Oh yeahh, totally seeing the "satire".... :/
So some idiot who thinks he’s the smartest and most edumacated person (re: white male) in the world says this.
Satire? Really? Where, exactly? There is no frame of reference, no juxtaposed image of, say, racist sexist wife-beating McCain* to make this a satire. Must everything that’s straight up offensive, racist, and misogynist be labeled “satire” by privileged white males who never suffer the effects or consequences of these horrid images and stereotypes?
What you’ve got here is basically a pin up poster for tons of racist and sexist bigots and conservatives here in this country. I am no genious, but I am certainly not among “the basest” of American society. Oh, I GET this poster: it’s racist, sexist BS.
People like me, ya know, angry good-for-nothin’ sandnigger raghead camel jockeys, are the ones who suffer directly from the perpetuation of this racist bullshit. With the prevalence of racist and Islamophobic stereotyping, abuse, and hate crimes in this country, how can a cover like this on The New Yorker be anything but offensive, downright irresponsible, and a slap in the face to African Americans, Muslims, and peoples of Middle Eastern descent? White male liberals like the author of the above-mentioned article (Knowles) can bask in their self-righteous glory, unharmed by the effects of these racist images, all the while believing that they are incapable of racism and bigotry, and that only the “basest” (I guess Knowles is referring vaguely to working-class/formerly-uneducated white people :/ ) among Americans wouldn’t be “in on the joke.”
Screw you, and your arrogant white male writing, Knowles.
Something else important: anyone notice too the light brown highlights in Michelle Obama’s afro? Allusion to Angela Davis, much? For those of you not as familiar with African American/women’s herstory, Davis has been an outspoken activist and writer against sexism, racism, classism, and the prison establishment for years now. She was, and still is, considered such a threat to governmental white male hegemony that she was thrown in prison years ago based on false charges of intent to murder the President. Oh, and to add insult to injury, observe the portrait of Osama Bin Laden (or is that the Ayatollah?) above an American flag burning in the fireplace. Looks like white Americans are scared of what might happen to the White House should Black and/or mixed race folk run it. If Blackness or Browness is the downfall of American government and society, one must wonder what many (white) Americans think America stands for….
*McCain has made jokes about beating his wife and lots of other wretched stuff, so his being depicted as a wife-beating bigot is not a stereotype so much as very likely.
P.S.: This is my first blog post ever. How do I create links? I tried the whole < and href thing and it didn’t work. If you have any solutions to this problem, let me know. Thanks!
I’m commenting here because I wanna see what my avatar looks like! And ’cause I’m a dork
hehe…
Hmm, do any of you see my avatar? All I am seeing is an empty box with a question mark….
For links, when you are editing the post in visual mode, highlight the word “this” and click on the little link icon in the tool bar, then past the URL into the window that pops up.
The New Yorker is a fucking abomination. I’ve written a little about this, but I absolutely hate the northeastern literary establishment magazines. They’re nothing but bastions of misogynistic, racist elitism posing as conclaves of progressive intellectuals. They all love Philip Roth.
If you want to use HTML, there should be a tab at the top of your post editor to switch to HTML mode. Glad to see the new blog, by the way.
You have a blog!!! I’m so happy I could cry.
Total agreement on this post. Another feminist has a post up defending this as satire, but I didn’t see it, and I think her arguments were really reaching. I think it is what you say, despite whatever the article says (supposedly critiquing the right-wing attacks on the Obamas for being “radical communists” or something). I’ve never really gotten the New Yorker at all, though sometimes the cartoons are funny.
The method NIne Deuce recommends for making links only works in the “Compose” edit mode (see the tabs at the upper right corner of the box where you enter your post)? If you want to use HTML code, you have to be in HTML edit mode (click the HTML tab). If you still can’t figure it out, email me.
I’m very excited about your blog, Lara, looking good already!
xxx
Hello, glad to see you have a blog, I already like the place.
Ahhh and you got the word feminazi in your title as well, I’m so envious. The wordpress stuff is quite easy to use, I’d stick to the visual if I were you, though the HTML is quite easy if something you do goes wrong.
No of course this isn’t satire. Satire is comic exaggeration that points up the ludicrousness of something. Since this probably is what the average racist bigot thinks, and is just going to confirm their beliefs it ain’t satire. What is wrong with these people?
The Angela Davis/Black Panther Party connection was my first reaction too.
Fear mongering is still fear mongering, even when you call it satire.
I look forward to reading your blog.
Thanks for all the comments folks! Amy and Anji, thanks for the technical advice, the links worked
And in regards to The New Yorker, I’ve never really read any of their articles, but I have seen quite a few misogynist and racist drawings placed on their covers and in their pages in the past.
It’s nice to see too that folks at michelleobamawatch agree with me too.
Yes, Polly, while I am disgusted by the intent and origin of the term “feminazi” I think the way I used it here (very tongue-in-cheek) would work in my evol plan, hehe…..
Ohh, more New Yorker covers:
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/images/Kunz-New-Yorker-Subway.jpg
http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/eustace-tilley-r-crumb.jpg
As if only grubby, working-class guys are into porn and adult video… pfsh. The second cartoon is just made to let middle-upper class males off the hook yet again.
And the first cartoon? Don’t even get me started on that shit…
Hi Lara, I came here via Buried Alive, hope that’s okay. It’s awesome that you’ve started a blog!
Of course that’s okay Dissenter, I am pleased you came to visit and comment
Please stop by again!
