Tiger Beatdown

Last week, The Washington Post broke what turned out to be a rather explosive story on Mitt Romney’s school days, with a headline about his school ‘pranks, but also troubling incidents.’ What ended up being particularly controversial about the story was both the reaction from the Romney campaign, and the reaction from readers, who seemed to have trouble distinguishing the difference between ‘pranks’ and ‘troubling incidents.’ Which, just so we’re all clear on this, is code for ‘bullying.’

Bullying has been in the news a lot in the last few years, particularly anti-LGBQT bullying, which means people are more aware of it. Schools are also much more aware of it, and have been cracking down hard with policies intended to identify and stop bullying early. Unfortunately, such policies aren’t doing enough, as clearly illustrated by the fact that fatal bullying is still a problem. It’s a cause the President and First Lady have both discussed, with the goal of making our schools a safer space for their marginalised attendees.

Which makes the whole Romney situation a big fucking deal, as our Veep would put it, since it’s providing some fascinating insight into how Romney, and his handlers, view bullying. We all have episodes from our past that we’re not proud of, though some of us can probably cite worse offenses than others. The question isn’t whether someone needs to be saintly to run for public office, but how people choose to deal with their past transgressions against the people around them.

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I had promised, gentle readers, to stop writing about Glee. After establishing a reputation as a trailblazer in the Glee-hating department, I wanted to rest on my laurels; or, more accurately, I wanted to stop wading through piles of communiques from angry Glee fans, and I wanted to stop watching the show because it was causing me to writhe in agony every week, and the blood pressure spikes weren’t good for me. I enjoyed a good long Gleeiatus, and I don’t regret a minute of it. However, circumstances have changed, and thus I need to come out of retirement for a Very Special Episode.

Last week on Think Progress, our pal Alyssa Rosenberg articulated some of the problems with Glee, arguing that:

[Glee is] a show that claims credit for seeing clearly and portraying teenagers’ lives honestly, but that can’t acknowledge its own cruelty and manipulation of other people. It’s one thing for bringing the underexamined lives of gay teenagers, of abused women, of gay people of color into the mainstream of popular culture. But spotlighting them only to use their pain to accrue credit to yourself isn’t admirable. And it’s not entertaining.

I got into a great discussion with her, Emily, and Arturo R. García from Racialicious about the show and popular reactions to it; Arturo and I both discussed the fact that it’s been heavily criticised since the start for the depiction of people with disabilities and people of colour, but this hasn’t gotten much traction. Glee has also done fairly terribly with domestic violence and sexual assault since close to the beginning, and while it may have been lauded for its depiction of queer youth, as Alyssa points out, even those depictions are sinking into a mire.

Surprise! A popular television show is exploiting people for ratings!

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(Content note: Discussions of racism below the cut, including graphic imagery.)

On her Tumblr, Flavia frequently discusses feminist ethics and praxis; she talks about the transformation of theory, ideas, and dreams into concrete action. She also touches upon the critical importance of accountability among the feminist leadership, and feminists in general, and her coverage of these matters always brings me back to the critical dividing line between words and action. Not just within feminism but generally, as a society, as human beings; we owe each other not just theory but also praxis, and accountability.

Turning words into action can be immensely challenging, but it’s a key part of behaving ethically, and responsibly. A case study in exactly why praxis is just as important as theory unfolded in Sweden on 15 April at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. Five ‘birthday cakes’ were commissioned to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Swedish Artists Association and world art day. (Continued)