A must read article about how single women are being hit hardest in the housing crisis. Turns out women are more likely to get subprime loanseven when they earn the exact same amount as men. African-American women were FIVE times more likely to get hit with subprime mortgages than white men- even when they earned double the area's median income!
Excerpt:
Several studies have shown that women -- and women of color, in particular -- are more likely than men to be targets of subprime and predatory lenders, and that many of the women who have lost their homes to foreclosure could have qualified for lower-cost loans. And although there are no data comparing foreclosure rates between men and women, subprime loans have a higher rate of default. So with foreclosures soaring, experts say women are at particular risk of losing their homes.
Shocking! Sexism and racism bites women in the ass!
This may be old and no longer airing (I saw it on a recorded TV show on our DVR) but regardless, I'm shocked that this was EVER considered a good idea.
And it makes me sad because I like going to Burger King -- their apple fries and $1 side salad is a perfect snack.
I know Burger King has a history of stupid ads but this one is seriously making me reconsider if I should put any money in their pocket. Plus, it's not an appetite boost to see a man unhinge his jaw and swallow a triple woppher.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post titled, "You've got racism in my sexism." And I see now that I missed the point and the bigger issue.
When I wrote it, I didn't intend to throw my hat into the pissing contest of what's worse-- racism vs. sexism. But I see now that I did. And to be fair, I still have some mixed feelings. In my opinion, the mainstream media does seem more comfortable being sexist, than racist. For instance, the Washington Post gleefully published (and defended) their Charlotte Allen op-ed piece "Women are stupid" but the idea of publishing a “Blacks are dim” article--- probably not going to get past the editor’s desk…
All that aside--- since my original post, I've been doing a lot of thinking on the subject of racism. While I may see a society that’s more sensitive to race, there’s no way as a white woman that I can gauge this.
The Utopian Eye-Gouger who says: “I’m colorblind, personally… why can’t we all just ignore race, it’s not like it’s even real… it’s not like I tangibly benefit from being white every day or anything! Can’t we all just get along?”
I see a little bit of myself in this description.
In my Midwest upbringing, I met very few people of color and all my close friends were/are white. When I meet a person of color, I tend to feel uncomfortable because I want to appear progressive and friendly. I desperately want to be perceived as this perfect, color-blind, liberal that “gets it.”
Well I totally don’t get it. It’s safe to say I will never completely understand the complex issues of racism that plague this country. I can read about them, educate myself and strive to be a good, decent human being but I’ll never get what it is to be anything other than a white American.
Racism is an uncomfortable subject for me, I want to be progressive and understanding, but I’ve had such a lack of socialization with people of other races or even other backgrounds!
My senior year of college, I took a religion course in Islam. Several of my classmates were from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. This was my first time sitting side-by-side with Arab men and women. I was hyper aware (and consequently, hyper uncomfortable) about how I sounded when I voiced concerns about treatment of women in these countries.
And while I have a right to those concerns, I’m painfully aware of how obnoxious I sound as a white, American middle-class, Christian woman seemingly “passing judgment” on a country she’s never seen and on Muslim women she’s never really spoken too.
We need to tread lightly on these issues. We need to remember that as much as our gender and skin color affect the treatment we get in this world—it does not define us—it does not make us more or less qualified for a job—in this case, the Presidency.
I stand by my original complaint—in that I do feel that our mainstream media has a long way to go in addressing sexism with the same respect they often give racism (Echidne says it better than I could) but overall I am sick of the rhetoric I’ve allowed myself to fall into.
Then I saw this youtube video the other day...
It was like the light bulb clicked on—NO ONE CAN WIN fighting this way. "Hillary doesn’t know what it’s like to be called a nigger." Fine, Barack doesn’t know what it’s like to be called a cunt.
"Barack knows what it’s like to grow up in a culture that is led by rich white people." Yes and Hillary knows what it’s like growing up under the thumb of patriarchy (one of my fave Hill tidbits is that, as an adolescent girl she wrote to NASA asking how she could be an astronaut and they wrote back saying “we don’t accept women into the program.") -- well it goes on and on.
Seeing that video really pissed me off. Suddenly (when it's from the 'other side'-- go figure) I see, ALL TOO CLEARLY, why this is no-win. It's a sad, sad reality when we're so unprepared for anyone not white, male and Christian to run for President that we climb over each other in effort to prove "who's got the worst 'ism'.
Let's still take this opportunity to have productive discussions about the pervasiveness of racism and sexism in America (and how those two intersect in a real way for women of color)-- but let's shut up already when it comes to pitting Obama and Hillary against each other in the war of the ism's.
Yes SOME women might like voting for Hillary because she's a woman. Yes SOME black people may like voting for Barack because he's black. But does anyone ever ask if McCain get votes from white guys just because they want to elect a white guy??? People have always voted for the candidate who best represented their beliefs-- now is no different .
I realize I'm the last person in the world to comment on this phenomenon of the Barack vs. Hillary/Racism vs. Sexism debate. But I just hate it. I'm over all those pointless debates: "Is it harder to elect a black man or a white woman?" or "What's harder racism or sexism"? However, the more I think about this debate, the more I realize that maybe I have something to say...
