I haven’t blogged on this topic in ages, but every once in a while, something crops up that brings it front and center, though the deeper issues involved aren’t usually addressed — and so that’s when I post about it again.
Let nationally syndicated radio bigot Neal Boortz show you how hair politics bullsh*t is done. He’s talking about Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), and what is and isn’t an acceptable assimilationist black hair style in his mind. (Media Matters):
BOORTZ: For instance, or for goodness sakes, jump in and I’m gonna say — I’m gonna start out with something controversial. I saw Cynthia McKinney’s new hair-do. Have you seen it, Belinda?
SKELTON: No.BOORTZ: She looks like a ghetto slut.
SKELTON: Well, how is it?BOORTZ: It’s just — it’s hideous.
SKELTON: Is it braided? Or —
BOORTZ: No, it’s not braided. It just flies away from her head in every conceivable direction. It looks like an explosion in a Brillo pad factory. It’s just hideous. To me, that hairstyle just shows contempt for — no, it’s not an Afro. I mean, no, it just shows contempt for the position that she holds and the body that she serves in. And, I’m sorry, there’s just no other way to — it’s just a hideous and horrible looking —…MARSHALL: It looks better than the braids she was wearing.
BOORTZ: No, the braids had some dignity. They had some class.
MARSHALL: The braids had dignity?
BOORTZ: They had more class than this thing.MARSHALL: This says, you know, kinda 2000s, you know, stepping up to the plate. Contemporary look, you know?
BOORTZ: She looks like Tina Turner peeing on an electric fence.
This bastard is a racist prick, and you know what? I bet he doesn’t have a clue how or why he feels the way he does about her hair — this sh*t is deep and internalized by Americans. It’s a topic no one likes to talk about.
Just so you know, that new hairstyle McKinney is wearing is called a twist-out. I used to wear it that way on occasion before I decided to loc my hair. You can do a twist-out this with unaltered, kinky hair, or, if it’s not too damaged, with relaxed hair. I can’t really tell in her case. You can wrap it wet or damp around rods or in two-strand twists. Once dried you can take it out and shape it; no hair spray needed if your hair is in a natural state.
It’s a fierce style - I don’t think it’s inappropriate for a member of Congress, though it might be non-conformist, which I think is one of the surface objections Boortz has to the style. McKinney’s braids might have received the same scorn as this new ‘do had she worn them out and loose, as opposed to pulled back, as women with straight hair do when they wear their hair in a bun. It’s clear that the Hill has its unofficial, drab “dress code.”
I would venture a guess that Boortz would have had serious problems with her conservative braid style a decade ago; braids were not considered conservative or acceptable on the job in many places, women of color (or to be more specific, women with kinky hair), if they wanted to succeed professionally (or often even keep their jobs), had to torture their hair and scalp with lye-laden relaxers to “tame” it to assume European styles — the old good hair/bad hair beast rises again. It’s as bad as the whole brown paper bag test of the black upper class.
The Freepers, I might add, show their racial moxie and affinity with Boortz with some choice quotes.
“Listen to Sha-Nay-Nay….keep your cracker hands to your damn self.”
I ain’t birthin no babies!
She looks like she stuck her finger in an electrical socket.
OH TAY!Did they use a Taser on her?
“Mrs.C don’t take no jibba-jabba from no security guard fools!”
Don King’s long lost daughter?
Good Lord. I’m surprised she doesn’t get tackled every time she goes into a store.
Buchwheat LIVES!! When I saw the presser today, I had NO idea of who that crazy woman was….really….she looks so damn different!!….and NOT for the better!!
ONET, TRITE, TREE TIME A WADY.
Yes. Racism is dead.
From one of my earlier posts on this topic, a reason why McKinney’s “hair defiance” is not about disrespect of her position, but a simple acknowledgment of “difference” and personal acceptance of her hair. That’s threatening in ways that Boortz isn’t conscious of, but it brings that visceral reaction you read right out there into the open.
The bottom line is that many black people are turning away from the chemical processes used to straighten kinky hair. Permanent chemical treatments, like perms, texturizers, alter the hair from its natural state. Sadly, the majority of black women don’t even know what the texture of their hair actually is, because they have undergone the lye (and the lie) from the time they were young — when they were told that kinky hair = bad hair. If they didn’t get that relaxer as a young child, then they underwent the torture of the hot comb.
I was old enough to experience the “pleasure” of the thermal hot comb –you rested it over the gas flame of the stove to heat it up. Then the grease was carefully applied to your hair and that comb sizzled through the kinks till it was bone straight, hissing as you prayed the comb didn’t touch your scalp — inevitably you got scalp burns because the “stylist” f*cked up. [By the way, the “stylist” for most folks was usually a relative, but in my case, everyone in my family had straight hair, so my mom had to take me to a salon till she figured out what to do.]
Once the chemical relaxer came into vogue it was the same problem with a different twist, it became a watch-the-clock endeavor to see how long you could leave the vile-smelling chemicals on to achieve maximum straightness before your scalp started to peel, burn and get open sores. Anything for that damn straight hair.
