Hillary Clinton received a key endorsement yesterday from North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley. The governor delivered his statement in a casual, jokesy kind of way, saying at one point there's "nothing I love more than a strong powerful woman." And then the floral word heard round the world: pansy. Easley wrapped up his campaign high-five saying this:
"I've been accused of being persistent and downright aggravating. But this lady right here makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy."
Oops. Right? Reaction to the word was immediate. The editor of the blog Queerty, heard a slur, and worse — no response from Clinton. “Considering the Senator’s silence, we get the impression that she simply doesn’t care. And this is a gay ally?”
Everyone's been dusting off and cracking open the dictionaries. Is pansy really just a slur for a gay man? Or has a modern usage developed? Response on the Queerty blog seemed to think so:
Pansy when referring to a straight male boxer means weak and timid. Pansy when referring to Elton John means effeminate gay man. It's about context people and we are not so important that we need to inject our cause into every sentence that comes out of everyone’s mouth.
Is the clamor over the definition of one word, a sign that attention to campaign minutiae is out of control? Was the statement a real slap at the gay community? Should Clinton have responded? Do people even say "pansy" anymore?
Or should the real gay rights story of the day be the fact that the Australian government has just announced plans to remove about 100 laws it says discriminate against gay couples? Are we losing sight of what's important?
Red Herring
Heine
Apepazza
I am sick to death of victim mentalities and the tyranny of political correctness. If this is your biggest complaint, count yourself lucky.
I don't believe this was intended as a slur, and I wish people would engage their brains before their sense of insult.
1It's time to put "politically correct" six feet under and quit making every little nuance something to complain about.
What are we to do, change the name of the flower from pansy to ??? And what about the wonderful poetic word "gay" as in "happy and gay?" Thousands of poets used it, thousands of writers used it, and now what do we do? Not read those poems by famous poets in English Lit class? Not read those great tomes of literature?
GET A REAL LIFE. There is nothing wrong with using the term "pansy" or "gay" or whatever. Those terms are NOT the legal property of any one segment of society.
I'm happy and gay and I smell pansies along my merry way.
2I had NO IDEA that pansy was considered anti-gay. That would not have even crossed my mind...
3So Anne Coulter calls a Senator a "faggot" and no one bats an eye and everyone's getting bent out of shape over pansy? Where's the liberal media bias I've come to expect?
4This is ridiculous. He means she makes rocky look like a wimp. This is NOT a gay slur. SO ANNOYING!
5So Anne Coulter calls Edwards a "fa**ot" and no one cares, but someone says pansy and it's an issue? Where's that liberal bias you conservatives are always talking about?
6I also was not aware that the word "pansy" was considered a gay slur.
Can I please point out that the candidate did not even use the word. Someone else did! Why is this a big deal!? Why should she be expected to comment on it? That is ridiculous.
7The only reason this is an issue at all is because it comes from "Clinton's Camp."
8Oh Gees!
"It's about context people and we are not so important that we need to inject our cause into every sentence that comes out of everyone’s mouth."
As a gay man at 37.5 being out in the gay community since the age of 19 I have never heard the word pansy used as a point word towards homosexuals. This is a slur that has no sexual orientation if you will. A heterosexual male can be just as much a pansy as a homosexual male.
If there is a particular gay group raising a fuss over this than they need to get a life. If this is a media outlet tossing fuel on the fire. Surprise..Surprise..Surprise
9Rac the only reason I can think of is because the govenor race here in NC is REALLY getting nasty! I see attack ads, no joke like 1/3 of the time commercials are on. Maybe thast why its being made into a big deal... who knows!
One of the attack ads says that one of the candidates didn't vote for a measure to investigate the KKK... if that gives you any indication about how nasty its gotten!
10you don't look 37.5! I would have thought you were like 28!
11Aloe Vera Gel Baby! Aloe Vera Gel. LOL!
12FitSugar talked about how if you drink Red Wine you can fight aging... so let me guess hypno, you're a wino?
13good tip!
14I've only been a wino three times in my life syako and it was all because of MEN! LOL!
