In response to the bruhaha at the Washington Post, which included such erudite complaints as
One called me to complain about “promoting a faggot lifestyle.” Another complained about the photo in an e-mail to the two Post reporters who wrote Thursday’s story about the licenses: “That kind of stuff makes normal people want to throw up. People have kids who are being exposed to this crap. I will be glad when your rag goes out of business. Real men marry women.”
Your kids are not to blame for your politics. Your kids are not to blame for your decisions. Your kids are not to blame for any way in which you choose to live your life. Your kids are your kids, and they’re people, and I know this is me saying this, childless whore, etc. And I’m not saying having children can’t inform your worldview. I’m saying own your worldview as YOURS, instead of hiding behind your children’s blankies and pretending you can’t help yourself.
Jesus H. Gentle Cycle Christ, I hate this. Like, how are we to suppose this works, that you used to be a fair and decent person but then you had a kid and decided, “You know, white sheets look fucking good on me now!” You had a kid and then went, “Hmm, suddenly ladies kissing each other is just not on!” Bullshit. You always felt this way, and now you can justify it with somebody who is more into playing with blocks or reading comic books than realizing his parents are total assholes.
Problem is, he won’t always be too into his own stuff to notice yours. So won’t it be fun for junior to read someday that you used to be a good person and now you suck, and he was the line between before and after? And not only do you suck, but you’re such a stupendous pussy that you can’t even give yourself credit for the decision to suck, you’ve got to shove it off on him? Isn’t that charming? Do these people listen to themselves?
You wanna be a bigot? You wanna hate gay people? You wanna wax redneck in the pages of the Post about faggot lifestyles and shoving things down people’s throats? YOU DO THAT THEN. You just go do it. You go and do that all on your own, slick. You go and do that because YOU want to do it, you stupid motherfucker. You go and do that because you’ve taken a good long hard look in the mirror and decided that writing pissy letters to the paper about how you don’t like reality anymore is the best way to spend your time. You do that because being a bigot is what you want to be.
Leave your children out of it.
(Via TBogg.)
Less “Brutal” than “Unnecessarily Crude.” I agree with the basic point, but I do find myself leaning a little the other way on one particular point regarding children. It can be a bit of a poser when a topic in the media generates questions that you’re really just not ready for yet.
Back when Brokeback Mountain was all the rage, I just really wasn’t ready for my niece to look up and ask, “Uncle Steve, what’s Homosexual?” She didn’t even know what “Sexual” was yet!
I certainly don’t oppose a free press … but still … there are proper places and times for certain topics.
The media, or life itself? Gay people aren’t some big secret. If you live in a big city where they don’t feel the need to hide themselves from rampant homophobes, your kid could see two men kissing in the park.
The OP is 100% spot on as far as I’m concerned, in terms of the realities of modern life (where people don’t have to hide) and in terms of owning one’s prejudices.
Heck, one of my 6-yr-old daughter’s classmates “has two mommies,” so two men smooching would draw about the same amount of attention from her crowd that a young heterosexual couple smooching would: giggles and finger-pointing.
So far, I’ve been able to field questions like that from my daughter with direct and pointedly undetailed answers. Homosexuality? “Two folks being in love who happen to be either both male or both female.” If pressed, I might add that everybody’s different, and no folks are exactly the same as us. The trick has worked every time I’ve had to answer difficult questions.
Until just now, I hadn’t seen the photo, and I had assumed from the reaction that it was a particularly passionate embrace between two flamboyantly in-your-face gay Nazi S&M freaks; therefore, I was even more disappointed than normal in my fellow Americans upon being disabused of my suppositions.
To Steve’s point about the response being “unnecessarily crude,” I have to agree. I would have preferred that such a level and reasoned response had found a way to be more citation-friendly. The author could have just as easily called shenanigans on these bigots without calling them “stupid motherfucker[s].” The profanity has the unfortunate effect of reducing his rational response to that of a progressive-thinking troll’s. As it is, you have to be somewhat /b/tard tolerant to read it even if you agree whole-heartedly with the sentiments therein contained.