For those of you who have been living under a rock this past week, take a moment to brush up on the hottest news item not related to Romney’s announcement that he likes Big Bird, but intends to put his feathery butt out on the street after he’s elected President:
Are you back? Good…
As you might guess, I have a couple of comments I would like to make on this subject. First of all: YOU GO, GRRL! Jennifer Livingston not only uses her “bully pulpit” (yes, pun intended) to verbally eviscerate He Whom She Chose Not To Name, but she did so with class. Not only that, but she didn’t make this just about her: she applied the Principle of Taking Lemons and Making Lemonade to add a plug for Bullying Prevention Awareness Month.
And, as is too often the case, the collective Internet pounced on her mention of bullying, and turned the discussion into a theological argument over whether or not the email she received from the Unnamed Douche-Bag was “legitimate bullying”.
Way to go, Internet. Look over there – a bright shiny object!…
Let me address this twisty turn, thusly:
- No, what Mr. Dum Bass did was probably not bullying. It was rude; it was inappropriate; it was a fusion of asshattery and douche-canoe-ishness which raises “defiant cluelessness” to a new level (as evidenced by his response, in which he doubled down on stupid by suggesting she “transform… herself for all of her viewers to see”, and saying he “…would be absolutely pleased to offer Jennifer any advice or support she would be willing to accept”, then went ALL-IN by signing his real name.)
- But, does it really matter? I mean, folks, this isn’t a case of your vs. you’re, or their vs. there vs. they’re, nor is it a question whether or not getting a blow job
is “legitimate sex”constitutes having sex. Bottom line: it was all those awful things I said in the point above. For an even better take on this point, check out the post on Mom101 - it is awesomeness, cubed. - Unfortunately, his position is not at all rare. It seems that folks somehow got it into their heads that they are entitled to offer unsolicited life coaching advice to people they don’t know. It also seems that people who happen to be overweight are a favorite target-of-opportunity for such unsolicited advice. Maybe it’s due to all those folks who watch Biggest Loser, or the late-night infomercials shilling various and sundry weight-loss schemes. I suspect that the characterization of obesity as a “public health issue” has somehow legitimized the dispensing of unsolicited, ignorance-based advice. And, truth be told, his words are really mild, compared to the bullsh*t-masquerading-as-opinion that passes for comments on most news sites these days.
- And ignorance really isn’t bliss, people! If you are going to pontificate on an issue, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD TAKE A MOMENT AND EDUCATE YOURSELF ON THE ISSUE FIRST! Probably Ms. Livingston’s best line was when she said “you don’t know me [*sshole].” (OK, that last word was mine.) The fact is, he didn’t (he even admitted as much, when he said he didn’t normally watch her program), which makes his assertion that her weight was a choice, even more outrageous. Maybe it is; maybe it isn’t. In reality, there is no way to tell, just by looking at someone.
Case in point: I am overweight, in fact I meet the definition of morbidly obese. And, while it is true I have made some less-than-ideal choices in my life, there are other factors involved as well. Maybe you didn’t know that there are some medications that, when taken, have weight gain as a side effect. Yes, that is an issue, but not taking the medication can have even more serious consequences. Maybe you didn’t know, several decades ago, what taking large doses of acetaminophen could do to your liver: my doctors sure didn’t, and at that time it was the “go-to” drug for alleviating the inflammation of arthritis. I didn’t back then, but I sure do now: because I have to live with the results, and most of the meds I take on a daily basis are aimed at allowing me to live with the conditions that ensued. And yet, if you met me on the street, none of this would be apparent: I would appear to you as just another Santa in a person suit.
If there were two things I would like you to take away from this whole ado, it would be the following:
Things are not always as they appear (corollary: appearances can be deceiving);
and
It is better to keep quiet and have people think you are a fool, than it is to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
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