Monday, October 27, 2008

Dirty Words

When I saw a video where a supporter carries a sign at a McCain rally comparing Obama to Charles Manson, I had to pause. It reminded me o how offended I was when Sarah Palin turned the term "community organizer" into an insult at the Republican National Convention. As she called Obama out as someone who attempt to make a positive difference in the community, the audience laughed and ridiculed him. Since then, McCain supporters have used "community organizer" as a dirty word. This technique of redefining the terms associated with your opponent and spinning them as insults is a continuing tradition among the ignorant and spiteful. McCain's and other right-wing individual's accusations of Obama's connection to "terrorism", "socialism", "wealth distribution", "anti-Americanism" are an attempt to hijack language for their own purposes.

In the era of Senator McCarthy's red scare witch hunt, the word "communist" was bandied about in an attempt to weed out the enemy within. Today, "terrorist" has replaced "communist" as the term which inspires fear in society. Right wing pundits attempt to add new words to this dirty word lexicon, including "socialist", "earmarker", and now "community organizer". Socialism as a political ideology is never actually discussed when they use the term, it is simply utilized as a smear. Obviously, socialism is evil and if you're a "socialist", you must be evil as well. Sarah Palin differentiates "real America" and, I guess, fake America? Michelle Bachmann calls for a investigation as to those in the US Senate who harbor "anti-American" sentiments. These terms are thrown around to drum up support or disdain in their strict good vs. evil dichotomy. No rational arguments are made, the words simply exist to taint those they are connected with. New words are tainted with these smear tactics all the time. Language is a powerful tool in controlling peoples perceptions.

I've met a number of women who hold feminist philosophies and attempt to promote feminist ideology, but they make sure to preface any statements made with "I'm not a feminist". Why is there this concern surrounding being a feminist? Feminism is, as the bumper sticker puts it so precisely, the radical notion that women are people. Feminism is not some crazy fringe anti-male movement, as many seem to think. It simply demands a respect for and equal recognition of women. Rush Limbaugh did some severe damage to the public perception of feminism by terming feminists "femi-nazis", hiding his hatred of women by blaming the victims. This reterming has caused many would-be feminists to avoid the label, afraid of seeming like the man-hating female fascists that don't actually exist. It's a shame that people buy into the rantings of Rush and others; I say people should be proud of their feminism and not allow Rush to steal the word away from who it truly belongs to.

Why do republicans flip their shit at the idea of "wealth distribution"? Because McCain likens it to robbery. Obama is going to steal money from your wallet and give it a deadbeat. Why is "community organizing" a joke at the RNC? Because the core of the republican ideology is individualistic, unconcerned with others and focused on self-interest. "Community" means "socialism", people sharing and helping out one another. How terrible!

Don't buy into this hijacking of language. Don't accept the definitions invented by those trying to appropiate labels for their own devices.

2 Comments:

Blogger DorotheeRH said...

Great post! I totally agree with you about feminism truly just being about equal rights for all humans. Have you checked out http://www.FeministsforObama.org? There's a bunch of women (and men) who aren't afraid of the label!

9:25 AM  
Blogger Big Whity said...

Great article, Jack. I'm forwarding it to others. - Gramps

9:49 AM  

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