Late Sunday night, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, my friend L sent me a message:
“Stay away from Twitter. It’s pretty disgusting right now.”
Of course that meant that I had to immediately log back on to Twitter to find out what kind of giant fucking mess was going on. As if that message was going to make me do anything else.
Naturally, it didn’t take me long to discover the root of the Twitter uproar – the (usually brilliant) satirical website The Onion had called a nine year old black girl a cunt.
Because, you know, that’s satire.
Initially I was outraged. And, I mean, obviously, I still am. But I’m also kind of glad that it happened. Seriously.
Bear with me here, because I’m about to try to explain why, and things might get a little convoluted and messy.
And before I start, I just want to mention that I’ve made a conscious choice not to use the girl in question’s name here on my blog – in a discussion with a few other feminists, some raised the concern that writers were using her name for SEO purposes. After looking at it that way, using her name felt wrong to me. I also want to do my pathetic utmost not to link her name with the word cunt, although I know that The Onion has already done it in a likely indelible way.
So. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at the “joke” itself, and what The Onion was trying to do. Obviously the idea behind this “satire” was that no one would ever call a little black girl a cunt. Because, like, what the fuck? Who would do that? That’s obviously not the world we live in.
I mean, except for the fact that it is. That’s exactly the world that we live in, and you’d have to be blind, deaf and living in a cave not to know that. Or you’d have to be Rush Limbaugh. Feel free to take your pick.
So how did The Onion, whose social observations are usually spot on, go so spectacularly wrong?
I think that a lot of the problem lies in the fact that so many of us have managed to convince ourselves that we live in a post-race, post-gender world. America, which allowed slavery only 150 years ago, has a black president! Hillary Clinton kicked ass as the Secretary of State! There are all kinds of high-profile, successful women and people of colour. Sexism and racism aren’t problems anymore, right?
When you live in the comfortable bubble of white privilege or male privilege (which, just to be clear, I do – the white part, anyway), it’s easy to think that these cultural problems have been resolved. And it’s easy to accuse someone who was hurt or offended by The Onion’s tweet as being completely humourless, or just not being smart enough to get the joke. What’s harder is trying to figure out how we got to this place where we believe that all race and gender issues have been solved, and we can all just wipe the slate clean and start over as equals.
I wonder if part of it is how we teach our children about racism and sexism. When I was growing up in the 80s, my parents really worked hard to stress to me that people of all skin colours and all nationalities and all genders were equal. While they did admit that, yes, sexism and racism do still exist, they taught me that no one of real intelligence, no one in a position of power, would ever, ever be so awful as to elevate one sex or race over another. And I think that my parents are amazing, and that they did a fantastic job of helping me navigate the tricky world of social justice from an early age, but I wonder how dangerous it is for a child to receive the message that smart people can’t be racist, that people in positions of power (teachers, pundits, politicians) can’t be sexist? And I wonder how many people other than me received similar messages from their parents?
Because there honestly was a time when I thought that we were all working on a level playing field. That was the lesson that I learned both from my parents and from the education system (although my French Catholic elementary school did teach us that French Canadians are SUPER OPPRESSED, hahahaha). And maybe part of the education system’s idea was a kind of fake-it-tip-you-make-it mentality, with the hope being that if you teach a generation of children that everyone is equal now, they’ll believe it and start acting that way. Or maybe it was a sneaky way of making casual racism and casual misogyny more palatable, because, hey, they’re just jokes – no one actually believes that women or people of colour are in anyway lesser than white men.
Whatever the truth is, the idea that we all have equality now is a trap, one that The Onion and I have both fallen into (my excuse was that I was thirteen, though – I’m not sure what The Onion’s excuse is). I am guilty of having made racist jokes. I am guilty of having made misogynist jokes. My reasoning was that if we’re all equal, then we’re all equal targets of humour. In some weird way, I thought it would be racist not to make jabs at my non-white friends about their culture or skin-colour – I mean, I wanted to treat them the same way I treated my white friends, right? And if they made jokes about me being white and French and Catholic, then their heritage and background was fair game, right?
