Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 218 Editor's Choice: 9
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@AKA Smith - woo.
[Read the article: Quote of the Day: Barack Obama ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You earlier argued more or less that white people should not get to decide what offends black people -- or did I misunderstand you?
Sigh! Yes, you did utterly misunderstand me. Please read my last message again.
Therefore, let me ask you this: How do you know who here is male and who is female if they don't explicitly say which sex they are?
I'm going by cues, subject and tone. And actually,the number of responses is probably skewed more towards being women than elswhere, as it's being covered in "Broadsheet".
1. Obama supporters are biased in his favor and, moreover, they do not realize their own bias because that is what biases are about.
OK. And Hillary supporters are just as likely to have the same bias, right?
So that cancels out, does it not?
2. Women who have clearly indicated that they have the hots for Obama are not actually likely to admit that a woman in the workplace deserves more respect.
OK. And women who hate Obama are not actually likely to admit that Obama was not being disrespecful by saying 'sweetie'. Right?
So that cancels out too.
3. Just as white people don't get to decide what offends black people, men don't get to decide what offends women.
a) you misunderstand my point, again. Please go and read over this section of my previous letter.
b) you avoid my other point, in the previous letter - YOU don't get to decide what offends - or even *should* offend - all other women in the US, either.
And since there isn't a consensus, it isn't universal.
4. Since you want to use this thread as some sort of "evidence," which is quite laughable, go back through this thread....
No, *you* do that.
If you have a problem with what I'm citing, fine. But you're the one who's standing for the notion that the use of "sweetie" in a professional context from a man to a woman is automatically, universally sexist in the US.
I disagree, and have shown you why.
So if you want to prove me wrong, then you go ahead and do the work to disprove me. Especially since you haven't bothered to present *any* facts for your assumption - that 'sweetie' is automatically and universally sexist to all US women.
So hey, go through the letters here, or go to some other major news website that's covering this, read all the comments, and come back with a URL and a tally of the male-female ratio.
I mean, I'm telling you something real here. This is beyond your opinion and mine. From the OBSERVABLE FACTS, this phrase "sweetie" is not what you think it is.
Seriiously. Beyond winning an argument. It really, really isn't.
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@AKA Smith
[Read the article: Quote of the Day: Barack Obama ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]No. I have been called a cunt here at Salon and I have noticed some Obama supporters called Hillary a cunt (and other names). I am merely saying that I don't see these sorts of people as progressives.
Sure, OK.
But I think it's safe to say that:
- Salon in general is much more liberal and progressive than the mainstream media
- people who pay for Salon membership thus probably skew more liberal and progressive than the general public - because people pay for what they like, and don't pay for what they don't.
So I don't think it's too far a stretch to consider that a sampling of letters would come from perspectives that skew liberal/progressive.
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@AKA Smith - it's not about me. I'm not the one saying 'sweetie' is automatically, universally sexist in the US
[Read the article: Quote of the Day: Barack Obama ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Broadsheet has always offered a mixture of the serious and not so serious.
OK. I clearly consider this not so serious at all - except in the tragic sense, that it's another bright-and-flashy side issue from real things that concern us.
You are the Obama supporter. You tell me.
I'm not here to make Obama's case. I'm saying these are much more valid things to focus on, if you *yourself* are concerned with genuinely improving the conditions of women.
Why doesn't he give a speech on the rights of women just as he gave a speech on race? Now would be a good time. Has he ever said, "I am a feminist. This is what a feminist looks like!"
I think that would be a great thing, actually. I don't know that any US candidate has ever said that before - including Hillary.
Are you a feminist, or just a male bystander who wants to lecture women on what should or should not offend them?
I'm a liberal and progressive, and I'm sick and tired of seeing crap side issues take the place of real ones.
I'm not a bystander; this is my culture just like it's yours and I'm in the thick of it. You are expressing a principle that I think is not true.
I'm not telling YOU what should offend YOU. I'm just pointing out to you, that YOUR opinion is not the opinion of ALL US women. Or, apparently, even the majority of US women.
What would you like to see done to improve the lives of women who suffer from misogyny and sexism?
I would like people who are especially focused on those concerns to use their energy and attention to change things in the real world.
Tell me how you have been or plan to be actively involved in making lives better for women and girls specifically either here in the US or in the world at large.
Me? I'm working my job, paying my bills, donating to children's shelters for the homeless, and voting as progressive a ticket that will actually get into government.
How about you? What are you doing?
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@ AKA Smith - ok.
[Read the article: Quote of the Day: Barack Obama ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You haven't noticed that people can post here without having the little yellow star.
You don't have to pay to post at Salon. Anyone can post at Salon.
Never mind. :)