Jezebel
"I've personally never taken Jezebel seriously and this is just reinforcing that decision," reads a comment on a Racialicious post about that thing I hastily wrote about Yemen. Well, you know? Good. Because I don't have time to take Jezebel seriously. If I did, I would never have posted that IM exchange. I would have waited to have the time to tackle some questions more complex than "So tell me about the amphetamines!" I was honestly hoping to revisit Sarah for a much more nuanced picture of the situation. But she needed to go and I needed to post and I wrote a silly, superficial joke-laden missive meant simply to draw the attention of readers who had not seen my earlier posts to the problems of people who are not Lauren Conrad. I wanted to remind readers that they should probably find out more. So let's start with the ever-present stench of urine, because that seemed to get a lot of people riled up.
Urine unites us. Everybody pisses, everyone shits. Philadelphia, like Yemen, smells like piss in a lot of corners. Piss smell is what happens when people are too poor to piss into elaborate sewage systems that eventually carry the scent to some far-off neighborhood you hope you never get stuck in traffic in. I do not feel superior for living in a country where my exposure to the smell of human waste is tied to the frequency of my own bowel movements; to the contrary, my general sense has long been, "I am someone who deserves to smell human waste everywhere I go," but I do not, and I cannot help but feel bad for people who do, and even worse for people forced to drink said piss, like the Lost Boys of Sudan I read about in that Eggers book, and in turn, bad for feeling bad about that, because maybe they don't know any better. For all I know they have been smelling piss on every street corner for so long that they would actually prefer it to, say, Glade, but it's part of my long-held set of assumptions about the species that the smells of piss and shit and period blood are fundamentally unpleasant to the olfactory senses of most people, probably because Evolution wanted to remind us not to eat that stuff and also, maybe, remind us that our proverbial shit proverbially stinks, which is sort of the essence of humanism.
Now, if humanism is the foundation of your worldview, and I try to make it mine, you are bothered by suffering and pain. An eight-year-old gets sold into arranged marriage to a 30-year-old child molester by a father gone crazy and desperate from the humiliation of losing his job and that bothers you. You learn that this is actually not so uncommon an occurrence and that is sad. Maybe, despite the fact that you don't take your blog that seriously, that you don't have time for a thorough examination of the Whole Story, you'd rather call attention to this thing than that thing. You're pretty sure the big thing fucking everything up is poverty, and that maybe reminding people that, you know, most of the problems dividing us as humans, perpetuating tribalism over pluralism and war over peace and anger and (oh my!) bitterness over the freedom to laugh in the streets are rooted in that. So you try to remind people to take the plutocracy to task for that. And you try to remind people that this stuff is too complex to leave to the blogiverse, that there are nuances and subtleties and that the same politician lobbying to free young girls from sex slavery in the name of God led an effort to get all concerts banned from the country in the name of God, and that the singer who defied Al Qaeda threats to come play her concert anyway credits that same God with protecting her, that God is unpredictable that way, and maybe one day we can all learn to laugh together about the funny little misunderstandings and misinterpretations that make us hate one another, but only if a few of us do like the "Yemenista" and try to understand it all a little better.
On the way, we will learn each other's prejudices and stereotypes, societal phenomena, uppers of choice, sexual proclivities, whatev. Maybe we'll shed light on them or "perpetuate" them or however you'd judge it, in letters and writings and blog posts. But of the most disturbing things about our own exchanges with Racialicious and some of these other blogs is the sense that they are standing by, waiting to catch us being insensitive. One said Jezebel had a history of "fucking up racially" by, I think, acknowledging or poking fun at cultural and ethnic stereotypes.
But are stereotypes the problem? Only if your assumption is that Yemenis oppress women — or black men get sent to prison more often, or women get raped more often or white humor bloggers are invariably irreversibly incapable of empathy — because on some level one group is inherently, irredeemably inferior to another. And if that's your assumption, you know, fuck you, don't read this blog. Because the point of it is not to preach some dogma but to start discussions, discussions that will hopefully involve a few decent penis jokes but also lead to conversations that enhance our understanding of one another, and understanding is really only a legitimate goal if you think other humans are capable of independent thought. And if you don't think that after reading about Nojoud Nasser, well...God willing I hope you change your mind.
Mocking A Culture, Mocking A Friend [Racialicious]
Comments
I'd just like to echo the sentiment about this blog -- like EVERYTHING -- being a jumping off point for discussion and not the be all end-all authority.
Stereotypes? They're not stereotypes if they are true! I believe all feminists are raging boner-killer feminazi dykes. Stop killing babies and get back in the kitchen!
Stereotypes are only a problem if you're stupid enough to not continually seek out information that breaks them apart and/or shakes them up.
This is the best post I've ever read from you.
@Dodai: A jump off? You're calling this blog a whore?
....oh, wait.
Oh Jesus Christ! That Racialicious post made me want to puke -- let's have a puking contest to see who cares more about the world.
@Dodai: That was the part I found sort of reactionary--who ever said an internet website on "celebrity, sex, fashion" claimed to be an "authority" on Yemini politics.