Why would anyone do this? It can’t be because it’s fun or easy to maintain. Black women who wear their hair in straight styles obsess about it all the time. Don’t let it get wet, humid or exercise too hard because if you do, it will “go back” at the least opportune moment. At this point and time, the problem is two-fold:
1) an internalized self-loathing passed down through the generations of being told your natural hair is a “problem” and “fixing” it by using such extreme measures is a means to assimilate into the dominant culture … and
2) the dominant culture still has bigoted ideas about blacks and kinky hair that can profoundly affect the employment of, and treatment of people. This of course, means #1 will continue to occur.
So to Neal Boortz, this “ghetto queen” says “Vaffanculo.”
67 Responses to “The politics of hair - Neal Boortz edition”
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Buh?
Bald male politicians look FAR more hideous (not that the style’s hideous at all, it really suits her).
Wow. WTF is up with people freaking out about hair that looks absolutely normal to me? First it was that poor kid who got suspended for her ‘wild and crazy’ highlights, now this.
I’ve seen this from both sides, growing up with (I won’t say bad…but definitely *difficult*) hair that often snapped brushes and popped pony tail holders. As soon as I was old enough to get away with it I shaved my head and grew a mohawk.
Both styles (punky and long) seem to attract people, complete strangers, who think it’s okay to pet me like a dog. Usually it’s middle aged white women squealing “Oh your hair is so pretteeeeeee” as they run their hands through it. (Or, when shaved, as they rub my scalp raw.)
There’s something about hair, and specifically women’s hair I think that draws this attention. It’s really annoying.
Plus, Neal Boortz is totally a racist.
I love him claiming that the fact that he’s taken crap for being bald lets him get away with this.
I’m bald. Have been since I was 19. Oh, it’s not a bowl of cherries or anything, but I can tell you that the worst sobriquet I’ve ever endured for baldness (something along the lines of “Hey, you’re bald!”) is not in the same universe as “ghetto slut.”
“Ghetto slut.”
I don’t care what else he said. He can criticize sartorial decisions and maybe claim it isn’t racist. And maybe, maybe someone would believe him–but he said she looks like a “ghetto slut.”
Who lives in the “ghetto?” Rich, urbane white people?
Who’s a “slut?” Men?
Boortz couldn’t have shown his stripes any more clearly if he’d said, “Hey, everyone! I hate black women!”
Which he does.
(He also probably hates blacks, and women, who are not black women. Just a hunch.)
(As for being bald attracting people–yes, it does. I’ve had my head rubbed for good luck numerous times. I don’t get it, but it beats being called a “ghetto slut.”)
The more natural hair does look better than the braids. Plus, the braids look really time consuming.
The politics of black women’s hair is a complicated issue, so hopefully i won’t trip any mines, but I really don’t like the greasy straightened hair look. I grew up around black women and girls who wore their hair in a wide variety of styles, none of them straightened. Some of the styles were simple short afros, some where elaborate woven crowns, others long braided strands. All beautiful. When I came to the US I was amazed by how many black women wore their hair in styles that were tortured and, to my eyes, ugly. Both the McKinney hairdos are cool, IMHO. I prefer the wilder look, but I always prefer the wilder look
Sort of OT: When I was a kid I was the only white kid on the block, and I had rather long hair (it was the 70’s). The girls from the neighborhood loved to braid each other’s hair, and mine was so different from what they were used to that they constantly badgered me to let them braid it. Some of the fondest memories of my life are of sitting in the warm African sun while 9 and 10 year old girls tried to figure out how to braid my hair. The look on my mom’s face when I came home with an intricate braided crown was pretty cool, too.
Boortz is a fuckstick. My son’s gf has hair that she wants desperately to straighten all the time. This pissed me off to no end that you’re working against hegemonic norms that just let no one escape sometimes, no matter how socially conscious they are.
Thinking about it more, I’d also like to add that I don’t have a problem with black women who straighten their hair.
I’ve blown my hair straight on many an occasion (usually just for special occasions as it’s sooo fucking thick it takes for-ever) just to get a different look. Also, sometimes when growing out from shaved stage I slick it back straight to achieve a sort of flapper-ish look.
Although I recognize it’s different as I’m of mixed race and my hair doesn’t have to be demolished with lye or a hot comb to go straight, I definitely felt pressure every time I did anything to my hair (bleached, straightened, whatever) to “accept myself.” Umm…what? Nobody tells the blonde who dies her hair red, or the girl with straight hair who gets a perm to ‘accept themselves.’
Also, most of the time people who say that are also people who don’t have to deal with a huge mass of thick curly hair. It’s a huge pain in the ass, especially if you’re prone to waking up 15 minutes late in the morning and have to rush out the door.
I guess it’s all in the attitude in which you do it.
One thing I’ve noticed is that while black women still straighten their hair, you never see black men do that these days. I’m whitey white, so I don’t really know how it goes.
I don’t particularly find her current hair style attractive, but what the hell, it’s not as if my approval of her fashion choices is in any way important to Congresswoman from Georgia. She’s a Congresswoman, for crying out loud, not a fashion model. What ought to matter is how she represents her constituents and the rest of the country. She’s probably not looking for the approval of this fuckstick Boortz either, so what make him think he’s entitled to make a statement like that? How the hell do conservatives get away with saying such virulently racist crap?
Nah,I think this is an atractive lady and the hair is fine.She has a mane when she wants it and the braids are cool too.Mostly what I see is that radiant smile,that says “real person”.
