Don’t forget drug users - Limbaugh thought they were bad too.  Or has he been silent about them recently?

Didn’t that piece of crap Limbaugh get kicked off Monday Night Football years ago for making racist comments?  Not that he should get a pass for the other crap he spews either.

I don’t know what to make of this situation. On the one hand, Imus issues what appears to be a fairly contrite apology for his patently offensive remarks and he still gets fired. Ann Coulter spews forth patently offensive remarks every time she opens her mouth or sits in front of a keyboard. I have yet to see her sincerely apologize for anything she’s ever written or said, but that doesn’t stop her from continuing to be invited to official Republican symposia again and again. Many rap artists get away with objectifying women and maligning homosexuals all the time, yet they by and large remain immensely popular. What are our standards for offensiveness? Why do some people get away with outrageousness while others don’t?

One could ostensibly argue that, in Imus’ case, the misogyny of his comments were heightened by their equally racist nature, which would only make them that much more outrageous. I’ve seen several people put forward this explanation, but it does not explain why the likes of Coulter and Rush Limbaugh get away with equally offensive diatribes again and again. Which brings me to Les’ burlesque observation:

Remember kids: Being a bigot is OK so long as you limit it to certain groups of people.

I’m afraid that this really might explain such incongruities.

Imus got nailed because of his target. It wasn’t a general comment, it wasn’t about an entire race, religion or creed, it was about a very specific group of young girls.

If he said something like “everytime I go into a bar I see a bunch of nappy headed hos” this wouldn’t have happened, because there wouldn’t be specific targets to be offended.

What are our standards for offensiveness? Why do some people get away with outrageousness while others don’t?

Captialism.

Imus wasn’t fired for his remarks; far from it.  He might have lost his MSNBC simulcast for them; however, he lost his radio show because the advertisers were pulling out.  Money drove this decision.  Yes, the advertisers were pulling out because of his remarks, or the pressures placed upon them that stemmed from said remarks.  If they hadn’t pulled out/threatened to pull out, though, he’d still be on the air.

Coulter’s not beholden to advertisers, as I understand it… she’s an author, and might have a syndicated column somewhere.  She’s not dependent on an advertiser’s money to keep going, like Imus and his home radio station.

Les:  If Liberals, Democrats, and Atheists were considered a race and an ethnicity, Limbaugh might well be off the air.  But look at something:  Why are most blogs around, as they say horrid things about Liberals, Atheists, and Democrats all the time?  Or the flip side, this site and others, which are equally derogatory toward Republicans, Conservatives, and Christians?  Even if any of the aforementioned groups were a race, ethnicity, etc, it’s mostly because you can afford to keep the blog on the intertubes.

I appreciate your observations Sexy Sadie.  Unfortunately I think KPG and ben have nearly hit the nail on the head.  As my Ethnic Studies prof made us chant, “Power + Prejudice = Comprehensive Racism.”

What are our standards for offensiveness? Why do some people get away with outrageousness while others don’t?

Social standards have always been ephemeral. That’s what you get when there are 6 billion valid points of view.

I had to look up nappy hair.
I saw the Imus story in the SMH yesterday - I’m surprised there’s more today.
I have to admit that nappy-hair isn’t an expression used in Oz as our ‘nappy’ equates to your ’diaper‘ - so you see diaper-haired didn’t mean a lot.
However, I’ve never quite come to terms with the overt misogynists’ use in US Kultcha of calling a woman a whore – I’m much more familiar with slut or bitch; as in, a slut is a woman who will sleep with anyone – a bitch is a woman who won’t sleep with me.

Is the ‘man is head of the house’ xian mentality in any way the cause of it?
What happened to the feminist movement?
Why are women putting up with that crap?

As Ben said, if the advertisers hadn’t used their money focused brains Imus’d still be doing whatever it is that he does.

Is the ‘man is head of the house’ xian mentality in any way the cause of it?

I’m sure it in no way helps, although many cultures have tendencies to view women as objects and refer to them in derogatory sexual terms.

What happened to the feminist movement?

I assume you’re talking about the U.S. It’s been relatively successful in a number of ways here. On the other hand, there seems to be a recent resurgence both in encouraging among young men wariness of intelligent, independent women and in praising vapidness among women (look at the popularity of such figures as Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, and the late Anna Nicole Smith). In certain ways it even seems that the feminist movement has actually become marginalized. In 2007 that is disheartening, to say the very least.

Why are women putting up with that crap?

Good question.

KPG: Imus got nailed because of his target. It wasn’t a general comment, it wasn’t about an entire race, religion or creed, it was about a very specific group of young girls.

Which is ironic because scapegoating a general category is less fair than apportioning blame individually. I think reaction depends on what the people want to hear - the inherent prejudices of the society align with the prejudices of the public figure, there is less penalty - perhaps even greater popularity hence the momentum of the right wing which to me seems the party that attempts to gradually prejudice policy

E.g. Immigration restrictions - immigrants can be economically friendly, they do take up jobs (+ create some) but in my view we have no more right to work than them because it’s not their fault for being born elsewhere - and it seems creul to deny them work and abode out of selfishness

In certain ways it even seems that the feminist movement has actually become marginalized.

When a group has a whole bunch of whacky ideas, well, marginalized may be right.

Yeah, gender equality sure is a whacky idea.

