Not the Garden Tool

It seems like you everywhere you look the past week or so you hear about don imus and his now infamous comments. I feel like since everyone else is talking about this, I should weigh in as well. Besides, there are a couple of things that really confuse me about this.

Let me start by saying that I think what he said was completely inappropriate and offensive. I can't believe these "shock jocks" get away with half the stuff they say and this is another example of these guys going to new lows. I have to tell you as a sports fan, I watched the Rutgers women plow their way through the NCAA tournament and I was very impressed. I thought they displayed everything that is good about collegiate athletics. They worked hard, played as a team, and never gave up. I thought they were a wonderful story. I can't believe that anyone would refer to them using such derogatory terms. But then, I can't stand the word "hoe". I object to the way it is thrown around in our culture. I hate that people often use the word "pimp" the way they do. I don't think anyone should use those terms to refer to other people.

What I don't understand are all the hypocrites who dance and sing along to Snoop or 50 while they use the same terms, then scream about how evil Don Imus is. Let me be very clear. I don't like any of these people and I hate they way they all refer to women. I don't get why some people think that the word sounds less offensive coming from a rapper than a radio host. I just think that is complete hypocrisy. I would LOVE to hear Al Sharpton jump all over Snoop for calling women "hoes". Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I don't think the terms are any less racist, sexist or demeaning when Jay Z says them.

CNN.com posted this story today that talks about this a little at least. Maybe we should be talking about that. Maybe we should be talking about how women are objectified in our culture at large. Maybe we should apply the same sense of outrage a little more evenly. Maybe an event like this could open our eyes a little to help us see how those same attitudes have worked their way into our thinking in so many different areas. Then maybe we could begin the hard work of rooting them out.