Jeff - teasing bald guys can have serious consequences. When some kids teased the prophet Elisha God sent bears to kill those little shits. The Bible doesn’t specify, but I’m betting they were Panda Bears.
not gonna contribute much of depth, because there’s not much point in a real dialogue on “that was increibly racist and misogynist, the FCC should be on his ass, not Janet Jackson’s boob.”
first: balding, pasty fucktards like Boortz do not get to talk about ANYONE’S hair. it’s like a homeless person insulting your drapes for being an unfashionable color.
second: “Mrs.C don’t take no jibba-jabba from no security guard fools!�?
Hannibal was the one who had no time for jibber-jabber, according to BA. How dumb do you have to be to fuck up a Mr. T quote? someone needs to put the freepers out of my misery.
third: I will complain about one of her pictured hairstyles. the second looks exactly like how my principal wore hers when I was in grade school. which I suppose is fine for a public servant, but still, bad vibes.
fourth: Vaffanculo will now be a permenent addition to my personal lexicon.
What hairstyles are ‘inappropriate for Congress’?
Talk about black women’s hair always reminds me of one of my black roommates in college (I had several) who would go through the whole hot-comb ritual every month or so in our apartment. (In the meantime, I would babysit the hairdresser’s daughter, who was the coolest, smartest 5-year-old ever and made me reconsider my stance against having children … but I digress.)
K. would always have her hair straightened into this quasi-Farrah Fawcett look, if that makes sense. Bangs with some feathering — very Channel Four News Anchor. One time, the hairdresser gave her a totally different look — hair pulled back from the forehead, crimped at the front, with loose curls at the back. It was beautiful, and SO much more flattering than her usual helmet-head.
And K. HATED it. Because it was (her words) “too ethnic.” So she went back to the unflattering quasi-Farrah look.
That was probably the first time I realized that she literally couldn’t make a rational choice about what looked best on her, because she had all these other voices in her hair dictating the limits of how “ethnic” her hair could be.
Of course, those same voices nag me about my weight, but that’s another post.
“ghetto slut”
What a prick. You all heard about how she was harrassed at the capital?
Cock-sucking bastards. It was no accident.
They fuck with her because she questions their bullshit.
The worm will turn….
Both styles (punky and long) seem to attract people, complete strangers, who think it’s okay to pet me like a dog. Usually it’s middle aged white women squealing “Oh your hair is so pretteeeeeee� as they run their hands through it.
Argh, I HATE the hair-touching people. Mine’s down to my waist, and people seem to think that means, “Please, by all means, touch my hair.” I just don’t get it.
Not much to add on the racist asshole that hasn’t already been said, though.
I like the hairstyle. I think it looks nice and natural. Who the hell is Neal Boortz to tell people how they can wear their hair? How is it appropriate to call a member of Congress a “ghetto slut?”
Wow– McKinney looks GREAT– and very professional — in both photos. What’s the hell is wrong with people?
This–
The more natural hair does look better than the braids.
I really don’t like the greasy straightened hair look
My son’s gf has hair that she wants desperately to straighten all the time. This pissed me off to no end
It was beautiful, and SO much more flattering than her usual helmet-head.
–Is all completely beside the point. I find it really frustrating that conversations about racism and sexism in the context of physical appearances inevitably turns into a free-for-all where everyone chimes in with their personal opinion of what they think is attractive or not attractive. When the discussion becomes a list of judgements and opinions obout Rep. McKinney’s new ‘do– even if they are positive ones— then it has failed at being anything but a recreation of the same kind of patriarchal, racist forum that Boortz hosts. Weighing in with opinions about the physical appearance of individual women is reproducing sexist patterns of behavior. I don’t know why, after reading Pam’s post, we aren’t narrowing our aim on Boortz. I don’t think most commenters are aware of doing this– I think it happens mostly by habit– but I think it is something to pay attention to.
Sure, it’s easy to go, “OMG, so racist!’ but without unpacking his language we’re not going to make any headway on racism. There is much to talk about besides ‘OMG so racist’; I think we’d start recognizing we live with milder and more insidious manifestations of the stereotypes that erupt so boldly and viciously in Boortz’s speech.
Pam also addresses the history of black hair styling and I think looking at broader meanings behind the issue is another appropriate place for the conversation to go. I just don’t see how it is productive to hear a bunch of people’s opinion on whether they think Rep. McK looks better in her ‘before’ or ‘after’ pic. Whether or not you think so-and-so’s new hairstyle is prettier than her old one is, honestly, a topic more appropriately disccussed on Go Fug Yourself or The Superficial.
Hissycat - Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
The presumption that women can be judged on their hairdo - on their personal appearance: that a woman who doesn’t look as if she’s gone to a lot of trouble to alter her personal appearance is worthy of contempt - that’s what we take for granted. That’s like the air we breathe.
The added factor of racism is that black women with those lovely tight curls are supposed to hate them, because only black people have that kind of hair, and therefore it can’t be worthy of admiration.
Boortz: No, it’s not braided. It just flies away from her head in every conceivable direction. It looks like an explosion in a Brillo pad factory. It’s just hideous. To me, that hairstyle just shows contempt for — no, it’s not an Afro. I mean, no, it just shows contempt for the position that she holds and the body that she serves in. And, I’m sorry, there’s just no other way to — it’s just a hideous and horrible looking
Dear sweet jesus fuck: presuming he gets to judge a member of Congress by their hairstyle? He wouldn’t do it to a man, because how a man’s hair looks is supposed to be just natural - it just grows that way - or doesn’t.
