Amen

I am very thankful that i have not had to be in the US for this entire presidential campaign season (yes, all two years of it).

Here's an article that neatly follows on from an earlier Rebecca Traister piece published on Salon (which you can read here).

Marie Cocco - Misogyny I Won't Miss - washingtonpost.com

(Via The Morning News)

Comments

[Dave]

That article makes for a scary read. Also scary to realise Obama isn't even black. He came out of a white woman. As Christopher Hitchens states, that gives him as much claim to being white as any hick. And that's discounting the fact his skin tone doesn't matter a toss. We live in scary times.

[Judith]

Scary in what way?

[andy]

Dave,
Your statement seems to imply he should WANT to make the claim to be white, or at least not-black. Please tell me I'm wrong.
Personally, I enjoy Obama's own claim to be "the child of a white woman and a black man". Without identification with one group over the other, he embraces his whole heritage.

Maybe not scary, but I will agree that it is sad. Sad that a person's physical identification (woman, black, gender, color, sexual ID...) can still be used to categorize and crudely derogate them. Even when used in a supposed-positive manner, ("a woman president never would have gotten us into this mess of a war") still boxes a person in not by WHO they are but WHAT they are. And that last comment nabs TWO groups -- women and men (read: men make messes out of stuff & fight a lot).

On that note, why is it that misogynistic words (ie. c*nt) are far more offensive than comparable misandric words, (d**k, pr**k, c**k, c**k-sucker...)? They both carry the same meaning and a parallel reference to genitalia as the identifying negative characteristic, but one group seems worse than the other in common use.

I've never used so many asterisks before in my life.

[Dave]

No, I meant it as a counter to racists. Although, he should definitely not be considered black. He isn't. I see Obama as a strong candidate, I want him to be the next president.

[Dave]

Judy - Scary to consider his skin is even a matter of debate. Comment on his colour, positive or negative, seems equally racist. It's a shame US politics is so rooted with the archetypal white male it distracts from the real issues. The fact Hillary is female and Obama of mixed heritage, to me, is irrelivant. Yet I've more of an opinion on that than his plans for the economy or Iraq.