...for anyone who puts this on their car.
Edit:
Well, as I imagined this did elicit quite a response, and no -- nobody's even asked for $50 from me. I suppose I should defend myself, but really -- I about crapped my pants when I saw this and posting this up was a bit knee-jerk.
I should also say that the comment made by me below is a stab at playing devil's advocate. I agree with the assessments of my friends below. Please read them.
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5 comments:
Reading the above bumpersticker, I feel that it’s important to point out that it’s extremely sexist. It’s essentially attacking someone because of their gender and does so using a term that is explicitly meant to degrade women. Consider the word ‘cunt’ for a moment—it is generally perceived as the most offensive, degrading term that can be used to attack women. It is especially sexist in that the word ‘cunt’ imparts its meaning by utilizing a term that describes part of the female body—an organ that is uniquely female (this assumes man/woman gender binaries, which is certainly not how everyone understands gender and identity). Essentially, people who use this word to imply something negative are implying that being a woman, that is, having a vagina, is what is bad, disgusting, etc. In other words, it is like saying “that person is a fucking woman.”
It would be interesting if folks considered how this word has been used recently in the national political landscape. Since there have been two prominent female political figures, each from “different” parties, it is a convenient time to try to understand sexism and how we participate in its maintenance. Both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin have been routinely called “cunts,” “bitches,” and other sexist, misogynistic terms. Check out some of the following links to get an idea of what’s at play here.
Here are just a few links that refer to Hillary Clinton as a “cunt,” etc.
http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2008/01/25/hillary_clinton/
http://blogofhilarity.com/2008/04/01/hillary_clinton_is_a_cunt/
http://wincoast.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44970
http://chauvinisto.mabtw.com/cunt-of-the-year/cunt-of-the-year-hillary-clinton/
http://blog.jeremyandkelly.com/2007/07/definition-of-hillary-clinton-cunt.html
Here are some comments from various websites:
“Hillary, you are a cunt.... Don't show your dirty ass whore face in Wisconsin. We don't want any cunts here.”
“Hillary the cunt Clinton is all dried up.”
“Hillary Clinton is an evil cunt and that’s the bottom line.”
“Definitely a fucking communist/socialist fuckbucket cum eating CUNT!”
And here are a few links that refer to Sarah Palin as a “cunt,” etc.
http://perceptionmanagers.org/2008/09/sarah-palin-is-racistcunt.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hERg4UaPhec (Sarah Palin the dirty little cunt of a whore)
http://www.cafepress.com/palin_is_a_cunt
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=412772011
“That lying cunt Palin…”
“That cunt Palin ripped off taxpayers…”
“watch mccain wince when the stupid bitch says that”
“She may be a bible thumping clown car vagina redneck”
“I want to fuck Sarah Palin in the face. At least that'll put her mouth to some good use, unlike praying.”
“Sarah Palin: stupid fucking cunt bitch!”
There are many more examples that follow the same patterns, some more disgustingly misogynistic than others, but all displaying the same routine sexism that we so often reproduce and support without even thinking about it.
Ill taste, that's for sure. But I'm not sure I completely agree that calling someone a 'cunt' constitutes a sexist remark.
I'm sure I wouldn't be called a sexist if I, or my female roommate, called John McCain a dick. (or a cock)
I'd get looked at pretty funny if I called Sarah Palin a dick. Or if I called John McCain a cunt.
(although the Macquire dictionary of Australian English defines a 'cunt' as "a despicable man".)
The usage of dick and cunt are gender specific--that's it. When I call Rick Santorum a dick, I'm not referring to his incompetence or actions relative to his sex, (or his self assigned gender) it's that I simply think he's an asshole.
The use of gender specific language is not rare. The mechanics of many languages differ depending on whether you talk to (or are) a man or a woman. Icelandic, Arabic, and Portuguese are all examples.
But...when I hear my director tell a fellow engineer, "that was pretty good...for a girl" he was indeed being sexist in a way I CONSIDER more offensive than if he would've called her a cunt. It's the context within his head that he truely sees women as second class.
If McCain's pick would've been Rick Santorum, I would surely have "Santorum is a Dick" on my bumper, and not even the most politically correct scholar would look twice...right?
Also, lets consider context. When I tell someone "fuck you," it's extremely rare that I actually want to strip down and fornicate with them. (the one case where this would happen being the kerfuffle between a man & woman arch enemies breaks down into hot lovemaking) I'm not attacking Sarah for her vagina, it's simply that I find her, "an unpleasant or stupid person" as cunt is defined in the Oxford English dictionary.
If we use Merriam Webster's definition: "a disparaging term for a woman" then we would be using a gender appropriate method for taunting a woman.
If we used MW's other definition "a woman regarded as a sexual object" -- then the bumper sticker brandisher would indeed be sexist. Even if it was on a woman's car--right?
Now, some of the examples below are wildly sexist, others are not.
When they talk about cunt Palin ripping off taxpayers, they're not calling her detestable because she's a woman -- they're referring to her unsavoriness with respect to her tax policies.
Obviously Hillary was attacked for being a woman and it was very evident on those web pages below.
What I find ridiculous is that Palin SUPPORTERS are being sexist and saying that "oh she's hot" and "VPILF"
----
Or is it just sexist for anyone (man or woman) to verbally attack a woman under any circumstance?
Yeah, well she is a Cunt.
Anyone who tries to rationalize and justify something like this, and who thinks that calling someone a cunt and calling someone a dick is essentially the same, truly does not understand power dynamics or how discourse is related to power and control.
It’s much the same as the difference in our society of calling a person a nigger and calling a person a honky, except that it’s patriarchy and not white supremacy that is involved in the power dynamic.
It’s not surprising that privileged people do not often engage something that challenges their worldview—a worldview that is constantly supported and reinforced by the culture around them. That’s just it—we don’t because we very rarely have to. In other words, of course we don’t see it! We are enculturated to accept and identify with the worldview (and the 'master discourse') of our culture. This includes accepting and, by extension, defending patriarchy.
There are reasons that certain names hurt and are so powerfully degrading while others aren’t. In a patriarchal system, it is bad to be a woman, it is less than, it is less powerful. In a culture infused with white supremacy, it is bad, it is less than, it is less powerful to be a person of color.
That is why calling someone a cunt is powerful, while calling someone a dick isn’t. That is why calling someone a nigger is powerful, while calling someone a whitey isn’t.
Think about the bumpersticker and what it might be like if we substituted some words. For example:
Juan is a spic
Jill is a gimp
Hossam is a sand nigger
Frank is a fag
Obama is a nigger
Kin-Ly is a gook
Marci is a whore
I don’t think it takes much extrapolation, even for an able-bodied, straight, white person, to understand at least a little of the power dynamics at work with the above statements. I’ll substitute my own name, now:
Matt is a whitey
Matt is straight
Matt is a dick
Go ahead, try it with your name.
Not very powerful, is it? Doesn’t hurt much, does it? What does that say about power and who controls discourse in our culture?
By challenging someone to put it on his or her car you were alredy acknowledging how much more powerful "cunt" is than "dick." I doubt you would have made the same offer for a "McCain is a dick" sticker--it just wouldn't have the same effect. It wouldn't really have any effect.
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