(A thirteen-year-old’s logic is pretty fucked up, by the way – I mean, in case you weren’t already aware)
I think my first wake-up call came when I was fourteen.
That was the year that I was first called a cunt (by a male member of my family, because I was tired, hot and overwhelmed at the end of a family vacation).
That was also the year that my geography teacher used the word “Indian” to refer to the First Nations.
I remember thinking that he must have just slipped up, because obviously no one used that word anymore. I put up my hand and politely corrected him, saying that I was sure that he’d meant to say First Nations. I’ll never forget the way he rolled his eyes and laughed, saying, “Yeah, I guess if you want to go all politically correct on me.”
That was the first time I’d ever heard a person in a position of authority, a Good Person, use a racial slur.
That was the first time I’d ever been accused of overreacting to someone saying something overtly racist, sexist, homophobic or transphobic.
And yeah, before you jump in and say something, I had lead a pretty sheltered life up until then. I mean, FRENCH CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I shouldn’t have to say anything more than that.
And I’m not trying to say here that I had some kind of giant revelation when I was fourteen and have never made a misstep since, because that’s obviously not true. Learning to shake off deeply entrenched cultural messages about gender, race and sexuality is a lifelong process, and I’m still working on it. I still fuck up sometimes.
But I think that what The Onion did was helpful in the fight against misogyny and racism, in the sense that it shook people up. It opened people’s eyes to the fact that yeah, fucking racist and misogynist shit does still exist. They managed to put into (apparently satirical) words the fucked up shit that other people were thinking about an innocent little girl. And it’s like, you know, I spend a lot of time trying to explain to people how and why these things are still present in our culture, or even just that they are still present, but The Onion managed to do that in one single tweet.
I guess you could maybe say that a misogynist or racist tweet is worth a thousand words.*
Because I don’t think that I could ever have enough words to tell you about how fucked up the way we view women and people of colour is, but somehow The Onion managed to help show exactly that by calling a nine-year-old girl a cunt. And although the mainstream media mostly ignored the racist crap thrown at this girl in the days leading up the Academy Awards, they couldn’t ignore this.
So, I owe the Onion a sort of thank-you, I guess. I mean, not really, but you get what I’m saying. Because their tweet renewed a really important discussion. Because their tweet helped open up people’s eyes and shake them out of their comfortable privilege. Because their tweet made some of the racism that’s still prevalent in the feminist movement suddenly become visible, and it’s way past time that we talked about that. Why have so many white feminists stayed silent on this issue? Why have so many glossed over the part that race played in this and focussed only on the misogyny? Why do white feminist so often wait for women of colour to speak up before they say anything?
We need to talk about all of these things. We need to talk about them now.
So let’s do this again soon, okay? But next time, let’s not wait until a major fake news website tweets something unbelievably offensive. Let’s team up and fight injustice just because it’s urgent and necessary and important.
Thanks, bell hooks, I totally agree. You’re the best.
*YEAH YOU KNOW THAT LINE WAS THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF WHEN I WAS WRITING THIS POST, BECAUSE IT IS FUCKING AWESOME AND TRUE
Quvenzhané Wallis is a real person though. She is not an example to help white people learn something. She’s not some magical negro metaphor.
I wish you used her name in this post, not just “black girl”.
Is the title supposed to be edgy? Are we supposed to care if white people thought this was in some way good?
Have you ever read this? http://www.jaclynfriedman.com/archives/641
I purposely didn’t use her name, after participating in a discussion where people mentioned that a) they felt that bloggers were using her name in order to increase their SEO, which felt dirty to me and b) the fact I don’t want to keep tying her name to the word cunt. And yeah, I know that it has been forever and ever, and the onus for that is on the Onion, but still – I didn’t want to do it, even in a small way.
I know that plenty of other bloggers, many of whom are Women of Colour, have use her name and I think that’s fantastic. They understand the implications of what’s happened way more than I do, and they know better what’s at stake for her. And I think it’s important to use her name and talk about her and how it effects her, but it just didn’t feel right for me to do it.
