My SO received an email the other day: “Fwd: Mu$lim pu$$y”.
Except, it wasn’t from a spambot, but from a friend of ours. (He’s married to one of my lifelong friends from olden times.) A middle-class, middle-aged, well educated (=should know better) inner-suburban professional dad.
The attachment was a powerpoint presentation, so I’ll just do a digest of it for you here, shall I?
(Slide 1) Text:
“In case you were wondering what a Muslim pu$$y looks like…”
(Slide 2): This.
(Slide 3) Text only:
“Oh, come on! What were you thinking? Get your mind out of the gutter!”
Oh, how I laughed. You can imagine.
What was interesting was the list of email addresses in the forwarded email. Unless he was using “bcc” for some people and not for others, he was only forwarding it to certain members of the family – all male. His partner’s brothers, who work and study with indigenous and Timorese communities and are probably somewhat to the left of him, didn’t receive it. None of the female members of the family received it. What does that suggest to you? It suggests to me that he understood very well what the “jokey” powerpoint was saying.
Let’s just unpack a few of the hilarious concepts in this wonderfully witty artefact.
Muslims = suicide bombers.
We can humiliate people of another ethnicity by humiliating “their” women.
Because women are “owned” by the people (who are presumed to be dudes) of the other ethnicity.
We are at war with all Muslims. Humiliating (up to and including raping) “their” women is a legitimate war tactic. (Oh, and we also accuse them of having medieval thought processes!)
It’s OK to verbally bully an entire ethnic group in my society, which is already undergoing considerable hardship (suspicion, false imprisonment, hijabs ripped off in the street, rocks thrown) because of the actions of a criminal minority.
I’m sure you can add more to that. Of course, I’m used to seeing this stuff on the intertubes. But on a blog or forum you can see that the writer is a known wingnut, or if it’s an anonymous commenter I tend to set the poster’s age at 23 or less and picture the receding brow, pimples and cheezel dust (that’s Australian for cheeto dust). Guess what I’m doing? Yes, I’m falling victim to the urge to stereotype, just like the authors of that powerpoint. It’s still a jolt to be reminded of the underground river of misogyny and racism that still informs Western society to a far greater extent than the bum-fluff and Grand Theft Auto set. It’s your workmate, it’s that inoffensive suit over there, it’s the nice professional looking woman. It rears its head whenever we have a family barbeque. It’s everywhere.
So you know what I did? I did just what the originators of the email (sucks be to them) would have wanted me to do: I forwarded it on! To Twisty, Feministe, Shakesville, Hoyden and a few others. Thanks to Jill for mentioning it and for googling the above image, so I didn’t have to – as she said, not enjoyable.
Now for the less fun part: having a little talk with my friend’s husband next time we get together.
Love it!
Of course it’s given me a few ideas about what to do with the excess pussycat issue around here.
Very interesting, that tailored forwarding list of his. As you say, it means he knew exactly who was likely to be offended by it, and that means that at some level he also knew exactly what was offensive about it.
never mind bombs, let’s talk about cruelty to the family CAT
Vile all over.
“Cheezel dust” is going in the pool room.
Good on you. I read about it at Feministe first but it was nice to see over here the back-story.
Cruelty to teh kitteh = yet another aspect of ick. Commenter at Feministe: That is not a happy cat. Another commenter: “Can you imagine the time it took to make that little outfit? What kind of mind spends HOURS just to create a truly offensive image?”
Exactly.
Tim, I can’t claim originality for Cheezel dust as it’s just an australianised version of a common US cliche. It’s shorthand for… some blog/forum commenters. You know which ones.
Promise me you’ll post about the beati- I mean conversation you have with that guy.
A particularly revolting variety of anthropomorphism.
OK, a bit of bad taste but would be funny for some.
