Down the Slippery Slope
October 29, 2008
by Amy Siskind
Bear witness to the continued disintegration of the moral fiber of our country. The festival of misogyny is in full swing. What small and muted protests rise can hardly hold back the vitriol by those who want to see Sarah Palin look-alike porn, who want to demean her intellect, her accomplishments, her fitness as a mother, who want to see her humiliated, knocked to the ground by a man twice her size, hung in effigy, burned, stoned, dead.
This is no longer about Governor Palin. Nor is it any longer about Senator Clinton. During this election season we have seen hatred of women boil up from the national consciousness like vermin from a carcass, infesting our national political dialogue. Our collective refusal to speak out against this affront to women has enabled the misogyny to spread and flourish.
Women have officially taken a seat in the back row. How do we know that women have become second class citizens in our society? A picture is worth a thousand words. Simply put, lynching a woman in effigy is not a crime. In fact, to many it is downright hilarious.
Through the despicable actions of one Chad Michael Morisette, a spectacle of our national hatred of women has been provided for our amusement and edification. His effigy hung without incident for three weeks before a local station picked up on it and made it into a national spectacle. In interviews, Mr. Morisette helpfully explains that if the Sarah Palin mannequin hung by a noose from his roof were a Barack Obama mannequin, all hell would break loose. Chad thinks that because October is “Halloween month”, his creation ought to be tolerated as an “art project”. Chad knows that hanging a black man in effigy is a hate crime because of the nation’s history of enslaving and lynching African Americans. Yet women were the property of men not so long ago, and though, like African Americans, women can now vote and have bank accounts and decline sex with their husbands, they are still beaten, raped and murdered in great numbers because they are women every single day. One in four (25%) of women across all socio-economic lines will experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetimes (as will teenage girls before they leave high school).
If the mannequin were Senator Obama, Chad’s display would be called hate speech and the mannequin would come down. If the mannequin were depicted as a gay man, Chad’s work would be called homophobic, and the mannequin would come down. But put a woman’s head in a noose and hilarity and photo ops ensue.
One would think that with domestic violence affecting one in four women and teenage girls in our country, that violence against women would be classed as a hate crime, and that images promoting violence against women would be deemed hate speech. One would think that the women, 84% of whom are raising the children in our country, would be a special and protected class, but we are not. Hate crimes legislation covers color, religion, sexual orientation and national origin: gender is not included
So long as women wait for progressive men to become our protectors, this situation will not improve. Only we can change this. After the election, we must all work together to make violence against women a hate crime, to speak out against and end misogyny—if not for ourselves, for our daughters and granddaughters.
Now many of you are outraged (as am I) by Mr. Morisette and his hateful display. You have asked that we speak out, and I have this to say: Mr. Morisette’s punishment will be living in the shadow of his actions. A small man who thinks he is stepping up by stepping on another discriminated class is no one’s hero.
History celebrates brave men and women who lift up the oppressed and the disenfranchised: Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy, Bayard Rustin, to name a few. The villains of history are those who seek to keep others down. They are the ones in the chimney full of flames.
I am outraged. I wrote to the Mayor of West Hollywood where Chad Morrissette lives. What follows is my first email, Mayor Prang’s response and my follow up. While I was relieved to get a response from Mayor Prang I still ask how can this exhibit be condoned?
——
Subject: Hangings are never OK
Dear Mayor Prang,
As I woman and American citizen I am deeply offended and disturbed that a West Hollywood citizen has hung a woman in effigy.
Mr. Chad Michael Morrissette’s display is not “art”. It is not “Halloween decor”. It is not “free expression”. It is more than simply poor taste. It is a depiction of violence perpetrated on a woman. Think about it. If this were an effigy of a hanged black man, all hell would break loose. Why is it seemingly OK, even “funny” to hang a woman? What kind of message does that send to children, to young girls?
Mr. Morrissette is in essence calling for the hanging of a public official who is a governor and a former mayor!
Please, I urge you to require him to remove this threatening and malicious exhibit.
(my signature)
____
On Oct 29, 2008, at 10:37 AM, Mayor Jeffrey Prang wrote:
Thank you for your note. I agree with you.
