Anyone out there willing to take that bullet?
Seems Courtney and her other dried-up feminists are all up in arms over Bill O'Reilly's little joke about that witch Helen Thomas sounding like...well...a witch.
Yeah, the joke wasn't exactly a side-splitter. But that's what it was...a joke.
But angry feminists don't have a sense of humor. Look at "tough" Courtney taking on O'Reilly:
O'Reilly calls Courtney Martin "brave" for her appearance on the factor. Well...he's being nice. "Humorless" "Hypocrite" and "Moonbat" are far more accurate descriptions of Mz. Martin.
BTW, I scoured Google for Mz. Martin's assertion that she has "defended" Sarah Palin in the past. These are the sum total of her defense of Palin.
One was an attack on McCain for talking about Palin in endearing terms. Another was an attack on O'Reilly for making a joke about the stupid media blitz on Palin's wardrobe.
That's it. Not a single criticism of Saturday Night Live for their parodies of Palin, not a single criticism of the media for questioning whether Palin could...or should...run for VP when she has a family, not a single word of praise for a woman who feminists SHOULD be proud of.
Except unlike Mz. Martin, Sarah Palin has actually accomplished something in her life...unlike Mz. Martin, Sarah Palin actually has a sense of humor...and unlike Mz. Martin, Sarah Palin actually "gets some" on a regular basis.
Update: My bad. Mz. Martin has written a book. Credit where credit is due, and all that.
She still needs to lighten up.
11 comments:
Such incredible BS AND double speak!!!
Nigel, this is just one of 4.9 million reasons why I loathe most Liberals. The crazy, pompous ones are more focused on hating Conservatives then pushing policy. Carville and Clinton turned the once rather noble and decent party into one that consists of finger pointers and whiners.
I do so pity their myopia.
LK
Hmmm ... so Ms. Martin DID criticize sexist attacks on Governor Palin! But she just didn't do it the way YOU wanted her to.
And why WOULD a feminist criticize the SNL portrayal of Governor Palin or the public questioning of her qualifications? There was nothing sexist about either of those things. There is nothing wrong with making fun of a female public figure for her policies or her lack of competence. And, I'm sorry, Palin may be brillian, but she sure didn't sound it in the campaign. It is not sexist for me to think she is dumb.
It becomes sexist when you make fun of a woman for a female attribute -- like an old-lady voice.
For that reason, I am with you that it was totally sexist to say that the mother of a young child shouldn't hold high political office. Plenty of feminists spoke out about that. But the conservatives seemed too concerned about that sort of thing until Gov. Palin came along. There has certainly been hypocrisy related to this issue, but not by the feminists.
-- Feminist
Feminist,
No, Martin did not criticize ANY "attacks" on Palin.
McCain's comment was simply meant as endearment, he wasn't "attacking" his own running mate.
O'Reilly had made a joke about Palin's wardrobe...which anyone who followed politics last fall can tell you was actually a rip at the media who was more obsessed with Palin's new wardrobe than the substance of the issues.
In neither case was Palin "attacked".
And neither was Helen Thomas. Let's face it...empirically she looks like a witch and sounds like a witch. O'Reilly made a JOKE about that.
But Martin has selective angry indignation. She gets worked up over a few off-handed comments, but has nothing to say when a true feminine (note...I said "feminine, not "femininst") hero gets savaged in the media and by feminists claim Palin is not to be admired despite juggling family and and challenging career (even if she disagreed with her political views).
I agree with you...there was nothing wrong with SNL parodying Palin. Though they do it unevenly, they DO parody all political figures and frankly, I found Tina Fey's portrayal of her hilarious.
But that's my point. If you would be so angry about an off-handed slight of Helen Thomas, why not be seriously indignant about the horrible treatment of Palin in the media?
I am not a fan of O'Reilly, and I thought it was terribly petty of him, and beneath him as a "professional" to compare Helen Thomas to a witch. How her voice sounds should be besides the point when critiquing her politics. What SNL does is different entirely. First of all, SNL is centered around comedy, and part of comedy is parodizing the mannerisms as well as the actions of politicians. However, Bill O'Reilly is definitely not a comedian. SNL never likened Sarah Palin to a negative visual entity, only imitated her. That was not sexist.
I couldn't help but notice Bill's recurring habit of practically shouting down his opponents when they try to defend themselves. The clip didn't play out to the end, but it seemed that he was pretty much bent on having the last word, no matter how loudly he had to shout over Ms. Martin.
You would be surprised at the number of feminists who defended Palin against sexism, by the way. Courtney Martin is a writer for a blog called Feministing, which, if one reviews the archives from the election, will find several posts, mainly titled "Sarah Palin Sexism Watch", where sexist attacks against Palin were addressed and criticized.
Also, it's terribly rude to insinuate that Courtney Martin "needs to get laid", and that feminists are "dried up". It's immature and diminishing to women fighting for equal rights. Grow up and find better way to attack people you disagree with, instead of using elementary insults.
-Hannah
Nigel,
But I don't think it is relevant whether Courtney Martin's posts calling out sexism against Palin were well-thought out. (I would even agree with you that her post on O'Reilly's comment about Palin was off-the-mark. Plenty of her feminist readers pointed out the same thing in comments to that post.)
But the issue isn't whether Courtney's Palin posts were well-thought out. The issue is whether she hypocritically failed to note sexism against Palin. The record shows that she in fact DID criticize what she perceived as sexism against Palin. So she is absolved on the charge of hypocrisy.
I read a lot of feminist blogs, and I would note that feminist bloggers were quite good about calling out anti-Palin feminism. Shakespeare's Sister had a 25 part series calling out sexism targeting Palin:
http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/10/sarah-palin-sexism-watch-25.html
(The bottom of the link contains links to the first 24 parts.)