As a white woman, I can never pretend to understand racial issues as a person of color would. But as a woman, I can certainly understand sexism as its been leveled at me on more than one occasion . And honestly I do think that our culture tolerates sexism more than racism (and yes, this is all the worse for women of color) .
Think about this: What's the worst name you can call a woman? Probably a cunt. And Hillary Clinton has certainly been labeled a "cunt" and worse. How about the worst name you could call a black person? How often have you seen THAT word on t-shirts sold at conservative rallies? Yes, white supremacists groups have used that despicable word against Obama, but the public at large acknowledges their evil, stupid, wing-nuttery. There's even a physical revulsion when people hear the n-word. But how many "mainstream" groups have called Hillary "cunt" with no shame at all?
And then you have this:
Man yelling "Iron my shirt!" as Clinton tries to deliver her speech.
Has anyone yelled at Obama, "Work my fields?" And if they did, wouldn't that be FRONT PAGE /headline news? Wouldn't there be loads of outraged op-eds (as there should be)? But the "Iron-my-shirt" incident was barely a blip on the political radar.
I interpret the non-acknowledgement of this shit as our culture's ultimate victim blaming. We refuse to acknowledge the seriousness of these insults and it says to Hillary and to all women, "You invite this behavior on yourself. If you stayed out of the way, this wouldn't happen."
Women are expected to put up with sexism. Did mainstream media (or anyone) rush to her Hillary's defense when she was called a cunt, a bitch, a she-deviland weirdly enough, even called a pimp and her daughter was the whore?
Then the media jumped down her throat when her voice cracked ONCE on the campaign trail-- and it's not even when she's speaking of the unfair scrutiny she has received for simply being a woman who dared to dream of being the President--- NO-- it was when she spoke of her great love of this country.
What a whiny bitch, huh?
This invisible sexism extends beyond politics. Remeber when Imus called a group of female athletes "nappy headed?" We (rightly) fired him but we also conveniently overlooked him calling them "hos." A racial slur = bad but calling a group of women 'whores'---just par for the course. However, I'm willing to bet the women of Rutgers noticed both.
Well if I speak the truth, and sexism is more accepted in this culture--- you may ask yourself, "Fine Tobes, who do you blame for this supposed problem?"
Seriously, click that link and read the whole blog post-- it wisely points out that a culture that relies on "men and women are so different" stereotypes isn't doing anyone any favors.
Today we teach our children that color is only skin deep but we still cling to the notion that men and women are fundamentally different and need to be treated as such. In the blog about MafMWafV, the blog author wisely states:
The whole concept of gender differences--particularly gender opposites--is so overblown in pop psych. I am officially sick of hearing statements in the form "Men go hoody hoo, but women go haddy ha!" Men are rational but women are irrational. Women are sensitive but men are insensitive. The idea that male and female personalities are opposites is dumb, condescending, and makes truly respectful relationships impossible.
And it makes it impossible for us to recognize that women are just as capable as men. We are not aliens sharing a planet, we're all a part of the human race. The fact that Hillary has a vagina does not make her any more or less capable that any male politician out there.
We look the other way so much when it comes to sexism that we don't even recognize a classic example of sexism when we see it!
James Wolcott of Vanity Fair illustrates this point beautifully in his op-ed "You can Call a Woman anything", talking not just about Hillary/woman-hate but also about women's inclusion in professional sports.
Wolcott writes briefly about Elaine Joyce, a champion amateur golfer. She and her father were looking forward to a weekend tournament at the public course on Cape Cod where they both had full memberships. But their names were not listed when officials posted tee times. Rather than call Elaine, the club's head pro called her father and told him the tournament was not open to women.
It did not matter that Joyce would play from the men’s tees. Or that she had won more than 20 club championships over the years. Or that she had captured the title in 2001 at an event for the state’s top female club champions.
Elaine Joyce filed a discrimination claim and after 18 (18!) months was allowed to play again. But she was punished.
Some members of the group were appalled and let her know it. One said he would play only if she played naked. Others walked off the course when paired with her. Some refused to speak to her during rounds.
If any club tried to deny a man of color entry-- would it not be news story #1? But a woman is denied entry and shunned and we shrug our shoulders and say its their business, their right?? I mean, why should they have to put up with the woman... the other?
I'm tired of the pissing contest of "what's harder" when it come to race/gender in this election. But I'm also a little miffed as to why this hasn't sparked more discussion.
But then there's the sports anchor (and a woman at that) who commented on "lynching Tiger Woods" and Bill O'Reilly talking about lynching Michelle Obama and plenty of other horrible racist shit....
There really is no point in havin the "what's worse" discussion because it's all horrible and it's all connected and it's all about keeping us down.
I'm just tired of a media society that will ignore Hillary bashing (or participate in it) and at the same time, bat their eyes in a, "What's sexism?" sort of ignorance. Seriously. You KNOW what you're doing... now STOP IT!
A new study shows that emergency room doctors are prescribing strong narcotics (morphine, oxycodone etc) more often to patients who complain of pain. However white people get them more than minorities.
