Dear Diary,
I am pissed.
In the American sense (pissed off), not the English sense (drunk), unfortunately.
Although I'm about to head for the Vinho Verde and correct that.
Why am I seething, dear Diary?
Well, here's what happened.
I read a blogpost on a California newspaper website. It was about another blogpost by a Virginia man who had taken his 11 year old son to Hooters. Mr Virginia said on his blog that he had taken his son there to see how he would react to the women.
I left a comment on the California newspaper website.
If I remember correctly, it went something like:
If there was a restaurant chain called Shooters, where tanned, handsome men with six packs waited on tables in Calvin Klein tighty whities and leather chaps, then this would be OK.
But there isn't, so it's not OK.
If Hooters had male waiters in orange shorts and tank tops stretched over their pecs, this would be OK.
But they don't, so it's not OK.
If this man had taken his son to another part of town to "see how he reacts to black people" would that be OK?
If there was a restaurant called NIGGAS where all the waiters were black and you could call them “boy” would that be OK?
If you are ever confused about whether something is sexist, substitute "black" for "women" and see if it sounds wrong to you.
And by the way, Hooters' hiring practices are something Mrs Palin, on her bookpushing Magical Mavericky Tour, believes in -- "profiling."
The reason I said that the above was what "I thought" I wrote, is this:
THEY DELETED MY COMMENT.
Here's their very nice email:
Hello,
I am one of the managers of [The Blog] on [Website]. While we
welcome comments to our posts and try our best not to censor anyone, I have
to ask you to revise a sentence in your comment before we can publish it.
Here is the sentence: If there was a restaurant called NIGGAS where all the
waiters were black and you could call them “boy” would that be OK?
I understand the point you are making, but it is our policy at the [The Newspaper] not to print the N-word except if it is necessary in the context of a news
story for news worthy purposes.
I really do like the points you made. Could you please re-send your comment
without the use of that word?
Thank you,
[Name][Job title]
I guess they don't have a very strong sense of irony.