April 17, 2007
I apologize in advance for writing a second time about “nappy headed ho’s.” But, I’m not done with it, and who can blame me, no less authority than the president of the NCAA has called the event a cultural tipping point. I hope not.
But I’m writing for BoomerGirl, and I don’t think this is really about black people; more, it is about girls. "The Daily Show" ran a clip of a reporter asking one of the Rutgers players whether she was more offended as a black person, or as a woman; an absurd question which obscures the point. Why get so caught up in the insult game? Who cares? Don Imus, as well as Rush Limbaugh, and Howard Stern, and Anne Coulter, and so many others, have made good livings insulting people. The talent judge, whose name I can’t remember right now, who is so abusive on "American Idol," is of the same ilk. I know about him even though I’ve never seen the show. They are all of them rich and famous by their wit, and eventually irrelevant. In the rush of history they will be little remembered, having done so little worth remembering.
But have you actually seen the video in which Imus said “nappy headed ho’s”? Most people I have talked to haven’t. No apology for Imus here, but what he was saying was: “These aren’t little Barbie dolls out there, these are some tough broads!”
Is that sentiment a shock? On consecutive days in two different local newspapers, the sport section headlines expressed virtually identical sentiments, in albeit more acceptable terminology, and without comment from anyone. A local girl got a scholarship to wrestle in college. Not mud wrestling mind you, but serious half-nelson pin your opponent wrestling. The headline, writ large over a photograph showing her elbow stuck into the back of an opponent’s head whose nose is smashed into the mat, says “No more Ms. Nice Girl.”
On the next day a sports columnist in another newspaper writes about the excessively hot race car driver Milka Duno. Next to her excessively hot picture is the headline “Looks of a Supermodel, Traits of a Role Model.” Right below, on the same page are pictures of the local boys and girls high school basketball players of the year. The stocky, tough-looking chick in the picture would never be mistaken for a “supermodel.” Is it worth asking whether Milka would be written up as a role model if she weren’t so excessively hot?
The problem is this: Sure the little girl can choose to be a doctor, or a wrestler, or a lawyer, or a basketball player, or a race car driver, but if she’s seen, she’d better also be hot, because, if seen, she’ll never not be sexual. She’ll be seen as one or the other; either a supermodel, or a “nappy headed ho.” So, shouldn’t we lay off Imus, just a little, unless we’re also willing to look into the mirror a little harder at ourselves?
Comments
dylnfan (anonymous) says...
You've made a point that I've been struggling to articulate since this whole thing happened: “These aren’t little Barbie dolls out there, these are some tough broads!” My wife and I agree that this is largely a gender issue that is being overlooked thanks to ideologues and attention mongers like Al Sharpton. In fact, I could see Imus's comments being racially inflamatory if the team opposing Rutgers were all white supermodels...they weren't. What I want to know is where is this generation's Betty Friedan?
April 18, 2007 at 8:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
viola (anonymous) says...
"...what he was saying was: 'These aren’t little Barbie dolls out there, these are some tough broads!"
Huh?
No, he did not say that. He said "Those are some nappy headed ho's out there."
Yes, I did see the video. And I have read this column three times trying to understand how you got THAT meaning out of the words that Imus said. I am truly beginning to believe that men and women do not speak the same English.
Nappy headed: a racial comment.
Ho's: a sexual comment.
There was no reference to their skill and athleticism. There was no reference to their strength or toughness. There were only nasty comments about color and gender.
And it is not okay to make such negative racial comments about one team, just because the other team has women of color on it as well.
Where is this generation's Betty Friedan? She is buried under the misconception that the rest of the world won't like her if she stands up and says: it is not acceptable for anyone to make comments about my ethnicity and it is reprehensible for anyone in this society to refer to me as a bitch or a ho.
Even my young nieces and nephews, who use that kind of language among their peers, know better than to use it with me.
And frankly, I am surprised that this post has remained up on Boomergirl for as long as it has. It and the first comment following it are painful reminders that we have not come a long way, baby.
August 4, 2007 at 9:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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