read in whole, but I've stammered on too long already.

Regarding the word 'cunt':

2. I use it. My using the word cunt to describe myself and a man using it to describe another man are fundamentally different contexts. To pretend that this difference is not patently fucking obvious is what August calls a fabricated belief. No one with two brain cells still knocking together honestly believes that white people using the n-word as an insult and black people using it for any reason are equivalent, nor that a gay man describing himself as a faggot is the same as Ann Coulter describing John Edwards as a faggot. And no one should have the slightest bit of trouble wrapping their heads around the idea that my (or other women) reclaiming the word cunt (or bitch, or other sexist euphemisms) to describe ourselves is not the same as a man using it as an insult.

I love the word cunt, and I'm all for reclaiming it—but reclaiming "cunt" is about a woman wearing it herself and wielding it ironically, which is necessarily as a compliment, not an insult. If I call my girlfriend "a beautiful cunt" for expertly handling a sexist wanker, that's got reappropriative power. If I call her "a dumb cunt" because she does something foolish, not so much.

Later in the piece:

I self-censor all the time. I'm not exactly proud to admit this, but it's not like the phrase "Bush is a fuckin' retard" has never entered my mind. But I don't use the slur—not because I'm oh-so-scared that the "PC police" will come after me, but because it's not a nice term. That's reason enough.

Here's where I have trouble. I do not use the word 'cunt' in context. I honestly have trouble using the word 'cunt' even in this descriptive manner. You don't have to convince me not to use the word 'cunt'. But if you want me to respect your wishes not to use the word, please have the courtesy to refrain from using it yourself.

I know that it doesn't mean the same thing coming from me that it does coming from you. Honestly, I understand that. But there's a place for mutual respect here. I am a male. I am not the patriarchy. I am on your side. Really. But if you get to have a 'secret handshake' involving a word you are allowed to use but I can't, it makes it harder for me to feel like part of your movement. You're turning me into the outsider... someone who isn't allowed to use the word the rest of you are. That I don't want to use the word is not the issue. The word is being held over me, almost like a threat. Do I feel oppressed by feminism? No, but I do feel excluded from it, and that doesn't do anyone any good.

The word 'cunt' is not nice, and Melissa is right, that's reason enough not to use it. I won't use it, even if I feel justified in a particular situation, which I think is what Melissa is asking of me. But the request would carry more weight if she would abide by it as well.