In more than 2,000 visits for kidney stones, whites got narcotics 72 percent of the time, Hispanics 68 percent, Asians 67 percent and blacks 56 percent.
Side Rant: Just a quick "duh" statement, if you'll pardon me: 72 percent vs. 56 percent is a big FUCKING disparity!
Minorities were slightly more likely than whites to get aspirin, ibuprofen and similar drugs for pain.
Wow. That's so distressing I don't know where to begin.
Over a year ago I was rushed to the ER with terrible abdominal pain. Even though I was 22, I remember being so scared that I was crying for my mother. I had never felt pain like that. Luckily, I had a very good doctor who, as soon as possible, hooked me up to an IV that made the pain stop. When it did, I could thankfully fall asleep.
Side Note: They found a large tumor on my ovary, which luckily (oh so luckily) for me, turned out to be benign.
The pain that I was in that night made me terribly afraid. It's horrifying to think that my white skin was the deciding factor in me getting adequate help vs. ibuprofen.
Obviously, ER doctors have to be careful and watch for drug seekers. But it's a HUGE stereotype to assume that drug seekers are minorities-- and it's an incorrect assumption at that:
The irony is that blacks are the least likely group to abuse prescription drugs. Hispanics are becoming as likely as whites to abuse prescription opioids and stimulants, according to research.
One doctor in the story commented that 'everyone has social bias' but it's especially disturbing to see this affecting our healthcare in this way. Witholding pain medication when someone is passing kidney stones is akin to torture. And there's something particularly telling that minorities are targeted. Is the bias against drug-seeking minorities, or do you just NOT CARE if those different from you are in pain?
If I were a doctor in the ER, maybe I would be just as bad. I can already tell you I may refuse pain meds to certain people based on my "social bias" --- only I'd pick shitty, white conservative pundits with proven history of drug seeking. This means you, Rush Limbaugh.
I never watched Dog the Bounty Hunter. My mom was a fan and I wanted to like him in theory... until I found out he was a psycho racist.
You know what really creeped me out about this video was the total lack of understanding. I really almost pity Dog. He called her a "n***er" and a "whore" and told his son not to see her. Rather than apologize for using those stupid, racist words, he tears up and says:
I've never met her, she's a cute little girl, I didn't know that, I never knew what she looked like..... I'm so sorry, honey. I'm not like that-- you know that.
Okay? Way to miss the point.
What did he expect her to look like? Some cracked out street whore? I guess so, cause she's black. But now he sees that she's beautiful, well-dressed & well-spoken... NOW she's deserving of apology?
Gee wiz, little girl, if I'd a known your was purdy, I'd never call you a nigger!
And she's a CUTE LITTLE GIRL? A CUTE LITTLE GIRL?
And then he calls her honey?
Oh dog, honey you need to visit dictionary.com and look up SELF AWARENESS.
You call someone a nigger and make up for it by telling them they're pretty? It's like he truly doesn't get it.
Then to top it all off, he says "you know I'm not like that." UM DUDE? Clearly you are.
Everyone is talking about the Michael Richards freak-out. And it's no wonder. If you saw his racist freak out at the laugh factory, you might be left wondering, as I was, "What the hell."
Watching the video, I actually moaned in agony for Richards. It was just brutal to watch. It was as if he had gone completely mad and as he came back to reality, you could feel the horror in his voice. While I condemn the words he used, I have found myself respecting his apologies. He never blamed his racist speech on alcohol or drugs (which surprised me since he came off seriously whacked out) and he is making a real effort to start a dialogue, for example speaking on Jesse Jackson's radio show.
Richard's freak out, reminded me of the Mel Gibson's anti-Jew tirade, and it made me really start thinking about these celebrities with racist meltdowns. We give them a lot of press time because A) it's scandalous and B) It involves celebrities. Yet, I often find myself thinking-- would anyone give a second thought if a male celebrity went on a rampage insulting women?
For example, ---- If Michael Richards screamed into the audience "shut up ***" insert horrible word here "Bitch," "cunt" etc. Would we still be talking about it? Would he have to apologize on Leno, Letterman or whatever?
Think about it. In his arrest Mel Gibson also harassed a female police officer calling her "sugar tits." Hardly any press people reported on this and if they did, it was only in passing.
I certainly am not suggesting that slandering Jewish people or black people is any light matter. I'm glad the public is holding Michael Richards and Mel Gibson accountable and forcing them to accept some responsibility. However, I just wonder... would a vicious attack on women get similarly shunned by the public or would we shrug and just accept it as another example of woman-bashing?
...Discovered this quote while searching for info on a town devestated by Hurricane Katrina. This quote comes to you courtesy of Rush Limbaugh. Hope it was the pain pills talking:
"I mean, why didn't these morons leave New Orleans before the hurricane? I'll tell you why: because they wanted to rape and loot! That's just the way some people are! And if they're black--if the rapists and looters are black--it's not George Bush's fault! We've had these problems ever since the Emancipation Proclamation. Once the whites leave town, all you've got is overwhelming lawlessness. That's not racism, Mr. Snerdley; it's a proven, demonstrable fact. Have you even seen a ghetto in Greenwich, Connecticut? I rest my case." [9/12/05]