Remember that first Batman movie, when the Joker poisoned cosmetics and no one could wear them? There was a glimpse of a news studio, with one man and one woman reading the news. The man looked normal for a movie newsreader: the woman looked… well, normal in a different direction - bleached and plain. You were meant to notice she wasn’t made-up.
But, in point of fact, anyone appearing on TV in a studio wears make-up. Anyone appearing without makeup will look oddly washed-out. The cultural attitude expressed in that brief scene was that women only look attractive with layers of cosmetics: men, on the other hand, look normal and don’t need cosmetics.
I happen to like the frizz better than the braids because it makes her look like an actual person rather than a nice safe politician. However, comma, after reading Hissy Cat’s comment, I have to allow as how this is only relevant to the main point of the point in that I consider it to demonstrate what a jackhole Boortz is.
The man deserves to be taken seriously only in the sense that one “takes seriously” the annoying street lunatic who might, at any moment, leap for your throat with virginal canines on the presumption that you’re secretly a warthog demon come to steal his valuable gum wrappers. There’s an entire user on LiveJournal (terribleangel) whom I cannot friend, despite having many tastes in common with him, because he’s the kind of conservatarian who quotes Boortz to support his positions, which is a tacit admission that you’ve lost the argument whether you admit it to yourself or not.
Jesurgislac, your point about cultural attitudes concerning makeup is accurate, but the Batman scene isn’t a very good example. I remember the scene too, and the male newscaster has big dark circles under his eyes. He doesn’t look “normal.” The script (yes, I’m a big enough nerd that I read the script) explicitly calls for both newscasters to be visibly free of cosmetics.
The trouble was not that the filmmakers were trying to say that only women have to wear makeup. The trouble was that our culture expects women to wear so much makeup that it’s easier to spot the difference when she goes plain. The film crew can be faulted for laziness, because they could easily have done more to make both newscasters look washed-out, but I don’t think they can be criticized for implying that male TV personalities don’t wear make-up, because they didn’t. They just executed poorly.
How can some Boor on the radio describe a sitting Congress-person as a “ghetto slut” and not be immediately fired? What’s happened to my country?
Yes, plucky punk. And also if you’re the white mom of a mixed kid who hates to get up in the morning until the last minute, so there’s no time to do anything to the hair except run your fingers through the worst of it and hope for the best.
The minute curls sprouted on my year-old daughter’s head people started talking “perm.” She’s nine, and people who know me know not to come at me with the perm talk anymore, but they will slip in references to the hot comb all the time. And I’m not immune to bitching about her hair too, simply because it’s a lot of work and my daughter hates to sit still. Would it be easier for me (and her) if it was straight? Of course.
My experience with my daughter’s hair has given me just the tiniest fraction of understanding of what black women go through, the constant struggle to “tame” their hair, and the pressure from other women to do so.
What struck me, of course, when I first heard about Boortz’s statements yesterday, was the racial indicators. I didn’t know, at the time, who McKinney even was, but Boortz sure let me know immediately that she was black. Come on, brillo pad? Ghetto slut? The slut part was bad enough, but he had to go one further and call her “ghetto” just so everybody knew exactly what he meant.
Nothing like a white guy, a BALD white guy, thinking he can pass judgements on a black woman’s hair, and thus her blackness.
More importantly, how can a guy run around spewing ugly bullshit like referring to a Congresswoman as a “ghetto slut” and retain a mass audience?
Like ther poor, the deranged you will always have with you. You’re walking down the sidewalk and they’re heatedly lecturing the walls and birds and trees. But Boortz must have a pretty big audience, or else he wouldn’t still be on the air. What kind of morons take Boortz’s swinish rubbish seriously? How disgusting it is to realize that there are millions of idiots, possibly even your own neighbors, who when they hear a talk-radio clown casually describe a respectable adult black woman as a “ghetto slut,” not only do not recoil away appalled, but who actually find statements like that creditable, admirable, entertaining, tune in again and again?
Funny, but I remember when braided hair was what Scarlett O’Hara’s slave servant wore. Until Bo Derek made it white and blond, I never saw a woman with braids like that in print or film. So now it is the only acceptable choice (save crewcut) for and African American woman of power? Hmmm …
While it does look like they photographed Congresswoman McKinney outdoors on a windy day (in the spring? imagine!), so what? How many male congress members have to deal with this shit? Combovers and toupees and bad dye jobs and talibangelist pompadours of the Right Wing get a free pass or at best a passing shot, while a congresswoman’s natural do is a subject of this much air time?
I doubt we know all the details, but according to the report McKinney wasn’t wearing her ID which is expected of all members of congress. This combined with the fact the guard stated he did not recognize her and if she had changed her hairstyle he probably wouldn’t have, seems to suggest to me that the guard was just being cautious.
Of course if it turns out the guys an ex klansmen then I think we can find something else was on his mind.
Aside from that I’m not surprised this sort of thing doesn’t happen more often.
But the fact McKinney seemed to think she didn’t have to stop(assuming she heard him and ignored his calls) suggests she’s just as arrogant as any other member of congress(republican-wise)
MYOB’
.
