How do you know that Imus isn’t using “nappy” as an adjective to describe the ho’s hairstyles just like you are when you said:
I’m asking out of honest curiosity because I don’t think I’ve ever heard “nappy” being used as an insult.
And just in case it’s decided that “nappy” is now off limits, what term can I use to describe nappy hair?
As for using the word “ho”, I agree with the reply who said he might just be trying out the gansta slang and not realizing it doesn’t fit.
I just have a hard time being offended about much of anything. And it’s not that I have a thick skin; insults (even when intended rather than spewed by stupid publicity-seeking shock-jocks) just seem to bounce right off.
Don Imus didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. He’s been on the radio for 40 years, doing this same sort of shock jock schtick the whole time.
He called them nappy headed ho’s because he wanted to say something shocking and insulting about the girls.
You can give someone the benefit of the doubt, but after 40 years of the same crap, I don’t think there should be a whole lot of doubt left about Don Imus.
He is more than your std chock-jock however. He regularly has US Senators and Congressmen on the show along with major press folks. I think this may be the end of that.
Being offended by Don Imus seems, well, unlikely to happen to someone except once in an entire lifetime. Further examples of offense seem to me to be self abuse.
Good grief, if I have this right he insulted your sex, race, hairdo, and alma mater, along with female athletes in general. So why would it be “the race card”?
I once got offended because some tennis commentator implied that female tennis stars were much, much less than hot, as a whole–and I think he was insulting Steffi Graf in particular–and I got ticked off and disappointed. Obviously, this was before Anna Kournikova. Frankly, some of the guys aren’t all that either, but you don’t hear Mary Carillo casting aspersions on their looks.
Oh, he’s no doubt a wannabe of popular culture. And really, no one has any excuse for using that language. Unless the excuse is that they’re an ass. But I think “wannabe” and “ass” are the only things that explain anything Imus says.
The fact that Imus is a jerk doesn’t stop the things he says from being offensive. Some things are just wrong. But it does mean that it probably isn’t worth a whole lot of energy getting upset about it. He does it to get that reaction. It makes me sad that our culture supports this kind of thing, but I doubt that my reaction will change anything.
monstro I’m white, fairly liberal, and also fairly anti-offenderati because I believe it stifles free speech.
However, I think that that exchange is something to get riled up about.
Think about a team like the Seattle Storm (I know you’re talking college ball, but still) - you could not call a girl a “nappy ho” and get away with it.
And yeah, there’s a hip-hop precedent of deprecating women, but this isn’t hip-hop. This is sports. I don’t know much about Imus, but if he’s a sports commentator then using those descriptors was totally inappropriate. If he’s not, it’s still inappropriate. I’m a woman - I’m not a “ho”. Unless I’m actually selling my body for money I’m not a ho. I’m not tall enough, but even if I were in the WNBA and selling my ability as entertainment, I’m still not a ho. And if someone decided that my long black hair was part of my characteristics as a person, that made me some kind of Irish-but-buys-black-hair-dye ho, I’d be pissed.
Are you black? Because I’m willing to bet there’s not a black person in this country that hasn’t heard “nappy” used as an insult. Nine times out of ten, it is used in a derogatory way, as a synonym for “bad” hair. Only recently has the stigma been taken out of the word. Forgive me for making an assumption, but I’m not thinking Imus is among the set who have reclaimed the word.
“Nappy” has always been used as an insult. So if you’ve been using it, I really hope that you’ve been careful not to offend people.
And if you’ve got to describe someone’s hair and you’re not sure how “nappy” will be interpreted, just say “curly” or “kinky”. You know these words too, right?
Yeah, says the person who most likely does not have nappy hair and would not be included in the “Jiggaboo” category. It’s easy to be nonchalant when the commentary doesn’t hit home. As I said, I try not to be offended and usually I’m successful. But we all have our buttons. Imus et al. trampled on all of mine.
I think that was horribly racist, sexist and just plain offensive.
And I think you are right, Monstro, like Token Black said in a recent SouthPark episode where someone used the N-word : we just don’t get it most of the time.
Most white people will never understand what it feels like to be discriminated by the color of our skin.
We can think we do, but we really just can’t.
Would he call any of those women a “nappy-headed ho” to their face if they were in the studio? I doubt it. He’s a hypocrite and not worth a second of serious thought. The radio and the Internet are huge repositories of false bravado.
It’s a more powerful response to ignore it. Making an issue of the words people choose only weaponizes those words.
The contest to be the most sensitive, well illustrated by so many posts on the SDMB, simply stratifies people into the weak (who need protecting because they are sensitive) and the strong. If Mr Imus makes fun of nappy hair, for instance, your choices are to be offended and hurt or to consider his opinion irrelevant to your life. Consider which of those two choices is most likely to be the best strategy for rendering Mr Imus and his views trivial (particularly in a society where exposure is valuable, even if it is exposure for being a nitwit).
That photo of you is delightful, btw. You can apply to be my daughter anytime. You’d be at risk, though, for getting a lecture that the cavalier use of “fuck,” “asshole” and “pencil-dicked,” even though it’s the Pit, reduces your own language to the level of Mr Imus et al.
Don Imus has been a sick joke for a long time. I was never a fan of his radio show & I’ve avoided him on TV. He’s truly got a “face for radio.” (Yeah, we all get older. But ugly thoughts have drawn ugly lines on that face.)
However, this exchange is revolting, even for him. I’m melanin-deficient & I’m disgusted.
Oh, yeah, you can. Remember Mom’s standard question? “If <fill-in-the-name-of-your-stupid-friend-here> jumps off the roof and gets hurt, does that mean you have to jump off the roof, too? If you break your leg, don’t run crying to me about it!”
Just because one particular group of people does something stupid doesn’t mean everybody has to do it.
She looks like a light skinned African American to me
…but you are absolutely right in your indignation (or maybe rage).