Quote:
Originally Posted by frau kaleun
My understanding of the exchange was that a woman of color called in with concerns about someone in her social circle (presumably a white person) who made a habit of calling her *that word* and that Dr. Laura's response was to downplay the situation by pointing out that black people use that word amongst themselves all the time.
To me that's like me saying some guy I know is constantly calling me a - can I use the "b-word" here? - anyway, it would be like me having concerns about some dude constantly referring to me as "[pejorative word for female person]" and you pointing out that it's not a big deal because you hear some women call each other that "all the time."
But what some women may or may not call each other for whatever reason is, to me, irrelevant. Whether or not I would be offended by another woman calling me that in some undefined context for some undefined reason is irrrelevant. The person I'm dealing with is habitually calling me *that word* only because I happen to be female and for no other reason, as if *that word* is an acceptable all-purpose way to refer to women. It's not. And to continue to call me one just because I have boobs and a vagina is sexist.
And the fact that it's a man saying it would raise the question of his attitudes toward women in general, and towards me because I'm female, because no matter how many steps forward we've taken in terms of equality between the sexes, sexism is not dead and women have to deal with the attitudes and behavior it generates among men on a regular basis in ways that simply do not apply in woman-to-woman interactions.
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It was an African American woman who was married to a white male. His friends would tell offensive jokes that were off color for a lack of a better description. Dr. L said she sees comedians on HBO use the word all the time however there is no offense in the audience...just laughter. There is a double standard apparently with the use of this word. But, I believe Dr. L went off in the wrong direction. My first thought is her husband should have stood up for his wife if these jokes were not appropriate. Dr. L should have approached it the same but went off on another route that was wrong in the end. But what do I know...