Sheesh, what’s wrong with that guy? Okay, so he doesn’t like her hair. He doesn’t have to. But she’s a Congresswoman, not a pageant contestent, dressed up for our judgment. And if he is — as I assume — a political commentator, he should have more of substance to say than dishing fashion don’ts.
Not to mention what a fountain of ugly-ass combovers politics is. When we start insisting that white middleaged Congressmen lose the paunch and join the Hair Club for Men and for love of Pete, ditch the identical red ties, we can start dissing Congresswomen’s hairdos. Until then, not so much.
I hate that women’s appearance is always considered something everyone is entitled to critique, and even complying with the acceptable rules of the moment doesn’t get you out of that — if you can figure out what they are. There is no “unmarked” option that just says “normal, professional dress code” for women the way short hair and a blue suit does for men.
The hem is always too long or too short. The cut too dowdy or too sexy or too frivolous or too mannish. The hair too mannish or frumpy or young or — black, apparently. Not that I want us all to have to dress the same, I just want there not to be a constant scrutiny with no safe zone when for men (at least, white men) that isn’t true. I can’t think of a single outfit that any Congresswoman could wear that *somebody* wouldn’t feel was, not just not to their personal taste, but inappropriate.
Also, looking at the picture, WTF? It’s a perfectly fine haircut. Lots of people have hair like that. (Lots of white people with curly hair, even, not that white people’s hair should be the standard.) It’s not like she died it purple and got a mohawk –which I also think is cool, but I’d agree is not so Congressional.
And “she looks like a ghetto slut”? He really said that in public? It’s racist, classist, sexist, it’s a bundle of joy all rolled into one. Is the idea that people from the ghetto should not be in politics? That all people — or all women — from the ghetto are sluts? That a woman who looks sexually attractive or aware or empowered is not suitable to be in Congress?
On a side note though, didn’t McKinney have an entourage of assistants and other aids there to back her up or give the guard the impression she wasn’t just a lone nut trying to break in?
She’s a member of congress?? I thought these people seldom moved around town alone while they were in DC?
At worst someone should simply have assumed she was an aid or assistant herself rather than some lone nut?
MYOB’
.
I added this update to this post over at my pad:
I’ve not posted here about the police/McKinney incident because we don’t have all the facts yet (there’s apparently a videotape of the incident, which I haven’t seen). Quite frankly, in the end, it’s probably going to look like both sides are in the wrong to some extent. Yes, race probably is a factor, also on both sides (McKinney’s post-incident posturing undermines cases of blatant and extreme racism that is still rampant in society).
Whatever the facts of the incident end up telling us, the fact that, Neal Boortz took the focus back squarely on her hair to denigrate her is both racist and sexist. Debating her behavior in the incident is one matter, but it’s telling where the RepubliKKKan thinking goes.
Does this make McKinney’s press conference race card bloviating justifiable? No. Does it mean the way she was treated has nothing to do with race? No. Is she being punished for deigning to think she should have been recognized? Maybe yes, maybe no. Was it presumptuous to think she should be recognized? I don’t know.
I do know personally of a few high-minded folks (not of color), in one case a well-known academic, who plays the “don’t you know who I am?” card. I hate that crap to get rules bent or off the hook for boorish behavior, particularly abusive toward people of a lower social standing than themselves (service workers, administrative staff).
It was a beautiful thing to hear that, on one occasion, the academic pulled that crap to a service worker and was told “No, I don’t know who the f*ck you are and I don’t care.”
There is a controversial post by John @ Americablog on the McKinney incident with the cop, as well as a very hot thread of comments pro and con.
All I know is that it’s too complicated an issue for easy answers or finger-pointing.
W.Kiernan, yup, there are tons of people who think that talk like this is “telling it like it is” and “being politically incorrect.” (God, how tired I am of the phrase “politically incorrect.”)
Having a father who has a seeming grudge against black women’s hairstyles that he finds unattractive, reading this about Boortz I can tell you that this is not about the attractiveness of her hair but about her “uppityness” in choosing a hairstyle that is literally less conservative and “white.”
I’d chime in, but I’m just enjoying too much the fact that the black woman in this case is the sitting member of congress, and that the dumb-ass white guy with a sense of entitlement has exactly enough power to whinge about her hairstyle.
How can some Boor on the radio describe a sitting Congress-person as a “ghetto slut� and not be immediately fired? What’s happened to my country?
Nail. Hammer. Bang.
For those unfamiliar with Neal Boortz, know that he is the type who feels that only landowners (i.e. people with money) should be able to vote. He is very pro-wealth and pro-business, no matter the cost (hur hur). Basically, he’s got the “people who are poor are poor because they’re stupid/lazy, and therefore they deserve less than rich people” worldview.
For goodness sakes, what is wrong with just accepting women’s hair as it is? Is there some horrible rule that we have to torture our hair into a state that it doesn’t want to be in? I grew up in the ’80s when the style was the long curled/feathered look. I spent eons trying to make my hair do that everyday. It was so time-consuming.
When I finally grew uo, I decided heck with that and leave it to how it wants to be. Funny thing, it looks better natural and amazingly enough, is now in style since the long, straight style seems to be in. But now, other poor people are torturing their hair into straightness.
