This is something I have been bemoaning for some time, but was recently reinforced by the ignorant, insensitive comments made by Don Imus on his morning show in regard to the Rutgers women's basketball team.
Clearly, his comments are racist. Calling anyone "nappy headed" is ridiculously offensive, and all of us should be outraged that someone who uses such language on national television and radio receives the minimal sanction of a two week suspension.
What is confusing, and somewhat frustrating to me, is that while leaders of the Black community have been interviewed regarding their response to Imus' comments, there has been little conversation about the sexist nature of his comments. Certainly, it is important to hear what the Black community has to say in response, but where are the feminists condeming his actions as being offensive to women??
In my estimation, while his comments were undoubtably racially offensive, his comments about women were equally egregious. When did it become acceptable to refer to women as "hos"? Certainly there are some communities that have deemed that acceptable (certain musical genres, some urban communities) but as a society as a whole, women should be outraged at the use of this slang term. To take a women's sports team and somehow sexualize it, so the women are now whores, should be completely unacceptable to any enlightened society. We must not forget that "ho" is slang for
whore. Where are the women leaders, standing up and calling for Imus to be fired? Where are the women leaders asking for a legitimate apology?
And his reference to the basketball team as whores is not the end of the sexist nature of his comments. In the dialogue leading up to the infamous comment, he talks about the women on the team as being "rough" and "tattooed." I am a huge fan of college basketball, and have seen a lot of ink on male players. I have never once heard any comment made about their body art. Never. Once. So why should it be an issue if the women athletes have tattoos? Why is that an acceptable topic of conversation, when it would never occur to anyone in broadcasting to discuss the tattoos of male players?
This latest outrage is just one example in a disappointing turn in feminism. Why aren't there more women inflamed enough about this situation to speak out? Why have women become reticent to declare their feminism? I'll tell you why - because the consertive right has turned feminism into a four letter word. They have been able to marginalize feminists in such a way that even women who believe in the fundamental priciples of feminist will not refer to themselves in that way. It has become (or really, always been) so acceptable to denigrate women that people have just become desenstized to comments that portray women as lesser beings.
i mourn for the loss of the progress that our fore-mothers have made. Where is the outrage? Where is the indignation?
Where is the passion?