I think the writer has a huge chip on her shoulder, or at least that's how it came across.
I think it's tough - on the one hand, I don't want to say "I don't take this blog seriously," on the other.....I don't. But, I can't take anything TOO seriously, or I'll go fucking insane.
In the end, I just really dislike super sensitive people. Especially on the Internet.
corner of 6th and market (where i used to hand out flyers for walking tours of philly) smells more like piss than the toilets at the port authority. why, 6th and market, WHY!?
The discussions on Jezebel throughout the day are what keep me sane at the boring job I hate while I await grad school in the fall. I may not take everything seriously, but I would go seriously insane without it, as evidenced by my attitude on April 1st, Conde Nast day. Sorry for the Carrie-Bradshaw-style punning in the previous sentence.
NYC is going to smell like piss from this week through early October. The combo of heat and people using the wall as their comode makes this an undeniable fact. And its got nothing to do with race.
In Brussels, they are quite fond of their little boy statue, Manneken Pis.
I don't think I've smelled as much piss as I have in the Tenderloin.
i smell pee a lot in nyc but not as much as i smelled it in india - this is not a cultural steryotype its a fact -
i think a lot of people take their own opinions so seriously have such misplaced strong conviction in their own intellect they probably struggle to have conversations in the real world or anywhere (ie where two people talk, not where one person preaches and the other surveys the room thinking about who they would like to have bathroom sex with)
so i wouldnt worry about it too much ;) i know loads of dicks like that
Wow, Moe. This was beautifully written.
And I can't help but cringe to think that it NEEDED to be written. Y'know... cuz some people are incapable of drawing these conclusions themselves...
Ya, folks, Jezebel is sometimes crass, sometimes classist... it does represent a feminist veiwpoint that tends to be Eurocentric... and WHAT?
@hamburgerhotdog: Which writer? The one at Racialicious who was upset? Or Moe?
@NefariousNewt: You (of course) forgot to mention his FEMALE counterpart, Jeanneke Pis.
@Susan B.: The racialicious writer -- after admitting she didn't read the website and got that het up over one article, she isn't really going for credibility here.
I actually thought the "it smells like piss" part of that IM exchange was one of the better parts, because it seemed honest, and because it seemed like it was applying the same standards of judgment to Yemen as she would to any other place closer to home.
I mean, there are parts of my city that smell like piss, and if someone said, "What's it like there?" probably one of the first things I'd say would be "It smells like piss."
Applying the same standards to another place seems to me reasonable and respectful.
Moe - don't worry about the haters. I'm gonna just go ahead and speak for what I assume is the majority of readers here and say that (1) we get what you're doing and (2) we appreciate it.
"And yet now, 5 years later she is put forth by Jezebel as if she is an expert on Islam and international politics."
No, she wasn't, you cow, she was put forth as a white 'merican who had moved to Yemen for a year.
@nothanks: (ie where two people talk, not where one person preaches and the other surveys the room thinking about who they would like to have bathroom sex with)
Ahahahhahaha I got stuck talking to a Fruitarian this past weekend at a party, and that's exactly what was going on.
The site takes on serious topics in a non-serious way... or at least the stories I read do. Well, I read Jennifer's 'who wore what' things, which are arguably the most seriously written pieces on here.
Good times.
why does moe always have to do this...
@Triphena: I don't know what I would do if I were stuck talking with a Fruitarian.
Can they drink wine?
Several thoughts:
1. I'm glad that Jezebel is an irreverent blog.
2. I have trouble believing that the intention of the original post was to remind us all to go find out more about the issues in Yemen. I imagine it was more something like, "Write something incendiary to drive page views." Nothing wrong with that, it's your job, but own it.
3. Is it true that Sarah didn't know the conversation would be directly c&p'ed to this blog?
Yeah, I found it really difficult to read that Racialicious post because she announced that she was so offended she vomited - for reals, not metaphorically. Eyeroll, this is Jezebel not fucking CBC (or, CNN or whatever). And then decided that all the comments (which she says she didn't read) were just as evil.
I think the part I found most strange about it is that should took offense to the fact Sarah is white instead of asking a person of Middle Eastern descent about these things, which I can't imagine doing in a non-offensive manner. I sort of saw Sarah's perspective as an Alexis de Tocqueville-esque. I didn't think it was condescending, just honest.
@lisas: exactly--I'm going to throw a hissy fit and write a long winded rant over something I couldn't even be bothered to read and research in it's entirety.
I hope she at least flushed.
So Aaminah Hernández has never been to Yemen, and only indirectly knows one person there. But she is so offended on behalf of Yemen that she went to the potty and reacquainted herself with her lunch. That is not sane or healthy behavior. If only Hernández would shift some of the clench in her sanctified anus to her grip on reality.
And the reality is, Yemen is a shit hole. It's a very poor and very oppressive country to live in. All the postmodern equivocating won't make it any more pleasant a place. Such patronization, thinking that those people actually enjoy living like that, would be nauseating, but I have a slightly stronger digestive tract than Hernández.