Can’t we all just be what we want? For those that don’t fuss, the natural thing and for those who enjoy fussing, whatever look they want. Why does what anyone else think matter?
Has Boortz actually looked in a mirror lately?
I’d be interested to know what he thinks of John Bolton’s hair. I’ve always thought that mustache showed a grave disregard for the seriousness of his position.
I think we’d start recognizing we live with milder and more insidious manifestations of the stereotypes that erupt so boldly and viciously in Boortz’s speech.
Yeah. I see this all the time with people focusing criticism on Condoleezza Rice’s hair. Have her policies and actions as national security advisor and sec’y of state not done enough harm that people have to be outraged about her hair?
Racist, sexist status quo.
Interesting - since I just started to buy clothing for interviews, I started getting clothing catalogs again.
I know Avenue is a bit young and edgy so I expect to see an “in” women’s hairstyle on the black model, but hey, I didn’t know Talbot’s marketed upscale, somewhat conservative businesswear to Ghetto Sluts!
Hmmm. I wonder what Neal the Boor would say to me? You see, I’m a redheaded white chick whose hair just so happens to do almost the exact same thing as Cynthia McKinney’s does. And yes, it’s natural. I’ve struggled with it since I hit puberty at around age 10 or so (because that’s when my formerly well-behaved hair suddenly got unruly.) You name it, I tried it; all through my teens, I was cursing in the bathroom for the better part of an hour every morning with blowdryers, round brushes and curling irons of every description.
I gave up on trying to straighten it after a disastrous flirtation with chemical straightening when I was 24. I endured two or three hours of lye-stinking scalp torture in a grotty salon. Plunked down $60. What a waste! For two whole weeks my hair was (what I would then have called) perfect. Then it began to bend, then it began to kink, then it frizzed out ten times worse than before, and then it BROKE. I was cutting split ends out of it for three whole years.
After that, I just said to hell with it, and let it do its own thing–with a bit of serum, cream or gel to give it some shine and smooth out the worst of the frizz. I let it air-dry, only comb it into place with my fingers as needed, and life is so much easier since I quit fighting with it. I can actually say I love my hair now. (The compliments I get on it don’t hurt, either.)
And then this asshole comes along and characterizes a woman in such blatantly sexist, racist terms–why? Because she doesn’t torture her hair to fake-white flatness like Dear Old Auntie Condi, whom all the freepers pretend to love? (BTW, here’s a question you’ll never see them answer: Would they love Condi so much if SHE had frizzy curls and, by contrst, McKinney had the tight-ass conk?)
And of course, he doesn’t have much hair of his own to speak of. Figures…
I just wonder what he’d do if Rep. McKinney called him baldy-headed cracker sumbitch on national TV. Not that she would; she’s got more class in one strand of her natural spiral perm than he has in his entire carcass. But I’d pay good money to watch his aneurysm pop…
Wow. I posted about this too, but at the time, I didn’t see the hairdo in question. I actually like this style better than the hairstyle on her website. I mean, as someone with curly/frizzy hair, all she needs is a little product to define the curl, but otherwise, it’s damn cute.
That bald-headed white man doesn’t know what the fuck he is talking about. What an asshole.
Karpad writes: irst: balding, pasty fucktards like Boortz do not get to talk about ANYONE’S hair. it’s like a homeless person insulting your drapes for being an unfashionable color.
——————————————————————-
Ha Ha. So funny. The homeless. They are a laff-a-minute and it’s just like being bald.
Ass
I’ve been shocked when I’ve heard from Black women I work with how much time they spend on their hair each day. I don’t want to criticize individuals for the choices they make about their appearance, of course, but I have to wonder what sort of pressures would make so many women spend two hours or more every day maintaining their hair.
I probably spend about fifteen minutes or so a day on my hair, and if I wore it short, it wouldn’t be that much. It’s rare that anyone makes a negative comment about how I wear my hair, and I’ve never gotten a negative comment from someone in a position of authority. But if a Black woman wears her hair naturally, managers will act like she’s walking around with her head on fire.
Isn’t a bald guy advising a woman about her hair sorta like a celibate priest advising a woman about her sex life?
Whether or not you think so-and-so’s new hairstyle is prettier than her old one is, honestly, a topic more appropriately disccussed on Go Fug Yourself or The Superficial.
i think you miss the point of why people comment that it looks fine to them, or that (as in my case) we’ve witnessed behavior that seems irrational to an outsider: it’s an attempt to make people look at why they find a particular hairstyle to be “ghetto.”
Of course, if you shut the conversation down at, “Well, we shouldn’t even be discussing people’s appearances at all, even in a positive way,” you’re letting Boortz and his cohorts continue a discussion behind your back, with no input from rational people. Does that actually sound constructive to you?
Mnemosyne, I think discussing Boortz’s offensive remarks and racist and sexist assumptions are constructive. I think reflecting on personal experiences and critically examining our choices and behaviors in light of wider pressures and assumptions is constructive. I think taking a moment to recognize assumptions about beauty or ability or whatever are ungrounded stereotypes and to call bullshit on them everytime they are invoked to justify a racist act or statement– I think that is constructive.
