Generating controversy ...
I don't usually talk about newsworthy topics. I'm what's known as a 'personal' blogger, or at least I have been since shortly after 9/11, when the news overwhelmed me personally and I chose to step out. Also, I find it usually takes me so long to write a blog post that, by the time I'm done, half the blogosphere and their mothers have already written about it.
It is with this in mind that I just wanted to toss in my $.02 about something that has been clogging the tubes for the past few days.
You may not know (or respect) this about me, but I have always been a fan of Don Imus. As "shock jocks" go, I have always preferred his humor to that of Howard Stern. Not that I don't respect Stern, I just don't like the overall sexual denigrating tone of his show, the people he surrounds himself with, or what he and his crew will stoop to for ratings. That the man has impeccable instincts is undeniable, I just don't respect him for much more than that.
Don Imus, on the other hand, has earned my respect for many reasons. He has improved himself, as a human, immensely since his heavy drinking years, and is not ashamed to come out and say "Look, I was an idiot and I still struggle every day with it." when talking about his former habits.
His show consistently has authors/newsmakers/politicians that I am interested in and they all speak their mind when they are with the I-man. If they spout bullshit, he calls them on it, but he gives them all an equal chance to make fools of themselves, rather than setting them up for juvenile pranks and ambush-style ridicule.
He also is a family man and a philanthropist, doing what he can to share his wealth and do some good with his ranch for kids with cancer. His intentions there are so noble and he is so involved with each and every kid ... I'm not sure I could set myself up for that kind of emotional pain.
Now, the people he has working for him are not always my favorites but, for the most part, they have failed to piss me off so much that I would not listen to the man anymore. Imus' comments came from nowhere but his own mouth, which he has totally admitted, but I would think that the comments of his producer, Bernard McGuirk, calling the Rutgers girls "ho's" in the first place, should be as loudly vilified as the addition of "nappy-headed". Is it just me? Is it ok to call young, athletic women ho's but not ok to call anyone nappy-headed? Am I missing something?
Where is the outcry by women's groups? Is it because women are continually portrayed as "bitches and hos" that we are numb to it but something as insignificant as the texture of hair is a reason to go ballistic?
Don't get me wrong , I think the entire exchange went way too far but I do know after watching/listening to Imus for almost 10 years, McGuirk is BY FAR more denigrating than Mr. Imus, ridiculing everyone in the Catholic church (from the pope to bishops to priests) to Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, and anyone else that gets in his way. He usually does have Imus there to save his ass, though.
This time, it seems to me that McGuirk has gotten his boss into more hot water than normal and is willing to calmly toast marshmallows over the pyre as his gravytrain gets burned in effigy.
As an aside, I have a book in my library, "Happy to be nappy" by Bell Hooks that has caused a few raised eyebrows. It is a gorgeous, poetic book, as full of joy and acceptance of individuality as anything that I have ever read. This recent furor has made me wonder ... is it ok to have that book in my library? Will nappy become the new N word, one that white people are forbidden to utter?
Sad state of affairs when someone like Joseph Francis gets rich by exploiting hundreds of drunk young women while someone like Don Imus faces a firing squad for a (however crude) joke. Is it a race thing? No, really, I'm just wondering, because I don't get it.
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Well, I don't like listening to radio all that damn much, but I do have some opinions on the subject.
Shock jocks like Howard Stern are just low brow entertainment that will do all sorts of shit that uses sex and stereotypes to get ratings. Throwing lunch meat at a stripper's wet ass (yes they freakin' have!) I find lacking in genuine entertainment value. For god sake, if you're going to do something sexual then try something different.
Anyways, about this Don Imus thing. Never listen to him, but I don't get is how people are making such an unbelievable fuss about it. Not talking about the sexism thing, but the race thing. When it comes to racial slurs, a lot seems in favor of minorities. Like why is it called "the N word" with the racial slurs for white people aren't called the "H word" or "C word"? Is the "N word" that much worse than every other slur that it's become practically a sin to say the full thing while others aren't as bad? Then there is the freedom of usage for racial terms. Comedian Michael Richards says the N word and everybody is in a state of shock and shitting their pants. What he did was completely wrong and I straight up agree, but then again on the other hand you have Chris Rock who gets up on stage and uses words like honky and cracker repeatedly, even once like 5 times in once sentence and to tell you the truth practically noone bats an eyelash. I don't get it. No matter if African-Americans (who I feel sorry for) in this country are more oppressed or not, wrong is just plain wrong no matter what skin color you are and ALL of them should be considered wrong if even so much as only a couple at first are.
Anyways, I myself actually look down upon the idea of sexist terms being used. I refuse to use most of them myself in a lot of circumstances, with the exception of "bitch" which I do want to use if I find a woman who I think is particularly mean and nasty and trying to jump down another person's throat with their beliefs.
But I do see your point at your closing there. One person does something small and everybody shits themselves, then someone does something many times as bad and nobody speaks up enough.
BTW, Joseph Francis isn't necessarily getting off easy. He's currently in jail for filming underage girls (who themselves shouldn't be flashing their assets at older men like that to begin with) and getting in even bigger trouble for trying to bribe a guard for some bottled water and for sleeping pills he had hidden in his cell.
Hi Kiddo, You know, when I read this post, I'd not yet heard about the incident. So, after reading and listening to all that I could find for a few days, I don't get it either. I didn't watch the game and if you hear only the sound- bite you have to wonder about the 'context?'. Not that it should be dismissed by a focal shift, if it even could. Mr. Imis doesn't try to qualify or quantify his remarks in any way other than to justify his right to make them. I must admit to having a deja`vu experience or maybe there's some truth to the 'history repeats itself' notion. If you remember Howard Cosell's slip'o'th'tongue, you'll understand. Same scenario, same racial overtones and much the same outcome. But all the same I'm with you and the not gettin' it. Larry