Congratulations on your new blog Lara! May it grow and prosper!!!
I personally didn’t care much for the picture in the New Yorker because I know that’s exactly what they were looking for. They probably got together and went “Right, how do we create the most outrage possible?”. It’s a pathetic attempt at getting cheap publicity. The only reason why they can get away with this is probably because there’s no “too far” in US laws.
You’re right Mary Tracy. White male liberals love shocking for the sake of, well, shocking. They love bringing attention to themselves, creating an uproar, all the while reprimanding the public as “knuckle-draggers” or as “the basest among us” for reacting to their offensive “art” drivel. They are arrogant , self-absorbed, and elitist (and I am not keen on people throwing around the term “elitist,” so I really mean it, in the full sense of the word).
Very definitely see the Angela Davis connection there. Fricking despicable is all I have to say.
I’m so excited that you have a blog. Dissenter and I have often talked about how awesome you are and how it sucked that you didn’t have one.
So yay.
Not that not having a blog makes a feminist less awesome. Just that we both wanted to read more of your writing.
I think you should include a cheezy snax reference as well Lara, if you really want to be one of the kewl kids…
Thanks allecto
Hah, cheesy snax reference: Goldfish suck. I’ve always hated them since I was a kid.
Congratulatons on your blog, it is wonderful. It is so good to see you are up and running with such a strong first post, Rebecca.
I will be reading, too, Lara! I can see from the previous comments that you’ll have “all the best minds” here (and I don’t mean that phrase the way the “phallosophers”–ht to allecto–mean it!).
‘Bout time you organized the brilliance.
Welcome to High School!
came by the way of L.M.
I think the cover would and could be funny if white anti-racists were truly anti-racists and everyone knew and felt the security and validity of that declaration. Not saying that some are not, but the ones leading the pack (white males mostly) are still very much racist. Saying you are something has become being that you are that something without changing oneself a bit. But the phenomenon has sticking power, it has worked for many, therefore, it will continue to be in existence. “I say I am this, therefore I am.” But that only works for the people who are approved of.
The anti-racist movement has been hi-jacked by white men. That should have been the red flag long ago, yet, people like Tim Wise are held up as heroes while he unapologetically wags his finger at white women.
The other red flag should have been how the deconstruction of it all demands an acceptable construction approved by the self-appointed deconstructists leading the pack. For example, when one outside of the accepted crowd says he or she is something that is other than what the leaders deemed definable then he or she is ostracised and silenced and punished by being labeled the very thing the crowd is supposedly against.
We get what we allow.
Welcome to blogging, may your blogging spirit be more uncyncial than mine has grown in the blogging world.
Hey ekittyglendower, welcome to my blog (and to Rebecca, Pisaquarise, and Level Best, welcome as well!) and stimulating discussion. It is so true that the anti-racist movement has been hijacked by white males. Don’t even get me started on Tim (un)Wise. His patronizing and misogynist tone in his writing and ideas makes my stomach turn.
I think this whole trend of “I am because I say I am! Whhaaa!” is very much a part of post-modern liberal discourse: the idea that the individual is living in a “marketplace of ideas”, unaffected by his surroundings and people around him (of course, it has to be a “he” :/), and that things exist simply because he thinks they do. It’s a crock of shit. And it’s a completely self-absorbed and phallocentric philosophy. Allecto has an awesome post explaining the self-centered and detached nature of PHALLOsophers.
No human being can claim to be unaffected by their surroundings, to be so “above” everyone else. And this is where David Knowles’ (and other white liberal males’) mentality comes from. They think that the cartoon is “satire” simply because they say it is, and that anyone else who thinks it’s a bunch of racist bullshit is just an uneducated simpleton or “knuckledragger.” This co-optation of anti-racist activism, of “satire,” of subversive commentary, has become an art with white liberal males. And if anyone, such as myself and many other women here, points out the absurdity and arrogance of their approach to anti-racist politics, we are criticized as “too sensitive” or not being “able to take a joke.”
Also, Staceyann Chin really touches on this white male co-optation of subversive politics in her spoken word.
I always refer to Staceyann Chin
[...] Listen to her. You will see that her passionate and honest words have everything to do with my first post and discussion in the comments. [...]
More like primary school sometimes I think Pisaquiri…
You can make fun of me if you want, but this cover on a national magazine with a circulation of over one million, is the thing which finally made me realize just how ignorant I really am when it comes to racism. The power ‘fro was what did it for me. I love that fucking hair — it defies even gravity!!
Oh yeah, glad you’re a feminazi.
Except there are rules, you know… mostly, they involve chocolate.
It IS awesome hair, it does defy gravity. My mom and aunt used to have enormous ‘fros in their highschool years, all they did was run a pick and a blowdryer through it and, voila, gargantuan afros. Lucky ladies.
The problem is that it’s being used to play into racial and gender stereotypes about “the angry black woman” of the 70s: big afro, totin’ a gun, boots. It’s crazy that there are so many white Americans (and hell, maybe even some black men) that really believe this crap and are so threatened by black women in power.
You may not know this mAndrea, but I am a chocoholic. So let me know what the rules are regarding chocolate and feminazi-izm. I probably have ‘em down pat
[...] Lara of Rychousmama, in her second post of the carnival, angrily calls out the racist cartoon of Michelle and Barack Obama that appeared on the cover of the New Yorker, which was, in the minds of some twisted white men, ’satire’, in Never Trust Liberal White Men: [...]