Ah, I hear what you are saying about the name thing, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
My read of this piece is that it runs the risk of using a real person as an example and mere learning tool, so not using her name to me seemed to further dehumanize her, just in the sense that it made the whole thing abstract.
But I can see also the argument for it being a positive thing to use her story as an example and therefore distance it from her.
I guess I am just unsure then of whether that is a call for a white person to make. (I think it is not a whit person;s place to evaluate that any one example of racist victimization against a black person was sort of a good thing, because it educated white people.)
Plus, is it even true that it educated? If POC telling white people racism was still real hasn’t worked for those white people, then this won’t either, LOTS of people see nothing wrong with the tweet or racist about it..
Yeah. I see what you mean. I’m not thrilled with this post in retrospect, but I’m going to leave it up (mostly so that later I can talk about how it doesn’t work). But I totally get your point. Especially this: “I think it is not a white person’s place to evaluate that any one example of racist victimization against a black person was sort of a good thing, because it educated white people.” You’re right.
I think that it did educate, at least somewhat – I’ve seen a lot of discussion surrounding the tweet and what it meant and how it was racist, and I think at least a few people came away with a better understanding of the implications of what The Onion did.
Anyway, thanks for pointing out the things you did. I honestly didn’t think about how this read without mentioning Quvenzhané’s name until you said something. And I didn’t think about whether or not it was my place to write this – or rather, I thought it was my place as a woman responding to the misogyny of the word, but didn’t think too much about how racism and misogyny intertwine, and how I might be co-opting someone else’s voice. I’m glad I have people who are willing to call me out when I fuck up.
I edited it to try to explain what I was getting at. I probably did a piss-poor job, though.
what does this have to do with her race?? Because she’s black? They didn’t use any racial slurs against her (At least i didn’t see any. Please correct me if i’m wrong.)
It’s a nasty word, sure. Is it horrific and disgusting? Absolutely. But what specifically makes it racist? If she were white, would it still be racist? Cunt is not a word that mudslings at race. It’s a word that mudslings against gender. It’s a slippery slope to bring up race here. JUST because she’s black, people who insult her must be racist? Sounds sort of racist…
Honestly, what made the whole Onion thing hit hardest for me was that literally only a half-hour before, we were talking about how you had JUST been called a “lesbian cunt” on Twitter. It sort of made all the people defending the Onion’s tweet seem even more privileged and out-of-touch than they already would have: These are words that most people don’t use for jokes!
You are unpacking a lot in this post, and I really appreciate the point of view that you’re getting at. At the same time, I see Kira-Lynn’s point that it’s not a white person’s call to say that a racial victimization was sort of a good thing because of the lessons it teaches white people. I totally agree, and the reason that I agree is because I know it taught me a lesson (and I am also a white woman), and I feel awful that my lesson came at the expense of this little girl’s victimization.
I wrote about my own reaction (again, very much from my place of privilege as a white woman): http://www.balancingjane.com/2013/02/yes-that-onion-tweet-is-racist.html I wanted to comment here because I share a lot of your experiences. I, too, grew up very sheltered (an almost all-white, rural Midwestern town) and believing the message I received that “everyone was equal.” I believed it so much that my first real experience with understanding racism (other than in the abstract “slavery was bad, but we’re doing better now” way I had been taught) was when I started dating my now-husband in college. He’s black, and my family members’ reactions to our relationship burst my bubble. “We’re all equal now” had come from their lips, but they clearly hadn’t meant it. That was another lesson I learned at the expense of someone else’s victimization.
When I saw that tweet, my first reaction was rage. But it was largely a visceral, absolutely overwhelming rage because I looked at that little girl’s face and saw my own daughter’s in her place. My (biracial) daughter will be growing up in this world where little black girls are sexualized and victimized, and I hate that I can’t protect her and I hate even more that I (as a white woman) can’t even truly understand the pressures she’s going to face. I am always one step removed from the discussion by that privilege.
