Friday, July 25, 2008

The View From Here

I cannot bring myself to watch The View. The combination of Whoopi's superior air, Elisabeth's whiny Republican blather, Babwa's speech impediment, and Sherri's diarrhea of the mouth ("I've had too many abortions to count") don't compel me to tune in to the funny musings of Joy Behar (I've always loved her as a comic). Can't. Pull. The. Trigger.

Of course I do catch snippets of The View when they make the news. Who hasn't seen angry pinch-mouthed Rosie and Elisabeth go for each other's throats? And recently? The whole 'N' word furor? Oy.

I'm such a WASP that I should have a stinger coming out of my butt, and even I can see where Whoopi and Sherri were coming from when they said blacks and whites live in separate worlds still, and that blacks can use the word if they want to take it back from the white man's original intent. Elisabeth nearly burst a pipe sobbing that we do all live in the same world and that gosh darn it why is it so necessary to say such a horrible yucky word? Whyyyyyy? Whaaaa.

A few years ago I wrote and sold my first piece to a feminist magazine called Bitch. Whooo boy did the inlaws have a hard time understanding that one. Why on earth would I read, much less write for a magazine that had such a naughty word printed in such large, bold font on its cover? I did the same thing then that Whoopi tried to do with Ms. Republican Convention - I told her bitch was a word that feminists wanted to take BACK from the misogynist vernacular. In other words, if my best friend wants to affectionately/jokingly call me a bitch - who the hell cares. If some man, on the other hand, calls me a bitch I'm going to be integrating his balls into a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal.

So Whoopi, Sherri - y'all irritate the coffee right out of my bowels - but I totally get what you're saying. Elisabeth just needs to go needlepoint a John McCain pillow and make sure her highlights are extra blonde for the upcoming election coverage.

17 comments:

Annie said...

I kind of get where you're coming from. And I can't stand Elisabeth Hasselbeck - I can't watch her - but...

I think stuff like this gets very confusing for the average Joe or Jane out there and not everyone will grasp the fact that 'you're taking the word back' from negative connotations it held in the past - so the controversy will remain, I would guess.

Fiesty Charlie said...

Great post... totally agree with all your points... too damn bad the rest of the world does not see it like this.

Can't find the guest blog... will you hit my email button and direct me? Please?

{grin}

I don't beg often by the way~!

Anonymous said...

I like to use an even more upsetting word with my dearest girlfriend, K. It starts with s. The following letters are n*tch. And, the *? It's not e, i, o, u or sometimes y.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Obviously the San Diego Blog Bitches agree with you on the Bitch thing.

I actually love The View, but want to throttle Elisabeth on a daily basis. I don't mind if someone is a privileged, white, beautiful person married to a professional athlete, but could you have the brains to recognize that might skew your view of things a little.

She was an absolute idiot on the "N Word" thing.

Anonymous said...

I don't watch daytime TV. I live under a rock and this is the first I'm hearing about this debacle so I can't really comment on the show or the hosts.

But I must say I really don't want anyone to ever call me a b*tch. Not even in a feminists affectionate way. To me it sounds so crass and rude and that is language I definitely don't want my daughter picking up unless she is referring to our female canis lupus familiaris.
I'm sure many people feel more strongly about the 'n' word.

Anonymous said...

Isn't Sherri the one that said the earth was flat?

I think the whole black / white different worlds thing depends on where you live. I grew up in a very integrated area, there truly was no racism there. But in FL, omigawd it was ridiculous! Racism is strong and full-out there.

BlondeBlogger said...

I guess I'm in the minority because I watch The View and I like Elisabeth. I could see both sides on this issue and I like that she has so much heart.

BlondeBlogger said...

Oh....I also don't understand why so much hostility is shown to her for being Republican. I mean the others show their political views just as much if not more. Is it simply because she's Republican?

Fairly Odd Mother said...

Totally agree with you. But, I have to say, that if anyone called me a bitch (close friend or not), I'd feel a little hurt. I prefer to think of it as a verb vs. a noun.

And, The View? No thanks.

Jennifer said...

I dislike Elizabeth not because she is a Republican, but because she is an idiot (truly, clueless) who thinks she has all of the answers. If she truly cannot see that black people and white people live in different versions of The United States of America, then I don't know if there is even any hope for her. So, yeah, I'm agreeing with you...bitch. *grin*

Little Miss Sunshine State said...

AMEN. I am an admitted Rosie fan.
I am also a Whoopie fan from way back, but not liking her on the View. I've never been a Walters fan and Sherrie and Elisabeth make me crazy.

So yeah, I've stopped watching. I'd rather spend an hour reading blogs!

The black/white issue is so different in the South than I was used to in MA. I simply can't believe the racist things that people say OUT LOUD like it was completely acceptable. And they are equal-opportunity racists. They'll say horrible things about blacks, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Guatemalans.

Di said...

I just discovered Bitch and I LOVE it...although it does make me feel like my writing is so unimportant. I should be writing things with titles AND subtitles after the colon. These are the writings that make a difference.

Daisy said...

I love that Whoopi had the guts to say her piece and say it clearly. Elisabeth obvious had no idea. I'm also very Wasp-y, so I would never dare use the N-word. It would be not just inappropriate, but nasty racist, if I did.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

I haven't been able to watch The View since Meredith left for the Today show. Man, what a good move THAT was.

Anonymous said...

I check in to the View to just hear Joy's take on the subjects AS she is strategicaly placed in the middle. She is a riot! If she leaves I'm done!
I also only watch the intro chat - the rest is boring fluff

Nina Diane said...

awesome post!

Anonymous said...

I can't stand the View either. When I watch it I think of the cartoons where there's four chickens 'bawk bawkin' constantly. Yeah.