The "because that's all youre good for" rhetoric

BACKGROUND: Recently a friend of mine joined a disturbing group on facebook, that was anti-Obama. While it was meant to be funny (apparently), the wall was open for people to post pictures, and there were some pictures of Barack Obama that were so horrifyingly racist, I don't even feel okay publicizing them further by posting the pictures themselves, but some examples are 1)Barack Obama shining Sarah Palin's shoes. 2)Barack Obama's head photoshopped onto the body of a starving african child, who has been shopped to be holding a can of Olde English, and a bong. So hateful and disturbing to me... I am speechless. So with the myriad of things I could talk about, I will talk about a less noticeable aspect of the Obama hating: a nice little side of sexism.

As a woman who is interested in politics, I find the picture above highly disturbing. Women are consistently shut out of political discourses because people feel as though men should be the leaders, or that women are just incapable of doing the job (We have kids, and shit to clean, and boobs that get in the way n' stuff... like... ya know?). Politics is not a beauty pageant. The fact that these women's physical appearances are scrutinized breaks my heart.
1. They didn't sign up for that.
2. RUDE!
3. And most importantly, focusing on physical features severely undermines their work. It tells people it is OK to not take these women seriously. And the worst part is, is that if these women see these hateful and hurtful things, they could take it to heart. Take it to heart that they are ugly, take it to heart that no one takes them seriously, ect. And that could fully damage their work and motivation.

Other sexist bullshit found on this facebook hate group page:

Now this picture REALLY upsets me. It is a woman holding up a sign that refers to Nancy Pelosi as "Skanky." And yes. I get the Snow White joke. It's just not funny. Women referring to other women as "skanks" is always hurtful to women's empowerment. We should not 'have to suffer at the hands of each other. Also, insults based around sexuality are problematic because they enhance the "thats all you're good for rhetoric" while at the same time personally hurting the individual involved, and further promotes the stigmatization of sex and women in general.

And then they call Barney Frank "Queeny." TURBO SIGH. Again. Not so much on the funny. Barney Frank has served our government for years and has fought for the rights of so many AMERICAN people. Calling him degrading names because of his sexuality is so blatantly disrespectful, I don't even know what I would do if I saw this in real life. And, so what if he is "Queeny"??? Frank's sexuality has nothing to do with whether he is a good member of congress. Referring to Barney Frank as "Queeny" demonizes the whole gay community. And GURL, if you ever want to have a GREAT friend, who won't leave you when things get rough, who will give you amazing advice about being yourself, who will teach you great lessons about being confident and loving yourself.... you will get a Queer friend who has had to deal with stigmatizing, hateful shit their whole lives, and are full of courage and love because of it.

So in conclusion... if your friends join facebook hate groups for the sake of "humor" that turns out to not be funny... call their asses to the carpet; because it is ridiculous and it needs to stop.

Love and Electricity,
Shelby Leanne.