Please stop equating Maher with Fat Ass

[TeamsterDem]

45. The C word is a gender slur? The Brits might be surprised by that

as would many people who say it without regard for gender. I don't want to turn this into a back-alley type discussion by providing examples, but I've used that word to men and about inanimate objects. That's not a point of pride, mind you - using foul language isn't exactly on my resume - but the point remains that even a non-sexist uses that word without necessarily referencing the gender of the target.

I don't think it's a "conscious movement," per se, but if one listens to jokes which fly back and forth between groups of friends, one notes that men now jokingly say things like "you dick" (to a woman) and a woman might refer to the guy with the C word. It's stripping the gender context from the words, and provided they're not said intentionally to reference the other person's gender, I think a rigid unwillingness to recognize that not everyone intends any harm with all of their commentary is as ridiculous as those who do in fact intend to offend a gender with some stereotypical or other kind of gender slur.

Bill Maher once called Sarah Palin a "bimbo." As shocked and offended as I was when I heard it I let him explain. When he did he explained that George W. Bush was also a "bimbo" in his eyes, explaining that in his view bimbo didn't have just the guttural sense most assumed, and he then offered his own interpretation of the word's true meaning.

And with respect to prostitution, feminism is the equality of the sexes. Provided a woman is not forced or otherwise coerced into the world's oldest profession - and provided she's of legal age - I think they should have the right to CHOOSE to do that. My own moral code is that I'd never use a prostitute nor encourage that lifestyle to any woman I might know. But I'd similarly not encourage a woman to have an abortion, yet I feel it's her right to choose that. So I'm not sure how Maher's stance on prostitution is any different than a pro-choice advocate holding that view.

I don't think Bill Maher is the nation's greatest champion of women's rights. But if one actually listens to him it's hard to make him out to be anywhere close to Limbaugh. It's such an absurd comparison, frankly, that one must wonder about those who make it.