Do not make the mistake of thinking that because my conclusion is the same as another person's that my reasoning is the same
Last week's "The Boondocks" speculated on the possibility that Condoleessa Rice might be nicer if she just had someone to love. I thought the thang was funny, but the Washington Post refused to run it. And Aaron at Uppity-Negro found a discussion of McGruder's thoughts behind the series:
The Post's decision raises that ongoing debate about when not to publish comic strips--most recently several papers suspended a "Doonesbury" stripwhich used the word "masturbate," apparently on the grounds that there might be someone out there who didn't actually know what it meant. In this situation the Post's reasoning appears to hinge on whether Aaron McGruder is implying that Condi Rice is gay.
…which leaves me feeling ignorant because it never occurred to me. This, and a recent conversation with my daughter about the speculation in Harry Potter fandom that two of the characters in the latest volume of the saga are gay (Sirius Black and somebody else), which thought also never entered my mind, made me realize something about myself.
I don't seem to speculate on folks' sexuality at all. I mean, I see who's hot and all that and I'm interested or not. And you find out people's orientation when you hang with them. But I don't hit on women unless I get some sort of subtle encouragement and that sort of establishes all the gender information I feel I need be concerned with. And if I'm not hanging with you I REALLY have no business up in your business.
That's how I feel, anyway.
Once I've established how I'm going to relate to a person I'm just not interested in knowing (or bother by knowing) about their sexuality. And I suspect that makes me pretty weird.
Posted by P6 at October 20, 2003 12:32 PM | Trackback URL: http://www.prometheus6.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/2049I never picked up that McGruder was implying Condi was gay. I just assumed people were pissed off because they thought McGruder was implying she (as a woman) needed a man - which it became clear as the series progressed that he wasn't.
count me as someone who also didn't see that implication. i always thought it meant that if they found her a good lay, she'd relax. so what do i know...
and because you don't consider a person's sexuality as something that you must know (and know all the details of) before you can assess them as a person, all that means is that you've evolved a step or three higher than most of the people on the planet. welcome to the club ;)
I missed that alleged implication too. I was thinking along the lines of DesertJo.
Looking back at the thread, Aaron did emphasize the word 'man' on the 10/15 strip when he said "if she just had the right MAN in her life" He could have emphasized the word 'right'. hmm...