I don’t, however, see how comments like this– “all she needs is a little product to define the curl, but otherwise, it’s damn cute.”– are productive. This isn’t, like, Jane Magazine’s Make-Under, House of Reps Edition where the point is to help Cynthia achieve a more youthful, natural, dewey new look. That’s why I do not think it is constructive is me to say what I think of Rep. MKinney’s hair. And frankly I think there it is a particularly pernicious sexism gives that expresses itself when people speak as though they were entitled to eye-pleasing, politically-agreeable presentations whenever a woman makes herself public.
Oh shit, forgot to close the italics
Llelldorin: I’d chime in, but I’m just enjoying too much the fact that the black woman in this case is the sitting member of congress
Who gets harassed by security guards because they can’t believe a black woman is a sitting member of congress.
I’ve seen people saying “oh, she left her member’s pin off, the guards had a right to harass her” - but I’m wondering how often Tom DeLay wears his member’s pin? There are exactly 535 nembers of congress. They’re on TV, they’re in the news, they’re in and out of the house - how often does a member of congress who’s in the news as often as McKinney is, get challenged on not wearing their member’s pin when he’s a white man?
HissyCat: This isn’t, like, Jane Magazine’s Make-Under, House of Reps Edition where the point is to help Cynthia achieve a more youthful, natural, dewey new look. That’s why I do not think it is constructive is me to say what I think of Rep. MKinney’s hair. And frankly I think there it is a particularly pernicious sexism gives that expresses itself when people speak as though they were entitled to eye-pleasing, politically-agreeable presentations whenever a woman makes herself public.
Dead right. The point is not whether a member of congress’s hairstyle is attractive or unattractive. The point is that she’s being judged by her hairstyle because she’s a woman.
This fixation with hair and dignity is that of the occupier and the slaver, paranoid of insurgency, revolution and the ‘disloyal’ insider / servant who will use his or her close proximity to knife them in the back and let in the hoardes.
Jamaicans have a phrase for it: Natty Dread; it’s the root and origin of Dreadlocks. It’s the slaver’s fear of the slave reverting back to his and her natural state, not of ‘uncontrolled’ savagery — another pushback myth which the Department of Hooey fosters with the ‘angry’ label — but of unapologetic freedom.
That’s why there’s always this Tighty Whitey fixation with black people being ‘dignified‘ and ‘articulate‘ — the bleating hope that when the time comes for a reckoning, there can be negotiation and the revolutionary won’t be as sadistic and imperious as the overlords have been.
The right wing is fighting a war on terror all right: they fear what’s coming. As they should.
He sees independant Black women as Jezebels. If you google “ghetto slut” and get past the results about Boortz, it’s all about “Black porn” or “Interracial porn” (look at the site descriptions and see if you can stomach ‘em).
The Lacrosse gang rape defense? Same stereotype. This is the White power in action and there’s no reason to let it go on.
A few responses to comments. In a nutshell, I think most of you are attacking the wrong things:
“She’s probably not looking for the approval of this f******** Boortz either, so what make him think he’s entitled to make a statement like that?”
I somehow doubt that Boortz is looking for you approval. Does that mean you are not “entitled” to make statements about him? Free speech (including simple opinions) is a right, not an entitlement. So…. Yes. He’s entitled to say any damned thing he wants.
“Weighing in with opinions about the physical appearance of individual women is reproducing sexist patterns of behavior.”
I probably hear more critical comments about Donald Trump’s hair than any other person. (You know, the white guy?) Criticising someone’s appearance is not automatically sexist or racist, and those of you claiming such are reading WAY too much into the act of making such comments. Which leads us to…
“[P]resuming he gets to judge a member of Congress by their hairstyle?”
Again reading farther into it than you need to. There is a distinction to be made between judging a person and judging a hairstyle.
All of that being said, about the only thing I’ll agree with most of you on is that the “ghetto slut” comment crossed a line by a pretty wide margin. I do find it surprising, though that *that* wasn’t the part you emphasised in quoting Boortz. You jumped all over the “brillo pad” bit instead. (Referring to the original blog post there, not comments).
I read Boortz’s comments on his own website. He talks about her rather fondly, actually, desipte their being on opposite sides of the political fence, and it appears that they have a very friendly relationship. He jokes about an instance when he was waiting to get in somewhere, and she walked past and called out something to the effect of “Boortz? Who the hell let you in here?” She was joking, and it appears that such ribbing is part of their friendship.
I can just imagine if the situation were reversed, and he said the same thing to her. You’d all be screaming about how the “who let you in here” harkened back to segregation and how he thinks the black should have been stopped at the door.
Come on, folks. Sometimes, a spade is just a spade.
Strider: There is a distinction to be made between judging a person and judging a hairstyle.
You managed to read the whole Boortz quote and miss the point that he was judging her by her hairstyle?
I read Boortz’s comments on his own website. He talks about her rather fondly, actually, desipte their being on opposite sides of the political fence, and it appears that they have a very friendly relationship.
Apparently not friendly enough to stop him from hitting her with a one-two, racist-sexist punch on his little show there. The phrase ‘with friends like these’ springs rather instantly to mind…
I don’t really see what the huge deal is about Boortz saying this about her hair. In the grand scheme of things who really cares what he thinks? However, to say that he is a racist I think is going a little too far. Firstly it is altering the true definition of that word, consequently cheapening its original connotation. In no way does what he said show that he somehow thinks whites are inherently superior to blacks. The guy is friends and works with Royal Marshall. Further more he makes fun of stupid white people too. I really wish people wouldn’t cheapen the word “racist” with over use. That word used to truly mean something; anymore when I hear it I immediately stop caring, not because I don’t care about racism, but because too often it is misused in appropriateness or term of use. Just because someone insults a black or a woman doesn’t make that person sexist or racist.
