Read other letters about this article

• Thursday, August 30, 2007 01:20 AM

  It's Been a Bad Week for American Meanness

  It's a relief to see something intelligent written about Miss Teen South Carolina's gaffe. I've been spending a little too much time lately on Digg and Reddit and, if one also includes the comments on YouTube itself, to me it is obvious that this media/internet event is about people celebrating age old stereotypes. In this case the, infelicitous conjunction of stereotypes about "dumb blonds," women, and the South.

  I think few people are laughing at Upton because she exemplifies American ignorance (as this article suggests might in part be the case). It is quite explicit in people's comments, on YouTube, Reddit, Digg, and the many news stories covering the video, that they enjoy the idea that Upton exemplifies their concept of a dumb blond, dumb woman, and dumb Southerner. Indeed, if this was about American ignorance more generally, I think there would be a lot more comments from people about being embarrassed to be American (as many people felt after the election of George W. Bush). But such a sentiment is not to be found in the thousands of comments out there. Americans aren't embarrassed. They just love laughing at Upton.

  I find it very depressing. We live in a culture driven by what Nietzsche called "the morality of resentment." That is, we label others as bad (or in this case dumb) and therefore determine that in comparison we are good (or smart); but we therefore make this determination of our goodness as only an afterthought and only in contrast to the baseness we like to point out in others.

  Similarly, with Senator Craig this week, despite appearances we are seeing a great American celebration of homophobia. Everyone pretends (on the left) that this is about hypocrisy and (on the right) about indecent public behavior. But in fact, everyone on both sides of the spectrum is enjoying the spectacle of seeing a gay man be knocked down and ridiculed.

  I honestly don't believe that all the people who have come out of the woodwork to be shocked by the occurrence of sexual liaisons in public restrooms really spent any time worrying about public sex before this (let alone being outraged by putative the moral impropriety of it). The vehemence of the outrage does not stem from something people hardly thought about before this week, it stems from a fear of homosexual desire. A fear based on the assumption that all men who desire other men are sneaking, lying, and predatory.

  At the same time, of all the thousands of things that politicians are hypocritical about on a daily basis (and it's easy to point such things out), few are able to garner the kind of scandalous tenor found in the story surrounding Senator Craig. Much of the pleasure the left finds in seeing Senator Craig caught in his hypocrisy, stems hence not from his actual hypocrisy but from a particular idea of a homosexual hypocrisy, emedded again in a stereotype of homosexual desire as sneaking, lying, and predatory.

  So it's a big weak for Americans being mean, while pretending they're just having a good laugh at a gaffe or catching a politician in his hypocrisy.

  —Anonymous
  Permalink
  Flag
  Click "Submit Flag" if you feel this post is inappropriate. Explain why below if you wish.

  Cancel