| thoughts from a cunning linguist | |
Well all those Canadians who want us to be more American now have their very own bigot/mascot. Elsie Wayne, Deputy Leader of our "Progressive" Conservatives covered herself in glory today by slamming gays and lesbians. The following is an excerpt from a CBC news story (available at www.cbc.ca)
"Wayne told CBC Newsworld on Friday that she has gay friends, and respects them. 'They don't come out and they don't ask us to redefine the definition of marriage,' Wayne said. 'They don't even talk about that.'
The veteran Tory member of Parliament was under fire for comments she made about gay marriage during debate on Thursday in the House of Commons.
'Why do they have to be out here in the public, always debating that they want to call it marriage? Why are they in parades? Why are men dressed up as women on floats?' she said.
"If they are going to live together, go live together and shut up about it.'"
Let it be known that I am no fan of gay marriage or any kind of marriage for that matter. So I don't care if Wayne wants to slam debates about marriage. Let it also be known that I am no fan of Elsie Wayne. But I do have to thank her for something, the same thing that I'd thank Rick Santorum for: for acknowledging that bigotry is not just a characteristic of the far-right in North America; it reaches into the leadership of right-wing parties.
I am a big fan of plain language. And for once, whatever we might say about Santorum and Wayne, finally there are people who have the guts to confirm what right wing thinkers either espouse or absorb as part of being conservative. They either hate gays and lesbians or must make peace with those who do. Finally the right owns up to its prejudice.
Wayne's comments have struck a cord here also because Canada suffers from its defining mythology of niceness. What Wayne says offends our sense of propriety more than our sense of morality. Niceness and politness are so insidious that they prevents us from naming prejudice as such. In that sense, in proclaiming their prejudices, both Santorum and Wayne finally call themselves the spades they are.
Posted by Bush Whacker at May 9, 2003 11:06 PMi suffer from canadian politeness--or so i have been told. apparently there was a very rude woman at the los angeles airport who was totally in my way and very nearly knocked my suitcase off the cart. i remember the incident differently. i thought i had shoved my cart so hard against her it was unavoidable for this woman to get pummelled by me and knock my suitcase. and i apologized. in retrospect, i realize i was actually trying to avoid her bullish advancement the whole time. afterall, she was trying to get in the elevator before i had finished getting out. still, my suitcase made contact, and in my canadian mind, the lady deserved an apology regardless of who initiated it.
(this story may be exaggerated for dramatic effect--sorry)
-bluegirl
Posted by: bluegirl on May 11, 2003 07:27 AMWell little miss "go live together and shut up about it" certainly is to the point!
You know, I'm not Canadian but I do sometimes, a lot of times, apologize for things that aren't my fault. If someone were to, oh, whack me upside the head, for instance, I'd apologize. Because I must have done something just prior to the whacking to warrant it. But I guess if I did do something to warrant the whacking, then it would be my fault. So damn, there goes my theory.
Posted by: Stephanie on May 13, 2003 04:50 PMSteph, you would fit in just fine in Canada! You've already got the polite thing that bluegirl describes above down to a science. In fact, I suspect it's been known to happen that in Canada people argue over who is more sorry whenever anyone gets whacked up side the head.
(Personally, I think it's far more interesting to think about whether the whackee enjoyed being whacked to begin with.)
Posted by: Bush Whacker on May 13, 2003 10:55 PM