It is marginalized by choice though.

So in essence you’re blaming us for society’s prejudices? Come on, Consi. You’re letting me down, man!

Thank you for the nappy hair link, Lucky John.
In a Children’s Literature class, we used that book, and the uproar described in that article, for quite a lengthy discussion.

I’ll have to say I agree with Ben’s comment above, based on what I’m reading since the Imus ruckus began.  Never heard of him before this.

Never heard of him before this.

With any luck, this will be the last time

Wonder what will happen next time a rap singer uses this sort of language?

Compare and Contrast

So in essence you’re blaming us for society’s prejudices?

There are whacky ideas that deserve to be marginalized.  Some of the whacky ideas that deserve to be marginalized have been articulated by the radical feminists.  This has given feminists a shitty reputation because feminists are notoriously slow to distance themselves from the whackjobs within their ranks.

An example?  See Stupid Bullshit

Well, Consi, I’m definitely what you’d term a feminist (perhaps even a radical one, depending on one’s definition). That being said, I’m not sure what you’re specifically refering to with this:

This has given feminists a shitty reputation because feminists are notoriously slow to distance themselves from the whackjobs within their ranks.

I’m not denying that the feminist movement has its fanatical elements. Every social cause has a lunatic fringe. But your comments here seem to come perilously close to embodying that “broad brush” mentality that you claim many of us SEB regulars harbor. For me, the feminist movement is fundamentally about equality. The message of the article that you linked to was not equality--it was hyperbole and sensationalism (though keep in mind that, at the time it was written, outrageous inequality was still the rule, not the exception). To blame society’s lingering prejudices against women on the more radical elements of a movement geared toward equality is, at best, a gross example of deflection.

Now excuse me while I go shower and not shave my pits. 

I’ve never heard much about what she’s said, so I did a quick search. Seems she’s just as much a racist as Imus.

The Wisdom of Ann Coulter

Some nuggets:
“I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."---Hannity & Colmes, 8/17/99
Anyone who knows their history knows that these two things were used to keep African Americans away from voting.

“I think we had enough laws about the turn-of-the-century. We don’t need any more.” Asked how far back would she go to repeal laws, she replied, “Well, before the New Deal...[The Emancipation Proclamation] would be a good start."---Politically Incorrect 5/7/97
Yes, let’s bring back slaves, Ann…

“Anorexics never have boyfriends. ... That’s one way to know you don’t have anorexia, if you have a boyfriend."---Politically Incorrect 7/21/97
This is not a racist comment, but it is aimed at a very SPECIFIC group of people. I don’t know, it may just be me being pissed as an anorexic with a boyfriend…

“Women like Pamela Harriman and Patricia Duff are basically Anna Nicole Smith from the waist down. Let’s just call it for what it is. They’re whores."---Salon.com 11/16/00
Again, not racist, but specific down to TWO PEOPLE. And of course, it’s okay for a women to call a woman a whore, right?

I think it really does only have to do with money. It has nothing to do with the specific groups, just Imus’s financial backers pulling out.

Just apologize, Consi, and maybe you won’t lose your sponsors. You’re only digging yourself deeper.

Have you considered some of the wacky ideas that typical men never even had to articulate? They just accept, without question, that they are superior and deserve special allowances. Feminists tend to have rights directly dependent upon the man who judged them.

Best I can figure is that Imus made the mistake of making his comment on a group of black women whereas Rush tends to focus on gays, liberals, democrats, and atheists. Remember kids: Being a bigot is OK so long as you limit it to certain groups of people.

Rush did call Halle Berry and Obama “Halfrican Americans”.

Some thoughts on random points:

1 - The feminist movement (like other movements) has suffered setbacks because of the basic laziness and apathy of human beings. Too many people would prefer to just sit back, be taken care of and not have to think for themselves. It’s an unpleasant truth, but it’s there, and it feeds the stereotypes that the movement is trying to destroy.

2 - Consi’s point: Every group has fringe elements and the link that he posted is certainly one of them. Many groups are quick to disassociate themselves from those fringe elements. Others stay quiet about their fringes and buy not condemming them appear to be giving them a form of tacit support. An example would be the way PETA refuses to speak out against some of the Animal Liberation terrorist groups within the country. By not speaking out, they appear to be supporting them, and that has colored many peoples opinions of PETA (myself included). I’m not sure if this is an accurate analogy because I’ve never heard of the woman that Consi linked to and I don’t spend a lot of time following the structure and support of feminist organizations.

3 - I’m finding it a bit unsettling that all the posts I’ve seen on various blogs defending Imus seem to boil down to this person doesn’t get into trouble for what they say, so why should Imus. It’s a kindergarden level arguement covered neatly in the old saying “two wrongs don’t make a right.”

4 - Context is everything. Nobody bothers Chapelle because he’s a comedian doing a skit show on Comedy Central. When we watch it, we expect racially charged humor. It’s not expected on a serious talk show about current events (and I know some will balk at the word serious here, but you get the idea).

Moloch: The only thing I NEED to do is stay white and die.

Well speed it up a bit, will ya. I ain’t got all day......

Well speed it up a bit, will ya. I ain’t got all day......

There is a whole shit load of things I WANT to do first.

There is a whole shit load of things I WANT to do first.

C’mon, I’m sure they couldn’t be that important. Let it go....