Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Congratulations, Obama. Fuck you, Tim Gunn et al

No matter how you look at it, it is pretty clearly over now, Obama has pulled this off barring some total collapse at the end. Congratulations to him, if this be so.

And, fuck you, Tim Gunn. And, fuck you, Conan O'Brien, and your studio audience too. And Larry the Cable Guy, who damn sure aint no "girly man" (now if we could teach him to read he'd be perfect).


8 comments:

supadiscomama said...

I'm so pissed about what Tim Gunn said. Could he have been more sexist? Hillary Clinton is confused about her gender because she doesn't wear what he considers appropriately feminine clothing? Are you serious? She *must* think she's a man--because only men can run for president, right Tim? Asshole.

M said...

I've just lost a lot of respect for Tim Gunn. I'd love to give him a copy of Butler's _Gender Trouble_ and remind him of what he probably already knows as an openly gay man: gender isn't exclusively defined by what we wear or how we behave. I'd also like to point out that if Hillary Clinton were dressing more "feminine" (whatever the hell that means) she'd probably be criticized for that too.

M said...

One more thing: I've actually seen an interview where Hillary Clinton talks about her penchant for pant suits (coincidentally, Laura Bush has also talked about pant suits in several interviews). Clinton believes they are simply more practical, especially when traveling. I daresay that Tim Gunn hasn't ever tried to get out of car in a pencil skirt, which is surely what he'd rather Clinton wore. It is infinitely easier to get out of a car in pants than in a pencil skirt, which is probably what Gunn would want to see Clinton wear.

harrogate said...

Here's something both totally over the top and totally true at the same time.

Tim Gunn praises Larry the Cable Guy's projected Persona at the beginning of the segment. Larry the Cable Guy's projected ethos is the jovial side of the communal understanding that underwrote Matthew Shepard's murder.

Indeed, Harrogate guesses Larry he Cbale guy has a pretty healthy fan base out there in Wyoming. Which, according to Obama, isn't so different as Manhattan as the 'old fogies' suppose.

But anyway, guilt by association, thy names are the hyper-cosmopolitan Tim Gunn and Conan O'Brien. You're on board with the ugly side of Redneckia, so long as it fulfills your faux idea of visual and gendered authenticity.

But a woman in a pantsuit, this cannot stand.

supadiscomama said...

Hey, even Barbie wears a pantsuit when she's running for president!

http://216.97.102.200/barbie/barbie_president.jpg

supadiscomama said...

Of course, she might also wear a star-spangled ball gown...

http://www.kisenohouse.com/Dolls/images/barbie/With%20Boxs/Barbie_for_President.jpg

Amy Reads said...

Hi Harrogate, et al,
In the 1850s, there was much Moaning and Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth over the notion that the Turkish Trousers, aka The Bloomer Costume, aka "pants for women," would Unsex the Fairer Gender. In the 1880s, hobble skirts which were Very Tight Indeed, were called the "single trouser" or the "single pant." In the 1930s, trousers became an integral part of a woman's wardrobe because, most specifically, she Went to Work.

What all of these women realized, and what Ms. Hillary Clinton understands, is that *pants are more comfortable than skirts* whether those skirts are encumbered with a crinoline or pantyhose or a white silk slip.

For shame, Mr. Gunn, for perpetuating Victorian horrors regarding the trousers for women. And if for some reason you were referring to the atrocity that is the shoulder pad (or the plurality, shoulder pads), remember that big shoulders for women is not a return to the 1980s, but rather, the 1830s. And the 1860s. And the 1900s, ad nauseam.
Ciao,
Amy (Reads)

supadiscomama said...

Brava, Amy Reads, for schooling Mr. Gunn. Women in trousers unite! ;)