If there was one thing Ladyblogland wanted to talk about this week, it was how The Onion called Quvenzhané Wallis the c-word. The best thing to come out of that terrible joke is the many different (and well-articulated) feminist perspectives.
@theonion: your tweet was just plain awful and not in anyway satire. XOJane
Related, how did the c-word become such a terrible insult? Slate
Satire, white feminism and the c-word. Clutch
Have you been watching The Mindy Project? Geekquality makes good points about why the show is good for women. Though that still doesn’t adress the fact that every character BUT Mindy’s is 1-dimensional (and that’s why I think the show is good, but not great). Geekquality
Does skinny really sell, or is that just a bunch of bull-caca? The Jane Dough
Take yourself on a grown-up field-trip to the museum. Design Sponge
RookieMag clued me on to this: An ad for a new Sketcher’s line called “Daddy’s Money.” Sigh.
What did you read this week?
9 replies on “Dispatches from Ladyblogland Aren’t Kidding Around”
What the shit is this “Daddy’s Money” fuckery? I like the idea of the hidden lifts in the sneakers, but whoever came up with that branding is a damn idiot.
The Quvenzhane Wallis situation is just infuriating. I’d like to know where the hell (many of) the white lady feminists were, and why the hell the outcry wasn’t bigger. Adult men called a little girl a cunt, and implied that she was/soon would be a sexual object. And, well, too many people responded with “oh, but it’s satire” or “you just don’t get it”. BULLSHIT. It’s sexist, racist cruelty aimed at a CHILD. A little GIRL. Even if her parents shielded her from the immediate situation, she’s going to find out eventually — and if sixteen or twenty or fifty year old Quvenzhane calls the apologists out herself, well, I’ll back her up.
I also don’t agree with comparisons to the Sandra Fluke situation. Sandra Fluke is awesome, and Rush Limbaugh is an enormous festering asshole, but it’s different to call an adult a slut and a child a cunt. Both situations were wrong, but…comparing them minimizes what Quvenzhane is dealing with. Sandra Fluke is and adult and has a voice and can (and did, and does, and will) speak in her own defense and on her own behalf. Quvenzhane is a child, and even if she does speak up for herself, there will be a strong “what a brat” response. Even if it’s well-spoken and carefully composed, the same people who have no problem calling a nine-year-old child a cunt will likewise trash her for “having an attitude” and getting ahead of herself.
And now I am cranky and need to go find puppy gifs. Which reminds me. Quvenzhane’s puppy purse was awesome and totally nine-year-old appropriate.
Maybe it’s just my little corner of the internet, but I saw a ton of white feminists calling out the Onion and Seth McFarlane for their awful jokes about her. It was pretty much my entire facebook feed for about 24 hours.
It may be that, honestly. I saw a lot of “what the frilly purple fuck” reactions, but I also saw way too many “you guys, come on, it’s satire, it’s a joke, chill out” bullshit responses. And a lot of lack-of-response from people I expected much more from.
So, basically, I need your facebook friends list.
I did see a LOT of response from tumblr feminist blogs, though…But tumblr is more anonymous than facebook, and there’s no “ohai, I’m a (insert ethnicity) feminist ladyblogger” disclaimer on most of them. And, well, I’ve long stopped assuming that everyone on the internet is basically me but in a different place and don’t assume that most of the feminist bloggers are also white.
Also, I need more caffeine.
Replace ‘facebook’ with ‘twitter’ and I agree. I didn’t see one person defend it. The joys of curating your own online content :)
A higher up (white) woman at XOJane originally defended The Onion’s tweet about Quvenzhane Wallis. She has since written an apology (located here: http://www.xojane.com/issues/onion-tweet-apology), but it pisses me off and grosses me out how many white feminists totally supported that horrible “joke.” I like what Pia said about it–no one would think it was ok to make that kind of joke about a little white girl.
That Skechers line and ad pissed me off. I posted on their Facebook page letting them know that I wasn’t buying another pair of Skechers ever. And I also let them know that every pair of Skechers my daughter has ever owned were bought with “Mommy’s money” thank you very much.
I saw a few people saying things like “It’s just shoes, what’s the big deal? You people are so sensitive!” and comparing it to using the term ‘Daddy’s Little Girl.’ No, there is quite a leap going from being “Daddy’s girl” to suggesting that young girls should be cute and flirty to get “Daddy” to buy them something.
If you showed me “Daddy’s Money” with no context, I would assume it was a clever joke, making fun of the silly things rich people spend their money on.