Let me play Devils’ advocate here:
a) sounds as if he’s got the measure of who’s got what sense of humour in the family and chose not to impose/offend. He chose not to offend and here you are telling the world to take offense.
b) Islam is not a race. Muslims are not a race.
c) I am not aware of any Muslims in my neighbourhood (and there are quite a few, both residents and overseas students, both secular and traditional) being under seige by non-Muslims, much less having rocks thrown or hijabs torn off. What on earth is going on in your neighbourhood?
d) Sure there are rednecks around, but stuffed if I am going to judge and live my life as if all Australians as rednecks and stuffed if I am going to judge or live my life as if all Muslims as Islamists. You however seem quite ready to put everyone into one box and behave accordingly and expect others to behave accordingly
e) In any case, Islamic terrorism is a problem and a global problem at that. There is no country in the world, Islamic or otherwise, that doesn’t recognise that or doesn’t have to deal with it. From Malaysia to Saudi Arabia and from Thailand to Britain. Muslims themselves know that because they are usually the victims and they are also usually the ones helping authorities weed them out. To pretend there is no problem or that it is not related to Islamic ideology is not doing them any favours.
f) hardly cruelty to a cat. “This is cruelty. It comes complete with a bunch of gutless pontificating wankers who just stood by and did nothing, because another wanker told them so.
Yes, religious group rather than race or ethnicity.
But the parallels with the icky cartoons with ugly jews in them that circulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries jumps out at me.
I’ve made it clear that the pps is totally unfunny, so I can’t say your point in claiming he sent it to people “with a sense of humour”. You’re just recycling the old, “Oh, can’t you take a joke?” It’s all very well for us, with our bulging knapsack of white privilege, to think that it should be OK for us to make hate speech about other groups in society, but we tend to discount how it really feels for the attacked group.
Yes, Muslims have been on the butt end of social hatred, as you well know. To try to invalidate my argument by asking if I’d actually personally witnessed such behaviour in my neighbourhood is sophism at its worst. Have you witnessed any terrorist jihadists setting bombs off in your neighbourhood?
You completely and utterly ignore the misogynist element which is part and parcel of it. This is an indication of white western male attitudes, so we own it, not the attacked group. Is that why you gave that important element of it a free pass?
P.S. I guess this doesn’t count as an underground river of misogynism. Nor this as an underground river of racism. Or is that ethnicism and culturalism? Maybe this is underground enough.
Maybe skip the lecture Helen. I think you are smarter than that.
Good on you Helen, there are examples of this by the truckload in our society. We are encouraged to let them slip under the radar in the interests of humour or free speech.
I think American Imperial Terrorism is actually a bigger problem saint and frankly I’d prefer to live among sane, rational, Muslims than Christians ANY DAY.
Oh and I hope the cat gets its revenge.
Sorry about the technical problems which resulted in us being off the air. We’re back http://www.tellthetruthcoalition.org.au.
Your glory days are over girls and boys! The prolife movement is now gaining the power to do what it has not been able to do forever; i.e. tell the truth. And we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words don’t we?
The misery that abortion has inflicted on women, children and society is coming to an end. We’ll be picking up the pieces for a long time yet but the tide is turning.
Ron Van Wegen
P.S. You ain’t seen NOTHIN’ yet!
P.P.S. YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET!
It was hilarious, your friend displayed shrewd judgement by sharing the humor only with those that would have appreciated it. FFS get over yourself.
Wow, feminists really do lack a sense of humour.
Feministas like you make me laugh!
“Because women are “owned” by the people (who are presumed to be dudes) of the other ethnicity.”
Why don’t you stop pussy-footing around the real issue. That is, that muslim men treat their women like cattle. We don’t do it -THEY do it (and quite barbarically too) -capiche?
But, no -you don’t want to jump on that issue because that would upset your liberal (read -comfortable suburban left-of center) views. -So you (the feminist) are in a quandry -aren’t you.
The risk of appearing racist just makes it too difficult for you to “grab the muslim bull by the balls” -so to speak.
But it’s easier to pick on brow-beaten middle class western white men isn’t it?
Stop being a coward.
It seems to me that this is exactly in the same spirit as the Vagina monologues, except that this is the Pussy monologues. Your friend probably thought highly of you and was obviously very wrong. Go tell him!
What a humorless, po-faced, cultural-self-loathing dope you must be! Have you thought about getting a life? Or a sense of humor?
Since I started watching the company emails go past, I can clearly see the underground network of racists in my workplace. They don’t discuss their cult openly, but they keep re-assuring each other on the down-low. It’s amazing how much time they’ll put into crap like this.
No doubt you are equally revolted when Leunig posts some of his antisemitic cartoons equating Jews with nazis.