So he doesn’t like her hair….who cares. The problem I have with him is that he called her a “slut”. What does hair have to do with a slut? How would he feel if some called is wife (does he have one?) a slut because she changed her hair style. Boortz is just trying to boost his ratings. If you really want to stick it to him complaint to his sponsors.
What we have here is a self fulfilling prophecy. A congressman whose most meaningful legislative effort is a bill to further investigate the death of 2poc, seeing everything in black and white, and in an arrogant gesture, tries to sidestep a security point in our nation’s capitol building. When her credentials are challenged, she responds by lashing out at an law enforcement officer doing his job. Police in the same unit have died on U.S. Capitol grounds after being shot. That is why there is a security check. They have a right to protect themselves. As far as the ‘pin” goes, f*ck the pin. If I have to use the security gate, our lawmakers can use it to. They work for We The People. They act like we work for them.
I am white as a pile of cocaine. If you are white and have curly hair as I do, and you don’t cut or comb it, it will grow into dreadlocks. I had a high school classmate that went to the same college that I did. He became a roommate by Jr. year. He followed the Grateful Dead around and did not comb or cut his hair for 3 years after H.S.
By Jr year he had thick, lumpy dreads halfway down his back. He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to know but I am sure his choice in hairdo made many prejudge him. Prejudgment, as in prejudicial as in prejudice. Making a snap decision based on appearance. We all do it, so get off your high horse. When I put on a suit and tie, I am judged too. I choose the prejudgment to be made by the cognitively lazy. If you don’t like the judgement, change the appearance.
Whats the point?
It’s not about the congresswoman’s hair or how nappy it is. It is about her behavior. She is a goddamn congresswoman in the United States House or Representitives. These people draft the legislation for the most powerful nation on the planet. Millions of people lives are affected by their work on a daily basis. It’s not the UN. It’s the workplace of the people who work for You and Me. We pay the bills over there. It’s our money they spend. Remember when Jimmy Carter’s brother used to drink a lot of beer and piss on the White House lawn? (what is wrong with Georgian politicians?) Same thing. If you want to act like a idiot, go back to where you came from and do it in front of the morons who elected you to office.
It’s not about the congresswoman’s hair or how nappy it is. It is about her behavior.
No, actually, this is about Neal Boortz’ behaviour. But thanks for trying!
[…] I missed Pam’s post about Cynthia McKinney’s hair and helpful constructive criticism thereof until it popped up in the recent comments bar; Kevin Andre Elliott at Slant Truth posted today about a related phenomenon. […]
By Jr year he had thick, lumpy dreads halfway down his back. He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to know but I am sure his choice in hairdo made many prejudge him.
. . .Which led to his being dubbed “ghetto slut” on many occaisions.
“…and in an arrogant gesture, tries to sidestep a security point in our nation’s capitol building.”
er, except that congress members are not required to pass through the metal detectors. so mckinney was not wrong for sidestepping it.
Whocares said:
“However, to say that he is a racist I think is going a little too far.”
So I’m wondering what part of “[this Congresswoman]looks like a ghetto slut” s/he didn’t understand.
Zsa Zsa McKinney and Why I wish I was a black woman in the government…….
….because that way, I could get away with taking a pot shot at a police officer, and have virtually no consequences, other than a soap box to scream racism from.
Note number 1: This is nothing new for McKinney. In fact, this is old news. Check i…
Time to play a different card. This is 2006. This race issue is old news. Everytime there is conflict in opinion “the Black thing” comes up. Get over it. The people these days that either hate blacks or whites or hispanics or asians will always remain regardless of their race. I live and work with many of different ethnic origins, I know them as people, just like me. And put your flags away too. My mother was a WWII war-bride from the UK, I don’t wave a Union Jack, I barely even know what one looks like. We have one flag, 50 stars, 13 stripes.We are all AMERICANS. Get over it. Boortz is just trying to stir people up. It make us think. He’s good at it, real good at it. Does he make you think? Obviously so, you’ve written here. He’s media. I’m sure that if they were to meet they would at least put on a fake smile for one another. Even Shake hands….think about its
I was upset when I heard him make that statement on the radio. I think she should be able to wear her hair anyway she likes. He is obviously ignorant to the African American heritage. Natural is in, and will always be in. So he needs to get over it “Cold as Ice” YOu say it is 2006 and the race issue is old news? Yeah right, it is still here. It is called institiutionalized racism. Look it up.
[…] In related news, it appears Neil Boortz has been reading Pandagon […]
jeeze, I think her hair looks great. But, I’m from the caribbean. I think black people will always have to suffer about our hair. I wear my hair similarly, I love it so much. It feels good and is so versatile. Besides its so unique and we also express ourselves by doing it in different styles.But everyone has to say something, (I go to school with people from many countries including the US, india, germany, holland etc) I get sick of it! Why the big fascination, its not a big deal when an indian or a european wear their hair as it grows out of their head/ no chemicals. Maybe next 100 years or so they may get over it. Congress lady you look hot! God bless america!