Watching many other white feminists react (or, more importantly, not react) to this tweet taught me that the feminist movement I have found so much comfort and power in is also not as equal as I’ve been led to believe. I heard women of color say they felt unwelcome, but I always thought they’d had an isolated bad experience. I didn’t think the movement as a whole, one that spent so much time talking about privilege and oppression, could be blind to racial oppression. And I was wrong. And I feel horrible for every time I doubted someone saying she did not feel welcome in feminism.
Do I only feel horrible because I can imagine my daughter in Wallis’ place? I hope to God that’s not the case. I hope that I have enough empathy to care about ANYONE who is being oppressed and mistreated, but this was yet another lesson I learned at the expense of someone else. My privilege was blinding me to something that should have been obvious, and I can’t help but wonder how many other lessons I will have to learn and how many other people have to be hurt and mistreated for me to see.
Sorry I wrote a book on your blog, but thank you for writing this post.
I can see how it’s mean. It’s a nasty word to call a child. I don’t understand how it’s racist. Cunt is not a race-targeted word. Sure, the kid is black but that doesn’t automatically make an insult aimed at her racist.
My issue with this is that you don’t use nasty words to describe children. Ever. My reaction would be the same if it was a 9 year old white male.
I don’t think anyone is arguing that The Onion’s intent was to make a racist statement, but racism is enacted through social systems, not just individual acts. The “joke” was that it was incongruous to call Wallis that because “no one would ever REALLY do such a thing.” But because “cunt” has a specifically sexual connotation and because women of color are sexualized more often and more violently in our culture, the incongruity fell apart, and it was no longer satire. It was piling insult onto someone who is already the victim of those kind of insults. The fact that MacFarlane had already sexualized her that very night by suggesting she could be George Clooney’s type shows that there was nothing incongruous about sexualizing her or insulting her, and the fact that she’s a black child matters in that equation because racism is ever-present and makes her more likely to be a victim of that kind of oppression to begin with.
It’s equally disturbing to be called a cunt. Whether your’e white, black asian or otherwise. To assume it’s somehow worse to call someone a cunt because of their skin colour is grossly unfair to everybody who has been called that. Because asian women aren’t AS highly/violently sexualized (which, actually, they ARE.. but not in popular western belief) is it ok (no.. not ok.. Okayer) to call one a cunt? Is it somehow less offensive?
absolutely, positively not.
The ONLY thing I find very shocking about this is not that she’s black or she’s female. But that she’s a KID. I find it shocking that, of all the targets in Hollywood today, anybody feels it necessary to take out their comedic frustrations on someone who is barely old enough to tie her own shoes. That’s not only mean as hell, it’s tacky, a cheap shot and offends me as a comedian. Because it’s just so.. unnecessary. Roast-comedy is wonderful. Leave children out of it.
That’s exactly it. She is a child. And she is black. And she is female. She cannot separate herself from any of those realities. They all define who she is. This vile incident has attacked every aspect of her — the child, the black person, the female. Need proof? Has a MAJOR MEDIA OUTLET ever referred to any other child celebrity as genitalia? Would anyone have accepted it as “satire” if they had been?
Don’t worry about what SEO value your blog post will have, since your page has a relatively low PR.
I am not writing to disagree with anything you have said, because I think you are right-on. However, I worked for a long time in a Native American/ First Nations school in the states, and they openly and vehemently referred to themselves as Indians. They would accept “Native,” but scoffed at those (usually white folks, such as I am) using what they considered “P.C.” terms. I looked at it as a contextual thing. Within a culture, certain terminology ( commonly used slurs) may be considered acceptable, while when used by an outsider, it is offensive. So I would say to some, “I work at the blah blah Indian school” while to others, I would say “Tribal school” or “Native American school.”
That said, I can’t think of any situation in which calling a 9 year old a cunt is contextually appropriate.
Exactly. Seriously, some PC committee made this stuff up and forgot to consult any Indians. Maybe in Canada you can get away with this. Although I agree that in a formal situation, the teacher should probably say “Native American”, “First Nations” is snigger-worthy.
I really agree about not linking the name. This is something that will not be easily forgotten. I’m not even going to type that word.