Pink vs. Green
Best of the Web Today - March 3, 2005
By JAMES TARANTO
You may remember her from such movies as "A Low Down Dirty Shame" and "Woo." Call Jada Pinkett Smith's latest production "Heteronormative Hell." The Harvard Crimson reports the actress appeared on campus recently as part of the 20th annual Cultural Rhythms show, and what she had to say was quite inflammatory:
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"Women, you can have it all--a loving man, devoted husband, loving children, a fabulous career," she said. "They say you gotta choose. Nah, nah, nah. We are a new generation of women. We got to set a new standard of rules around here. You can do whatever it is you want. All you have to do is want it."
"To my men, open your mind, open your eyes to new ideas. Be open," she added.
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This didn't quite provoke fainting spells, like Larry Summers's recent remarks, but the Crimson reports that "some students were offended" and that "the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations have begun working together to increase sensitivity toward issues of sexuality at Harvard."
In case you're one of those backward types who don't understand why what Smith said is so horrible, the Crimson spells it out:
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BGLTSA Co-Chair Jordan B. Woods '06 said that, while many BGLTSA members thought Pinkett Smith's speech was "motivational," some were insulted because they thought she narrowly defined the roles of men and women in relationships.
"Some of the content was extremely heteronormative, and made BGLTSA members feel uncomfortable," he said.
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Calling the comments heteronormative, according to Woods, means they implied that standard sexual relationships are only between males and females.
"Our position is that the comments weren't homophobic, but the content was specific to male-female relationships," Woods said.
Now first of all, maybe the BGLTSA guys (and gals, etc.) would feel more comfortable if they had a nice big soft chair instead of one made of "Woods." But seriously, we were glad we'd read about the Cambridge commotion, which sensitized us to the problem of heteronormativity. As a result, we were ready to be appropriately outraged at this article in the Los Angeles Times:
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Scientists who compared frogs collected over the last 150 years have discovered a dramatic increase in hermaphrodites during the times when contamination from the pesticide DDT and other chlorinated compounds was widespread.
Frogs with both male and female reproductive organs were rare in the 19th and early 20th centuries but more common during the 1950s, when the largest volumes of the chemicals were used. . . .
The ability of certain chemicals to mimic or block estrogen and testosterone, which are key in sexual organ development and reproduction, is considered one of the most disturbing discoveries in environmental science of the last decade.
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"Disturbing"? Only if you're prejudiced against transgendered amphibian-Americans. This blatant heteronormativism makes us feel very uncomfortable. Shame on the Los Angeles Times, and shame on Susan Estrich for remaining silent in the face of such oppression! |
