My least favorite piece of misogyny this week is a poll referencing the death of feminism, and Rush Limbaugh. A poll in the right-wing Washington Times said that only 28% of Americans label themselves feminists. That implies that the other 72% label themselves as idiots and jerkhead, labels applied using Gloria Stienem’s tears as the adhesive. I don’t understand how you can not call yourself a feminist because to me feminism is the idea that women deserve equal rights, the right to not feel objectified, the right to equal treatment, and the right to wear nightmare bunny suits whenever they want.
In response to this new poll, conservative radio talk show villian Rush Limbaugh said that he wants to take credit for the death of feminism. I bet if Feminism could talk it would be like, “Right back atcha!”
Limbaugh said on May 2 that for the last 28 years he has been “warning about [militant left wing feminism]. It is I, El Rushbo, and it might be said that I have succeeded in stigmatizing it.” First of all, don’t give yourself a nickname that would be too dumb for a fraternity hazing sweaty bro sadness party. Second of all, Rush Limbaugh isn’t stigmatizing anything. The people who listen to his show already agree with him on everything. Including how to part your hair to hide the demon horns.
What kind of horrible human being wants to take credit for growing disinterest in civil rights movements? “Oh, the subjugation of a group of people is no longer maddening? The world is becoming less kind? I did this. All me. High five!” What kind of person would celebrate that? The kind of person that shouldn’t have time to broadcast a radio show because they’re too busy plotting to destroy Spider-Man?
Anyway. You don’t have to be a bra burning, man hating, estrogen-bath taking amazon to be a feminist. Be a good decent person. Feminism, the belief that everyone deserves equality, isn’t dead. And if it were, I think it would haunt the fuck out of Rush Limbaugh. This has been my least favorite piece of misogyny this week. Tune in next week to find out if the polyjuice potion will fade or if our glamourus heroine is stuck this way!
Okay, but what was your MOST favorite piece of misogyny this week?
Rush Limbaugh is the kind of dickhead that’s been married four times without children but called Sandra Fluke a slut for wanting birth control.
He’s a worthless piece of shit and people should stop listening to him or acknowledging his existence.
As for feminism, the word itself is viewed far less favorably than the ideas, because the word always conjures images of either everyone’s burnt-out 55-year-old hippy aunt, or the kind of person you think of when you hear “militant lesbian”, i.e. Demi Moore in G.I. Jane. That’s mostly the success of wastes of excess flesh like Rush that complain about “political correctness” every time someone tells them to stop being a bigoted asshole.
But you’re not going to stop them, because they revel in building caricatures of people for the purpose of demonizing them. If you disagree, they just lump you in with the rest and use it as justification that they are the victims, under attack by a world that doesn’t want them to succeed.
Short story: fuck that guy, he’s sucked for forever.
And yet you write a blog post validating his shock value routine.
IF you took a poll on how many Americans support equality of women you’d get a majority. If you took a poll on the superiority of women you might get a majority. But feminist as a word is usually tied up in young white college women shrieking about oppression and trying to impress everyone with their pronunciation of “Latina.”
I wish more feminists were man hating. Usually they seem to be focusing on princess costumes and dieting.
I think I read in a Bust interview that PJ Harvey doesn’t consider herself a feminist. And she fucking rocks too.
How does this fit into your intrepretation of feminism, and its’ failures then?
Once upon a time in the early seventies, there was a movement known as Women’s Liberation. This movement had legitimate concerns involved in equality ie. equal pay and opportunity. I was all for it and much of it was resolved through legislation.
But that wasn’t good enough for some. It was time now for more control over the reproductive cycle ie. Roe vs. Wade. That was resolved too. But once again, still not good enough. Then laws and regulations abound were coming out of the woodwork on how to look and talk to a woman to where most men were walking on eggshells. It almost got to the point that if you made a compliment on a woman’s appearance, you’d get slapped. No kidding!
I think what Limberger is saying is that women are becoming more embracing to their sexuality instead of rejecting it. Feminism is not totally dead, it never will be. Just that women are going more along with nature than resisting it.
“It was time now for more control over the reproductive cycle ie. Roe vs. Wade. That was resolved too.”
LOLOLOLOLOL