The US Secret Service, FBI, the Sheriff and the City Attorney all said this display was within their First Amendment rights and there is no lawful authority available to take any action.
In response, I issued the following statement:
“I respect that we all have the right to freedom of speech. However, with that right comes responsibility. While these residents have the legal right to the display of Sen. McCain and Governor Palin, I strong oppose political speech that references violence – real or perceived. Politics in America has become extremely polarized in recent years and we all have a responsibility to focus on our political differences in a thoughtful, and peaceful manner. I urge these residents to take down their display and find more constructive ways to express their opinion.”
Regards,
MAYOR JEFFREY PRANG
City of West Hollywood
City Hall
8300 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, California 90069
T (323) 848-6460
F (323) 848-6562
jprang@weho.org
——
Dear Mayor Prang,
Thank you so much! I appreciate your statement. I still feel if it were not a female (hanged in effigy) it would have fallen within “hate crime” territory.
Unbelievable.
(my signature)
has “hanged” a woman in effigy
Amy, thank you for writing this. Everyday I am outraged and everyday I hear silence, snickers or jokes about such misogyny. Thank you for providing a much needed voice and community for women (and men) who see exactly what is going on…
I wonder how Chad Michael Morisette would feel if his neighbors hung an effigy with ” yes to Prop 8″ written on it? What if his neighbors wanted to make a violent political statement against gay marriage in Ca and disguise it as a Halloween decoration? Gays are frequently targeted by violence. I bet he wouldn’t find a “decoration” like that amusing. I wouldn’t either.
October is domestic violence awareness month. There’s no excuse for making a joke out of violence against women. I’m not laughing.
So in the spirit of the season, a large flaming bag of poo for Chad Michael Morisette.
Misogyny ran wild, unabated and unchecked during the DNC primaries and it intensified once a woman was given a position of serious political power. It has become visceral and lethal given the power a woman is close to attaining for the first time in patriarchal America’s history. The first rupture in the patriarchal shield occured with the passage of the 19th Amendment, Geraldine Ferraro was the 2cd rupture and now Sarah Palin is the 3rd rupture. Hers is the most threatening because she is vibrant, intelligent, aggressive, attractive and she is a mother and so opposite of patriarchal expectations and demands that she had to be labeled a cunt then lynched – there was no alternative from the patriarchy but to kill her in such a symbolic manner.
I would suggest to Amy Siskind that ‘progressive men’ are incapable of protecting women from burning, stoning,raping, lynching, battery , mutilation and economic oppression. No! Don’t look to generation Viagra progressive males to lend even tacit support in what you must do. How can there not be a heavy, political reckoning first by ballot box to insure the 3rd rupture in the patriarchal shield cannot be beaten and forced shut and silenced yet again? Put her in power. Why wouldn’t she be a spokeswoman for gender equity and justice? Pull her off that damn porch in the strongest manner possible.
Context is everything. Hanging was an extraordinarily unfortunate symbol to choose, given the role lynching played in the oppression of African-Americans. This distasteful political display serves only to highlight the growing trivialization of sexism.
Let’s not fool anyone here. It’s allowed because it is a woman.
What is worse is that because it is illegal to hang men outside the house, when women are allowed to be displayed in such a manner, especially evil women who run for office instead of acting sexay for the men, it creates a picture wherein women are the subjects of violence and the perception that violence is wrong except when it happens to a woman is indulged.
Violence is wrong, except when it happens to a woman.
The creator of the piece in question is a gay man? So, he’s protected from hate crimes, but the women he’s targeting with his “art project” don’t enjoy the same protection.
Too bad we don’t have Chad Michael Morrissette’s email address – we could inundate him with thank you’s for convincing us to vote FOR Palin. Let his “community” thank him for contributing to a win for this woman.
“so long as women wait for progressive men to become our protectors, this situation will not improve”
That’s an important (and stomach-turning) point: most women are so conditioned to depend on men that its beyond them to do anything but WAIT. Wait until men finally GIVE it to us. And if we cajole and flatter and demonstrate over & over & over that we’re “there for them”, perhaps they will soon deem us worthy and grant us our “equality”. You know, the N.O.W. strategy.
