The Outrage Of The “Girlie Men”
By Randall Nunn (07/20/04)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been taken to task by certain liberal politicians in the California legislature for calling those who don’t have the courage to admit that they are more beholden to special interests than to the average voter “girlie men.” “Girlie men” comes from a term used in a Saturday Night Live skit in which two Schwarzenegger-worshipping weightlifters use the term to mock those who aren’t like them. The nerve of that over-muscled, he-man weightlifter!
On the one hand, the incident is somewhat humorous but on the other hand it shows the process used successfully by liberals and many in the media to try to take away our right to use the English language if the words chosen happen to be particularly effective as a weapon of ridicule or derision. Whenever your opponent uses a word or term that is particularly colorful and effective at conveying the image or thought desired, attack the speaker and the word or phrase and make the speaker fearful of using it again. If you really work at it, and get The New York Times, the networks and the talk show hosts to pick up the cry, you might succeed in demonizing the word or phrase so that very few will be brave enough to use it again (at least against liberals).
The real key to this demonization is to demonize only those words that are used against liberals so that you can remove as many of these colorful and effective words from the arsenal of speakers and writers as possible, making their diatribes and polemics in the future boring, colorless and ineffective. Political discourse would then be erudite, measured, and offensive to no one and the average citizen would need a media pundit to translate the words for the loutish common man (or woman) who would have clearly understood the taunts if the taboo words and phrases were used. What an exciting time we would have reading and listening to the more refined and tasteful articles and speeches if the elitists are successful in intimidating the rest of us into not using the disfavored words and phrases.
If someone were to call Governor Schwarzenegger a “macho man”, I assume that would be OK because there is not yet a group that objects to the use of “man” as being offensive or insensitive. “Macho” conveys a somewhat derogatory image to most of us, but who is there that can object? Certainly no liberals because none have ever been called “macho” to my knowledge. I am not sure about “he-man” anymore, because logically it would seem that if “girlie man” is bad, “he-man” ought to be as well because it implies that there are “she-men” and that is bound to stir up some group for sure.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus in the California legislature was quick to brand Schwarzenegger’s comments as “blatant homophobia.” And that, we all have been trained by the media to know, is one of the worst sins imaginable. The Democrats said the Governor’s comments were “insulting to women and gays.” While I can see the insult to gays, I am not sure how “girlie men” insults women. I suppose “girlie” is not respectful enough but then did any women think that the term was being applied to them? If not, then the problem must be that the Governor had no right to use “girlie” when referring to certain men in the legislature, because “girlie” is simply not respectful enough to be used in any context. It has become a verboten word.
The press reports stated that the Democrats “were not amused” by the Governor’s use of the term “girlie men”. Well, I was amused. The Governor’s words conveyed a certain image, made more humorous by the well-known Saturday Night Live skits, and taunted those who cozy up to the special interests but aren’t willing to boldly defend such conduct. I understood the comment to be a gibe—a good natured or sarcastic taunt. And sometimes taunts are fun in politics. Maybe I am a troglodyte and a throwback to an earlier era when political incorrectness and insensitivity ran rampant over the face of the earth and all was darkness. Then again, maybe I am just an average guy who gets a kick out of humorous comment that taunts the political opposition. But what I need help in understanding is why calling the president a liar, killer or a person who is lining his pockets at the expense of the citizens is never criticized by the media as being “tough rhetoric” and inappropriate but is hailed as free speech, while the “girlie man” phrase which is obviously nothing more than a gibe is derided as politically incorrect by the language police in the media. Could it be that some of the “girlie men” are at the controls of the left-wing media juggernaut determined to wipe the smirks off the faces of those right-wing macho men who think this is funny?
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