" it's sad that this is how people relax and chat with their friends"
O, that's what's sad about the world.
@hypnotic: I wish I knew. It's sad that it's giving Jezebel such a bad name.
Is it true that Sarah didn't know the conversation would be published?
And, I'm sorry: "What? I was just trying to spark debate!" is a time-honored cop-out. And now that Moe actually HAS sparked debate, she's pissed about it.
Also Moe, way to imply that anyone who didn't like your post only cares about Lauren Conrad. Classy.
And that is why I don't read Racialicious. They are too hamstrung by their own rules of discourse to ever have an interesting conversation about anything.
I lurk at Racialicious, and sometimes respond to their posts, but I find that they're, at times, preaching to the choir...most people on that blog seem to agree with each other already. Others seem to have "an agenda" and get upset at people who are Eurocentric...especially minorities who are!
@dayglo:
I guess that is the only way Jezebel could satisfy me more...I understand where Moe is coming from and I also understand where the author of the Racialicious post is coming from...they seem to both have to very different interpretations about the place of Jezebel and the piece in relation to media responsibility and I dont think its a question that gets answered with saying ones right and ones wrong (or eh hem calling people cows...) That said as a woman as mixed race I love love love Jezebel, and most of the time commentors and bloggers apply really inclusive open logic to their thoughts but yes a little less Eurocentric basis would be nice...
@lisas: I was going to say that. The critic first wrote numerous disclaimers that shot down her credibility and she then jumped into a sensationalized paragraph about how Jezebel caused her to vomit. She completely missed the fact that Jezebel is a Gawker Media site and that snark is its language.
BTW, Racialious pisses me whenever I visit it, speaking as a Eurasian.
@Triphena: people who just eat fruit? or people that think its mean to eat fruit? either way now im going to vomit
Isn't the point of news on most blogs to create jumping-off points for discussion and exploration (not just Jezebel!)? How did the Racialicious poster miss that?
@lisas: We get just as worked up about non-CNN-calibre sources. Just look at the Missdemeanors feature, where Dodia rightfully calls out blogs for their sexism!
I agree that the Racialicious writer (suddenly the page isn't loading so I can't find the name, if there is one) doesn't do a great job of explaining a lot of the post--just quoting Moe's statements without explaining how they're untrue doesn't help a newcomer--but Moe's response is telling. Was it that you were in the right, or in a hurry?
@PetiteGal: "I find that they're, at times, preaching to the choir...most people on that blog seem to agree with each other already"
I'm sure they say the same of us.
Anybody remember the Pandagon dustup about the burka? Yeah? No? Eerily familiar and my ass is staying out of this one, too.
Moe, I'm sorry you have to deal with shit like this. Totally retarded.
BTW, last night Yemen somehow came up in conversation and I told my boyfriend "I hear the entire country smells like piss." He said "Hmm" and we moved on.
I love my stinky city.
@TruculentandUnreliable: Wise, you are.
Reading her blog, she completely contradicts herself, saying on the one hand that people shouldn't write about what they don't know about, yet she says she doesn't read Jezebel and then attacks the site for being racist and only projecting a white point of view. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't at least one of the writers here someone of color? I consistently read posts that tackles racism (i.e. Glamour editor who condemned dreadlocks/afros).
I don't understand why she felt she needed to puke after reading that story. It's an outsider's tongue-in-cheek perspective of a foreign country, like foreigners who visit the US haven't done that before? It was written so outsiders could identify with a place they've never been and some that probably have never heard of. If readers want a politically correct, staid profile of Yemen, they can pick up an encyclopedia.
The only point I can agree with is if that IM conversation really was posted without that girl's consent, which is a huge no-no in journalism. I doubt that the editors don't know that already though.
Girlfriend needs to get off her high horse.
I don't understand why these things keep happening. Moe writes something ridiculous, hastily sometimes, as she puts, and everyone gets upset. Wouldn't it be easier if a journalist took their time to oh, I don't know, research and write a good poignant article rather than posting something in such an awkward messy manner and then getting upset when other people reply back with, gasp, another article.
@Archetype: There's nothing like the scent of a BART train at the end of a hot summer night.
@Dodai: But ahhh... there's the rub: Racialicious thinks it's is the authority.
@Susan B.: Yes, but I wouldn't consider Drunken Stepfather an authority on anything other than masturbation.
I get that as a Muslim woman, the author of the Racialicious post may feel like she constantly needs to defend her religion. This is a case of when knowing the audience is important. Who reads Jezebel? I'd say we're a really open minded lot. We also tend to see the sarcasm in everything Moe writes about.
To tell you the truth, all I know about Yemen is that it was once known as Arabia Felix. It's interesting to learn something other than a 2000 year old name. (Like despite how despicable it is that an 8 yr old can be married to a 30 yr old, she can also get a divorce more easily than in some Christian counties. I'm looking at you Ireland with your 10 year old divorce rights!)
Moe- We love ya!