We need to start demanding and taking.
yttik: Good point about Prop 8. I guess the West Hollywood community forgot that their largest block of supporters (prop 8 & everything else) in the straight community are white women: the people they think its so funny to hang in effigy.
Yes I sent in my absentee ballot a couple days ago for Palin
A small win. The hate-decor has been taken down. Apparently the Mayor spoke to the homeowners. Also, I understand the neighbors had placed sheets over the display.
Our outrage made a difference, but we have much to do.
Looking forward to voting for Palin on 11/4/08.
It will be a privilege.
Kitkat, I take it as a win. Peer pressure worked. I was concerned that the “progressive” community of West Hollywood was going to tolerate this violent misogynistic display. Silence once again from NOW.
As someone pointed out on another thread, The New Agenda is not about a war with NOW. I’m still angry at them and feel betrayed. I am also angry at “progressive” Obama supporters. But I realize, as Amy says, that we have to take on the task ourselves since no one else is going to do it for us.
The silence from NOW once again is telling.
Women of substance must speak out. I personally feel Senator Clinton must speak out on the blatant sexism of this political campaign.
How heartening that the mayor and the neighbors stood up against this. Pretty sure they were not Palin supporters, coming from West Hollywood, but those who are disgusted by the obvious misogynism of the “art.”
GIves me hope
Let us not forget that misogyny isn’t only displayed by men. Every female obama supporter who does not respond with disgust to images like this is part of the problem. Every Obama supporter who sends out pornographic photoshopped image of Governor Palin and her family with sniggers and sneers is at the core of the problem. Women have slipped so far downhill that they themselves see misogyny, selectively applied, as “liberating”. Of course they defend themselves as supporters of choice or of gay marriage and so attempt to deflect criticism (if they even hear it) of their sexism in general, but essentially they have sold out and joined the ranks of the women-haters. If we are ever to win an equal place in our democracies, we have to tackle female resistance to feminism.
Just a comment on Senator Clinton. I think she is handling this as best she can. She has NOT attacked Gov. Palin personally; although I understand there was pressure for her to do so. Sen. Clinton has stayed with the issues.
IF she spoke out against sexism, and Sen. Obama lost, the country would blame it on Hillary (just as likely if Sen. McCain loses they will blame it on Gov. Palin). That would be political suicide for Sen. Clinton.
I was at a rally in NH on Tuesday where Hillary Clinton spoke. She was eloquent as always and very enthusiastic in her support for Jeanne Shaheen. When she got to the part where she was asking her supporters to do for Obama what we had done for her, it got me thinking. If Hillary had done some of the things that Obama has done, would I have logged all of those GOTV calls for her? Would I have donated money? Would I have risked being shunned by some of my closest friends to so openly support her? The answer is “no”. So I am doing for Obama what I did for her. I am looking at the same criteria that I used to evaluate whether I would support her and applying it to him. I can’t support him based on that criteria. I’m not sure I understand why she is supporting him so vigorously, and I think she may be sacrificing her political future by doing it. I know that should she run again in 2012 or 2016, my support for her will be tepid. A good concession speech asking her supporters to give their support to him should have been enough. Cross-country campaigning for him sends the message that sexism and misogyny are not important issues. Nor are caucus fraud and vote stealing.
Since I criticized NOW I want to credit their president Kim Gandy for speaking out.
According to today’s LA Times, she said “It is a shock to the senses for those of us who work to stop violence against women to see such a public depiction of violence. This has no place in a civilized dialogue. If you oppose Sarah Palin’s policies, say why you oppose them.”
Two were arrested today for hanging Obama in effigy.
When will this end?
[...] out, most often alone, for Governor Palin. We stood up for Palin while she or her likeness were hung in effigy, knocked unconscious, called the c-word and raped in words; and when the media questioned Palin’s [...]
[...] out, most often alone, for Governor Palin. We stood up for Palin while she or her likeness were hung in effigy, knocked unconscious, called the c-word and, raped in words; and when the media questioned [...]
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