Just a small point, but as a feminist, how do you reconcile tolerance of different religious beliefs and the subjugation of women as required by Islam? I have always found it fascinating that a movement that has worked for decades to get equality will march side by side against free market advocates with Islamists who advocate stoning rape victims to death.
But of course cats should not be mistreated and associated with this vile behaviour.
I’m going to quote Kate Harding yet again.
And anti-Muslim hate is absolutely informed and inflamed by racism and xenophobia, even if the correspodence between being Muslim and being of Middle-Eastern-origin isn’t one-to-one in the real world. Do you think the builder of this joke was picturing a white Australian Muslim woman?
I for one am totally outraged at the foul stereotype of kitties as vicious homocidal bombers.
Very, very few actually are.
Yes, it is offensive. Genital mutilation is common, women are stoned to death for adultery, and can be raped if they leave the home without a male relative in Islam. But look at the bright side, women can now drive in Saudi Arabia.
So you’re a feminist who’s worried about mysogyny, but you have no problem with Islamic culture and society? Or is that you think only Western women are entitled to equal rights? If so, who’s being rascist now?
Why don’t you stand up for your muslim sisters living under sharia, if you have any guts, and stop sledging some family friend of yours who’s making a harmless joke ! Your hypocrisy is scary, and brutal.
But the parallels with the icky cartoons with ugly jews in them that circulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries jumps out at me.
What about the ones with ugly Jews in them that circulate daily in Iran and Saudi Arabia?
Also how can you even possible begin to accuse mainstream Western society of being inherently misogynist and therefore bad in the sentence as defending mainstream Muslim society? Next time you drive around in a car that you are allowed to drive or go outside without a male escort with your neck in full view just be thankful that you live in Australia.
Helen Says: “But the parallels with the icky cartoons with ugly jews in them that circulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries jumps out at me.”
There are also those icky cartoons with ugly jews circulating in today’s Arab press. But I’m sure that was merely a completely innocent oversight on your part.
I can see her face does that mean I have to marry her.
Best photo I have seen for a while. Get a sense of humour lady.
“We are at war with all Muslims. Humiliating (up to and including raping) “their” women is a legitimate war tactic.”
I marvel at how your Feminist Logic (TM) allows you to go straight from a picture of a cat in a funny costume directly into accusations of rape.
You make that huge mental leap with such practiced ease! Have you been associated with the feminist movement for some time?
Oh Lauredhel, I should have thought of that quotation.
It’s attained classic status now, I think.
that American imperialism will get you every time.
it’s ‘rascism’, not ‘racism’.
time for a bex, a cuppa and a good lie down.
that’s a good little lady.
I think the points about having no problems with the governments of Saudi and Iran’s treatment of women and then becoming hysterical about this, have been well made.
Tastless powerpoint. Probably.Your comments? Rubbish. I’ve never seen someone as self important.
My point then is that this male ex friend of yours has achieved something very valuable.
He’s rid of you.
Some of the people in this comments thread seem to think that a feminist has no right to comment on anything anti-Muslim until they are also prepared to attack Muslims over human rights abuses on women. Some people here even seem to think that outright racism mixed with a mockery of women is also fine when it comes to Muslims because some Muslims are racist and treat their women like dirt.
Get over it. This type of racism is not OK and nobody mentioned what other cultures get up to. This blog post was clearly about racism and anti-female rhetoric from OUR CULTURE. And the author has every right, even an obligation to comment on it as a member of that culture.
Those of you arguing that it was just a little joke and don’t know that such images are a symptom of thinking that leads to genuine abuses are ill-advised. I’ve also received racist and often misogynistic forwarded on emails and every time have wondered how on earth people find this sort of nonsense amusing.
I’m sure that in some infantile way it is funny, but I wonder if it is only funny to misogynist, racists who think that in some sick way it validates their own deformed view of the world.
Perhaps you would be happy if every single blog post ever published on any blog in the future that argues against racism or misogyny has to also put in a disclaimer stating that Muslims are also racist and misogynistic. Would that help you sleep at night?
Summers, you’re spot on, as is Lauredhel with Kate H’s quote. But it wouldn’t do much to help them sleep at night – I think the drugs are doing that already!