So this idea that feminists are hypocritical on this issue is just wrong. (I also see feminists regularly criticizing misogynist commentary regarding other conservative, unfeminist women like Anne Coulter.) The real hypocrites are the conservatives who never gave two shits about sexism before and then adopted faux-outrage about it on behalf of Sarah Palin.
-- Feminist
Of course, Helen Thomas looks and sounds like a witch. The whole witch stereotype (hunched physique, squinty eyes, scratchy voice) is based on what old women look and sound like! I think that fact is part of Courtney's point.
But the real issue is that people should not be mocked or shamed for their physical attributes on a national news program. In fact, that goes for anyone, but women tend to be slammed for their appearance (and fuckability or lack thereof) far, far, far more often than men.
You did it here with Courtney Martin -- I suspect in an effort to be outrageous. The insult is two-fold. The slam on the woman's appearance isn't even the main point. The main point of the insult is the idea that her appearance and whether you would do her is more important than the substance of what she has to say.
I think most feminists find it funny (in a laughing at you kind of way) when an obscure blogger tries this tactic. But some of us are old enough to remember when this kind of insult, made publicly by a well-respected man, had the power to discredit a woman in the eye of colleagues, clients, the public, etc. It's not the end of the world when a horse's ass like O'Reilly makes a stupid comment in this day and age -- but it is always worth pointing out why that kind of comment is wrong and inappropriate.
-- Feminist
Hannah,
I am familiar with Courtney Martin and her writings. And while I certainly do not lurk there, I am familiar with "F-isting"...
Let's be intellectually honest here. "F-isting" didn't really support Sarah Palin from a feminism standpoint...they spent much more time attacking her for her stance on abortion and family values. Example:
http://www.feministing.com/archives/010705.html
So please do not try to posit that "f-isting" championed Sarah Palin. That site repeatedly claimed Palin was a pawn of the Republican party while giving her next to NO credit for her achievements.
As a purported feminist, you should be what feminists spend the majority of their lives being: outraged.
To your point about O'Reilly...yeah, he's not a comedian. Still...why the outrage? Why the indignation?
Hannah, nobody invited you to this site. Were you looking for MATURE political discourse? You're in the wrong place. This site is mostly SNARK, and you fell right into the trap.
If what I write diminishes the fight for women's rights...then that fight is pretty weak.
Nigel,
Feministing had 10 post exclusively dedicated to the "Palin Sexism Watch." While this was far less than Shakesville (another feminist blog) had, you must understand that they had fewer post at all during that time and there was other news to cover.
Courtney wrote 2 of the "Sexism Watch" pieces for Feministing...
And, you know what - it's much more of a substantive foundation to argue the finer points of a potential VP's politics than just to cover sexist attacks on said VP.
Mind you, Feministing also had more pieces about Clinton's politics (both critical and supportive) than it did about sexist attacks on her.
Oh, and, yeah, I don't think Anonymous or Feminist really care who YOU do or don't absolve. Just that there's a pinch of truth shoved in the midst of your hateful claptrap. And it kind of seems to undermine any point you may have had to make unfounded personal attacks on Martin while trying to make said point. Also, yeah... you're right... what you have to say has little to no impact on a national or international discourse about women's issues or anything else for that matter.
Oh, and before you say something about, I don't care whether you care or not... But, if you do care to try to make a point in future - or if you wish to have some of kind of integrity in your writing, consider this another feminist trying to help you out.
Be well!
Puck...my gosh...please take a Jr. College English composition course so I can understand what you are trying to say.
Let me spell this out for you Feminazis...L-I-G-H-T-E-N U-P.
That is the entire point of the post...and you three helped me make my point by taking all of this too seriously.
It's OK to make fun of Helen Thomas for looking and sounding like a witch.
It's OK to make fun of "dried-up" humorless Feminazis because y'all rarely smile and spend your lives in a constant state of indignation.
(Anecdotal evidence? Watch the video again)
Thanks for visiting. Now run along to your abortion rally...
In my opinion Courtney Martin's called "defense of Sarah Palin" was not so much a defense of Palin as it was her chance to critize O'Reilly.
As a women I was embarrassed by her statements on OReilly. I was also offended by Helen Thomas statement of "so called terrorist".
I too think a lot of these so called women's group are over the top and need to lighten up . . . but that's just me. I find life is hard work but also a heck of a lot of fun !
Teresa
"Anyone out there willing to take that bullet?"
I would ask if I could have a roll of duct tape before answering 'maybe' (hey, I'm having a serious 'dry spell' here, heh)- but I fear the point may be moot. I think I might just be the wrong sex for her. There are some things that I'll refuse to do, dry spell or not !
Also, I note the rash of 'Anonymous' attack comments on several conservative blogs as of late, and I'd be amused, if it weren't for the whole "Fairness Doctrine" thing. By golly, these people really think that because The Lightworker suckered enough of the people, reason and logic will just be suspended in favor of emotion and hysterics.(THERE'S a sexist reference for you humorless feminist douchebags...keep looking) To my mind, it's the intellectual equivalent of busing school kids across town in the name of enforced racial diversity. To liberals, it doesn't matter that nobody on EITHER side wants it, it MUST be done to foster some fuzzy dream. First, enforce physical associations based on race, and now, ideological associations based on your opinions and ideas. To them, every ideology is equally valid whether it actually works in the real world, or whether it's so crammed with FAIL that it needs a massive effort from elitist American leftist crybabies to prop it up.
For now, at least, the lefties still seem to be afraid to post their screen names. I figure Oboyma's cyber-truth squads will embolden them.
As always, rock on, Nigel.
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