OT: Sens Lounge XCVII: "Zorf; 21 times!" Edition

[Micklebot]

Samantha Bee in trouble for using a naughty word on her show now.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Samantha Bee in trouble for using a naughty word on her show now.

The uproar wouldn't be half of what it was if her target had been literally any other person in the world. Gendered language, sure, and probably a bit more crass than needed, but the word isn't the reason for the outrage as much as it is the easy target. Pretty clear the administration just doesn't like people talking poorly about anyone within it.

 

[stempniaksen]

The word is 100% the issue. People crap on the administration all the time without getting 1/10th of the blowback that Samantha Bee got.

People equating it to the Roseanne stuff are out to lunch, but it was a pretty dumb move by Samanatha Bee, the producers and the network to let that word slip through.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

The word is 100% the issue. People crap on the administration all the time without getting 1/10th of the blowback that Samantha Bee got.

People equating it to the Roseanne stuff are out to lunch, but it was a pretty dumb move by Samanatha Bee, the producers and the network to let that word slip through.

I don't think it was wise to use that specific word either, but I'm confident that calling her an a-hole would've been met with the same vitriol.

 

[maclean]

I'd never heard of Samantha Bee before this moment but it seems like a pretty clear case of one side latching on to something post-Barr to try to say "see you're just as baaad" (imagine whiny voice)

 

[Micklebot]

The word is 100% the issue. People crap on the administration all the time without getting 1/10th of the blowback that Samantha Bee got.

People equating it to the Roseanne stuff are out to lunch, but it was a pretty dumb move by Samanatha Bee, the producers and the network to let that word slip through.

Tbh, the backlash is clearly politically motivated imo. If she had used that word about someone outside the political spectrum, you don't hear anything about it. The language made it easy to cry wolf though.

Agree with you that it was pretty foolish for the network and Bee to not recognize the poopstorm this would cause though.

 

[stempniaksen]

Tbh, the backlash is clearly politically motivated imo. If she had used that word about someone outside the political spectrum, you don't hear anything about it. The language made it easy to cry wolf though.

Agree with you that it was pretty foolish for the network and Bee to not recognize the poopstorm this would cause though.

It's definitely politically motivated as well, I'm not denying that aspect of it. That being said, the backlash would be way, way less had she used a different word, literally any other word.

That specific word is (extra) toxic in North American culture though, people lose their minds over it regardless of context.

 

[Micklebot]

It's definitely politically motivated as well, I'm not denying that aspect of it. That being said, the backlash would be way, way less had she used a different word, literally any other word.

That specific word is (extra) toxic in North American culture though, people lose their minds over it regardless of context.

agree to disagree I guess. Pretty sure it's been used on a ton of HBO shows without incident, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

agree to disagree I guess. Pretty sure it's been used on a ton of HBO shows without incident, but maybe I'm wrong.

You're correct. Bill Maher uses it frequently with next to no backlash.

 

[stempniaksen]

agree to disagree I guess. Pretty sure it's been used on a ton of HBO shows without incident, but maybe I'm wrong.

HBO is kind of it's own beast, they get away with a lot more than a typical network would. But point taken.

 

[Micklebot]

You're correct. Bill Maher uses it frequently with next to no backlash.

I was thinking maybe John Oliver when you goes on one of his patented off-colour rants about the hypothetical girl in accounting, but yeah, Maher I'm almost positive I've heard use it.

 

[stempniaksen]

You're correct. Bill Maher uses it frequently with next to no backlash.

Maher is special as well, I have no idea how he gets away with half the stuff he does. Didn't he get in trouble for dropping the N-word last year? And somehow still has his job? Literally anyone else on television would have been fired on the spot, but somehow he's back on the air the next week.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

Maher is special as well, I have no idea how he gets away with half the stuff he does. Didn't he get in trouble for dropping the N-word last year? And somehow still has his job? Literally anyone else on television would have been fired on the spot, but somehow he's back on the air the next week.

Yuuuuup. Also gave Milo Yiannopoulos a platform to spew his hate speech and, unlike some of his more deliberate "target" guests, seemed to earnestly engage him in conversation and grant his ideas legitimacy. I guess his whole schtick is the "it's funny when people are offended" thing, but he takes it way too far. Don't know many who would lose sleep over his cancellation.

 

[BonkTastic]

I don't see what the big deal is, here.

Is it that she used that particular word on TV? Is this a "decency on network television" thing?

If the complaint is that a comedian used harsh language in a bit, that complaint is about 40 years too late to really be taken seriously.

 

[Micklebot]

I don't see what the big deal is, here.

Is it that she used that particular word on TV? Is this a "decency on network television" thing?

If the complaint is that a comedian used harsh language in a bit, that complaint is about 40 years too late to really be taken seriously.

The complaint appears focused on the double standard (Barr fired, Bee won't be) for using a term steeped in racism vs one steeped in misogyny. I don't think it's that Bee used the word on TV, thought that made sure everyone knew she said it.

Like I said, the bulk of the outrage here appears to be manufactured.

 

[BonkTastic]

using a term... steeped in misogyny.

Eh, we call people "dicks" all the time, and nobody calls foul on basis of gender.

Equal opportunity insults. I fail to see how one is any worse than the other.

Like I said, the bulk of the outrage here appears to be manufactured.

Yeah, seems that way.

 

[Smash88]

That's apparently the worst thing you can call another woman, according to the women I work with.

 

[Micklebot]

Eh, we call people "dicks" all the time, and nobody calls foul on basis of gender.

Equal opportunity insults. I fail to see how one is any worse than the other.



Yeah, seems that way.

I think there is a stark difference wrt to the historical connotation between the two terms. In terms of anatomy, sure, they are similar, but the similarity kind of stops there.

 

[stempniaksen]

Eh, we call people "dicks" all the time, and nobody calls foul on basis of gender.

Equal opportunity insults. I fail to see how one is any worse than the other.



Yeah, seems that way.

In theory you may be right, but in practice it's infinitely worse.

 

[BonkTastic]

In theory you may be right, but in practice it's infinitely worse.

In North America, maybe.

Anywhere else on earth, not really. In fact, it's even a term of endearment in some countries (I'm looking at you here, Aussies)

 

[stempniaksen]

In North America, maybe.

Anywhere else on earth, not really. In fact, it's even a term of endearment in some countries (I'm looking at you here, Aussies)

Oh totally, but it's probably THE taboo word in North American culture.

 

[Senscore]

Live by the hypercharged hair-trigger gotcha style media blitzes, die by the hypercharged hair-trigger gotcha style media blitzes.

 

[BonkTastic]

I think there is a stark difference wrt to the historical connotation between the two terms. In terms of anatomy, sure, they are similar, but the similarity kind of stops there.

I would actually argue against this, actually. It is very similar historically, the only difference being one was adopted and accepted into acceptable slang far earlier, while the other retained it's "stigma" longer due to a variety of reasons - sociologically, most likely due to the history of men being comfortable talking about their genitals, versus a societal pressure among women not to talk about theirs.

 

[BonkTastic]

Oh totally, but it's probably THE taboo word in North American culture.

Which is silly, but yeah, for some reason this word sends people over the edge here.

If you ask me, continuing to force social stigma on that word is far worse than just chilling out about it and "taking it back", as it can be argued tnat the only reason it is considered as obscene as it is is due to patriarchal hiatory and anti-women social mores in Western Culture over the past 500 years.

 

[Ray Kinsella]

Eh, we call people "dicks" all the time, and nobody calls foul on basis of gender.

Equal opportunity insults. I fail to see how one is any worse than the other.



Yeah, seems that way.

I wonder if using the word “penis” instead would work the same...