Saint, where do you get off coming the “don’t you have a sense of HUMOUR” card re. an invitation which appears to be for viewing someone’s vagina, while going the complete prune-faced hissy fit on this quite funny ad – and throwing in a gratuitous rant on how Ford ads are PANDERING TO TEH GAY??! Breathtaking hypocrisy. Where’s your sense of humour, mate? or does it only apply to religious-slash-ethnic groups you’d like to bully.
You don’t really get a pass on the “Muslim bashing not racist”, either. Besides the fact that racism, antisemitism and other religious persecution come from that same poisoned underground river, we all know that it’s people of “middle eastern appearance” who suffer the most odium at the moment.
A note to others, I am a patient moderator but some people are going close to the edge of batshit abuse. I do reserve the right to disemvowel where necessary, so do make sure that your priceless pearls of wisdom and logic (not) are actually civil enough to make it here in a readable format, otherwise you’re wasting your (doubtless!) valuable time.
(However, I do reserve the right for a little judicious mockery myself, as the owner of the blog):
Ronald van W, ya bloody dickhead, you’ve posted to the wrong thread!
Get your trousers off your head!
the damage your lack of perspective is doing to the lives of your poor children is truly sad.
Hey. Eee pee is back! As for the others, WTF?
Cmn t’s fnny. Mch fnnr thn lkng t rl bg stnky hry mslm pssy – whch, ncdntlly, wld prbbly b mch lk lkng t yrs,ll bt!
[(Sigh) I knew that the disemvowelling threat would be an irresistible challenge for some. It does wear off after you hit sixteen, dude. CIBalcony]
Lighten up a bit. You’ll live longer.
If that is the most offensive thing you see all day, count yourself lucky.
Let me get this right.
You run – by your own admission – an “opinionated” blog on the Internet and you’re upset about receiving a silly email.
I see.
“Now for the less fun part: having a little talk with my friend’s husband next time we get together.”
I think the fun part would be if someone sent your male ex friend a link to this web post and let him read the comments
why dont you do it? you sent it on to all your mates anyway
really lighten up
“Now for the less fun part: having a little talk with my friend’s husband next time we get together.”
f h fst-fcks yr fc nd psts t n ytb ll by a rnd f brs fr vryn.
["Gloria", if you think that this sort of thing guarantees your popularity with the Boyz, unfortunately - like most others on this thread - you are delusional. -CIBalcony]
“But the parallels with the icky cartoons with ugly jews in them that circulated in the 19th and early 20th centuries jumps out at me.”
Um no, I don’t see those parallels.
“I’ve made it clear that the pps is totally unfunny, so I can’t say your point in claiming he sent it to people “with a sense of humour”. You’re just recycling the old, “Oh, can’t you take a joke?” It’s all very well for us, with our bulging knapsack of white privilege, to think that it should be OK for us to make hate speech about other groups in society, but we tend to discount how it really feels for the attacked group.”
Again, no problem if your sense of humour is different (although you discount the possibility your friend has a different sense of humour). You see this as hate speech. I don’t. Yes perhaps in bad taste and aspects of it are certainly do not appeal to my sense of humour.
But ultimately it mocks people’s prurient imagination and mocks Muslim suicide bombers and the Islamic ideology which informs it, both of which deserve mockery in my view.
If Helen you think your emailer is a “misogynist” and “racist” (what? on the basis of one email? do you have any further evidence of this?) then perhaps you are better off asking your friend why she is still married to him.
Sstr y nd t gt sm cck.
Jane
“Jane”, your parents must be so proud. CIBalcony
Hey look how easily that river came gushing to the surface. Gah.
A guy walks into a bookstore, and approaches the woman behind the counter. “Excuse me,” he says, “Could you tell me where the humour section is?”
“This is a feminist bookstore,” she shouts. “There is no humour section.”
I can’t seem to find your post of outrage when al Queda used two retarded women as human bombs in Iraq.
Can you please point that one out; I’d like to compare your level of outrage at real human depravity that killed nearly 50 people, as compared to your outrage at this minor powerpoint presentation that hurt no one.
Thought so.
Thanks for your post. Should I need to point out to anyone why feminists are not to be taken seriously anymore, I’ll point them to this site.
Thanks for the photo – I can’t wait to send it to my friends, including some of my women friends, who, unlike you, have a sense of humor.
Thank God most women are not womyn.
The pu$$y. Is it circumcised?
Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: THAT’S NOT FUNNY!