Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher: It is Never OK to Call a Woman a Slut, Prostitute, or the C-word
Rush Limbaugh’s recent tirade against Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke has highlighted a growing and disturbing trend within the “entertainment” community, “journalistic” community, and the American public at large – that it is now acceptable to degrade women and call them sluts for political gain. It is especially permissible to do so in the name of one’s political party.
This is not OK!
Since 2008, we have seen a continual desensitization towards women by members of both the right and left media, and the Rush rant is merely another example of what has become the typical misogynistic viewpoint displayed by certain members of the male media elite. When this occurs, backpeddling and justifying the rant is not acceptable.
As a conservative, I was outraged at Limbaugh’s comments. Like many, I was infuriated with the soft rebuke of virtually every person in the “leadership” of the Republican Party by stating the comments were “inappropriate.” I was relieved that conservative strategist George Will took a stand when he stated, “It is the responsibility of conservatives to police right and just as the liberals unfailingly fails to police the excesses on their own side.”
Will is absolutely correct that we need to police our own. And, of late, both sides have been remise in this moral and ethical obligation as demonstrated by not only the reaction toward the Limbaugh rant, but also in the muted outrage over HBO comedian Bill Maher’s recent monologue response as Limbaugh called on Maher to take responsibility for “poor word choices.” During the monologue, Maher had the audacity to try to distance himself by stating that Limbaugh “tried to drag me into this bulls**t he caused.” Maher then justified his own ‘poor word choices’ by implying that it was acceptable for him to call Sarah Palin the c-word due to the fact that he doesn’t have sponsors because his show is on HBO.
Now, I can’t stand Sarah Palin and it is no more acceptable to call her the c-word, slut, etc. than it is to resort to name calling of Fluke — HBO network backing or no HBO network backing.
One would have thought that Ed Schultz’s unpaid week-long suspension for calling conservative talk show host, Laura Ingraham, a slut in 2011 would have been a wake-up call for male members of the media/political entertainment elites. Apparently, it wasn’t.
Since the egos of these men cannot see the obvious, let me be clear: Regardless of the message you may have been trying to convey, it is never acceptable for anyone to refer to any woman or child as a prostitute, slut, or c-word, etc.
If you do so, there will be on-line petitions, loss of revenue streams, and outrage. There will be articles and blogs denouncing your “poor word choices.” This will continue until you learn to make better “word choices.”
This has nothing to do with “lame-stream” media, be it left or right. Poor word choices create these messes. Conversely, if you make better choices there will not be online petitions, boycotts, blog postings, etc. We don't have to accept your “bad word choices” and, rest assured, when you do, someone will speak up. Unless the male media/entertainment elitists want to join the apologetic ranks of Chris Mathews, David Letterman, Ed Shultz, and now Rush Limbaugh, you may want to choose your words more wisely.
Photo Credit: david_shankbone
