Last night, Beefcake and I were talking and he mentioned how, in order to further irritate his roommate, Rogaine, who he hates passionately, he used to joke about how he'd like to fuck his younger sister. This tactic is pretty standard. But when Rogaine started to become upset as his sister was hooking up with people, Beefcake began ragging on him about how "broken" his sister was, indicating that she was horribly ugly.
At the time it didn't bother me much, but it stuck in my head, this "broken" word, as I cleaned houses with my mama all day. Somewhere between the 5th and 6th toilet I scrubbed, the word began to piss me off.
First of all, it's fine to describe someone's level of attractiveness and even to use it as a diss against someone's siblings (I've probably done it). But broken?
I doubt Beefcake invented this use of the word, though he is the first one I've heard use it (note: this is not an indictment of him, just the adjective). And the fact that he isn't the only one tossing this around makes me even more pissed.
Because to call a woman "broken" for being unattractive doesn't just imply, it blatantly states that without a set of features deemed good-looking by society, she is fractured, ruined, reduced somehow. She is less than, lacking in some way. She is reduced from a person into an object. It's a terribly effective way to begin seeing women as not deserving, less than a man, not able to have their own ideas or beliefs or wealth or rights or control over their bodies.
So please, menfolk, the next time you feel the need to put someone down on the basis of their appearance alone, find another word. Put your GRE vocab to use and find a more appropriate word. Or, better yet, maybe don't judge females on their looks at all. Crazy idea, eh? A feminist can dream.
Much love,
The Albright Sheriff
People underestimate the power of language. It's become a cliché in some ways, often considered one of those nitpicky, stereotypically "feminist" (when that word is used as an insult or an expletive), but that's just because it's one of the most obvious signs of the deep-seated prejudices and inequalities that many would like to gloss over as insignificant. This represents a particularly disturbing example. Great post!
ReplyDelete-The Librarian
That doesn't even make sense. Broken? I'm always curious about how words gain less than obvious meanings.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's anything wrong with judging a person's looks. It's just human nature. Saying "wow, I'd totally do her" or "there's no way I would go near that" doesn't make me a bad feminist. The problem arises when you either make fun of someone to their face-which is just mean-or judge someone based on their looks.
I remember when there were pictures released by various magazines of Pamela Anderson reading on vacation, and everyone started making fun of her. Since when does being blonde and buxom preclude someone from being an avid reader? People assume that pretty women are vapid and that fat people (men almost as much as women) are lazy. That's the real problem.
This reminds me of a story about virginity I heard in Jordan.
ReplyDeleteA girl was in a cab, and the driver said to her, "A woman is like an egg, once you crack it, it is worthless" or "A woman is like a pane of glass, once it is shattered..." so on, and so forth.
I had never heard of someone being called "broken" as ugly, that is just absurd. I agree with Tom, it makes little sense.