No seriously though take the gel from an aloe plant. Scrape it out and mask your face. My grandmother did this a few times a week and at 85 her skin was exquisite.
15I'm going to get an aloe plant on my lunch break!
16I've never thought of pansy as a gay specific word.
The gov should have used something less inflamatory though, like pussy.
17I'm going to try that as well!
And good Lord, the campaign "scandals" are getting out of hand.
18Hypno, how long are you supposed to leave the aloe gel on your face before washing it off?
19you know, i think this is something we can all agree on:
1. All these campaign "scandals" are really insignificant and not related to the issues at hand. however, the media gets bored with real issues like high gas, the economy, health care, education, etc. so they love to pounce on these gaffes and blow it up like its the world's most important issue!
2. We will all take Hypno's advice and go out and buy aloe vera plants because it will make our skin glowing and beautiful.
20Haha! Leave it up to a gay man to turn a political discussion into a skin care symposium. Sorry citizen.
You can also use the store bought aloe but just for purity and sentimental reasons I go straight to the plant.
Granny used to cover her face and leave it on for an hour at a time. Now I don't do the mask method but I do apply daily and especially after shaving I don't use
21*after shave.
22popgoestheworld: "The gov should have used something less inflamatory though, like pussy."
Well, that will offend all the feminists!
And the cat lovers!
23lain I think your
is getting high!!
And I want to reiterate something here, the media are not blame for all of our problems... sure it's easy to say oh the media are so terrible but the reality is the news media are driven by consumer demand to beef up that bottom line. So it may be that the CONSUMER is tired of hearing of gas/economy/etc. and the news media are just playing up that sentiment.
24hypnotic owns stock in aloe plants! i just know it!
25i can dig your point Syako.
it's a lot easier to go for the shallow, sensational news than heavy issues that bum people out. however, i think there's been way too much emphasis on the sensational over the substantial and that is DEFINITELY harmful to everyone (and by harmful i mean making us all a little bit dumber...).
we need a little more balance in our news. of course you want to see some good news and levity sometimes, but when sensational crap that doesn't affect our lives becomes the focus, then yes, that is a problem. and i can see how it's consumer driven but then what? boycott the news?
26or boycott the outlets who sensationalize. Write letters to the editor. Don't buy into it. Personally I don't watch cable news (unless my husband is, and I'm sitting next to him, but it's totally against my will) because I think it is way dumbed down to the point of using colloquial language of a 6 year old. I'd much rather wait for my weekly New Yorker and get a really investigated and researched article and form an opinion then.
27" All these campaign "scandals" are really insignificant and not related to the issues at hand. however, the media gets bored with real issues like high gas, the economy, health care, education, etc. so they love to pounce on these gaffes and blow it up like its the world's most important issue!"
I agree!!!
I try to find as many sources as I can: magazines, newspapers, financial papers, various news websites. It is INCREDIBILY tough to find credible information, because even the "respected" sources do touch on the scandal of the day.
I am really appauled a the lack of analysis of the gas tax suggestion. How come no one is breaking it down and the consequences, both pro and con?????????
28Maybe cuz they think theres no way it will really happen.
29popgoestheworld (that was a really fun song, btw *g*) I don't think "pussy" would get much better of a reaction than "pansy," especially since pussy, used in the context of saying a guy is a wimp, is a very crass way of saying, basically, that the guy is weak like a woman. Feminists would likely jump all over that, because insulting someone by comparing him to a woman indicates that women are (still) considered somehow "lesser" then men, and that men should be ashamed of showing any feminine characteristics.
It's similar to why many people find someone describing something as being "so gay" (or even "so ghey," as some have taken to spelling it) offensive - the implication is that the thing in question is stupid, silly or otherwise just not a good thing, and by using "gay" as a shorthand for all that, it's saying that gays are stupid, silly and "not good."
I have to agree with raciccarone - while I've long heard "pansy" used as a slur as a way of saying a guy is womanly or gay (or both, since so many people assume that womanly men are gay by default) I find it a lot less troubling than someone calling *anyone* - gay or straight - a faggot.
As for the campaign, I really think it sad that something like this gets more attention that matters of substance. As a culture sometimes, we can be so pathetic, you know?
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