Dumb Cunt

I wasn’t going to write about the Oscars because I didn’t watch. I did however read all about it afterwards because I’m a little in love with Jennifer Lawrence. I listened to Seth MacFarlane’s “Boobs” song, which highlighted no less than four scenes of sexual assaults. I read about the Quvenzhane Wallis and George Clooney pedophilia joke, and of course The Onion. That last one is what I’m going to talk about.

The title of this post is probably the most offensive thing to call someone, specifically a woman, without employing racial or homophobic language. You see I engaged a staffer for Current TV on twitter yesterday about The Onion’s stupid remarks calling Ms. Wallis a cunt. This guy thinks The Onion shouldn’t have removed the tweet. His argument for this is because avoiding a word increases the power of the word, and this word shouldn’t have any power. This is an argument stemming from privilege. I explained I disagreed and pointed to the ‘n’ word as an example because he obviously wasn’t arguing for people to use that word. Although, he didn’t address that aspect of my tweet. Instead he choose to point out men are called dicks all the time to my assertion that the word cunt reduces women to their reproductive organs.

Now, I should mention, I’m a fan of this specific Current TV staffer. I think he’s hella funny most of the time, which is why I engaged in the first place I kind of expected better from him (which is rooted in nothing just that I think he's funny and hoped). However, this counterargument made me think of one thing: some white guys don’t know anything about recognizing their own privilege. Some do, and they should engage the others, but I was pretty shocked that someone could lack such self-awareness. And after a response to his response I decided to bow out because clearly we’re not going to get anywhere. I replied noting the intentions behind the words dick and cunt are very different and there is a power dynamic at play. Specifically, reducing women to their sexual reproduction is a way to silence and disregard women.

Yes, men are called dicks, but having a dick is a benefit in our society. Men have power over women (and all other gender presentations); the penis is the standard by which we measure in this society. Now, that isn’t his fault, but to tell me that we need to take back the word cunt is a bit condescending, but that isn’t what he was saying either. Well actually it was, but I don't think he meant it that way. It was implied in his previous tweets that avoiding the word gives it power so we should use it and take ownership of it. He was saying that the words dick and cunt are the same. Well, they aren’t. Calling a woman a cunt and reducing her to her reproductive organs is a really effective way of rendering women silent and powerless. Because in societies where women are only a means for sexual reproduction, this is exactly what happens. So riddle me this, when are men reduced to their sexual reproduction?

On top of all this Ms. Wallis is also a young woman of color. I really doubt The Onion’s tweet lacked any racial components after being retweeted and favorite more than 900 times.

Now, I didn’t read the entire twitter feed of the Current TV staffer. I did eventually scroll up and see his original point was that The Onion shouldn’t have removed the tweet. Of course then he explained that using his argument from above. I disagree with his argument. However, I would be fine if The Onion never removed the tweet because everyone has the right to free speech. That said, everyone has the right to free speech and then they must accept the consequences for that right. My suspicion is that is exactly what happened here. One Onion staff member made the stupid tweet and was told to remove it by their boss (or somewhere up the chain) and then an apology was issued. Not because of censorship or because the ACLU or NAACP were going to file a lawsuit, but because their audience was angry, and that is how the world works.

I also reject any notion of irony here because we live in a racist and sexist society. The tweeter's intention may have been to draw attention to how ridiculous it is to call a young girl a cunt or any women, but that is lost in a society that responds with racism and "Anne Hathaway is the real cunt."

The Children of "Born into Brothels"

I read today that the children in the film Born into Brothels all didn't get happy endings. One of the girls in particular who went to the Oscars four years ago has been pulled into the sex trade. It is as if the documentary made no difference expect giving her hope only to have it pulled away.

Preeti Mukherjee works the red light district where the documentary was filmed. She began working one year after experiencing the Oscars. Other children in the documentary were delivered from this lifestyle, but Preeti's mother insisted she stay with her. Preeti now supports her mother by prostituting herself.

I get angry with the mother and the industry which would profit from these children, but not do enough to help them.