>speaking as a (more or less) ohioan currently living in chicago, what i saw
>in the remark was precisely the perpetual war to which you refer, not some
>high-minded disdain for the high-falutin' environmental disdain for ordinary
>workers.
>
>but anyway . . .
my remark was a reference to some an old joke that old timers here would get, old timers from the Bad Subjects list--out of Berkeley.
my remark should be applied to any lifestyle lefty wherever they live--like in Ithaca, the SanFran of the east. a bunch of fucking wankers who had their farmer's market to display their organic veggies, but would sniff at the dairy farmers and their shit covered boots, and yap about how racist, dirty, inbred, sexist, toothless, and disgusting they all were when they didn't think any of them were with within earshot.
or, how about my interview for Swank U where, over she-she lunch, I asked how long their commutes were, since mine would be about 65 miles. "Oh god, we would NEVER actually live in hicksville, NY. the people around here. ... eeeeuuuuuuu." This while wanting to hire me to teach about race, class, and gender discussing course materials, etc. I wondered if I should tell them that they were interviewing one of the local inbreds.
or maybe the time i was asked by feminist to talk about "class" issues on a panel about gender oppression. they thought i might be able to address why poor and working class white men were so sexist. i decided to attend, but i wore polyester slacks, a smock top from kmart, and pink rollers in my hair. i snapped pink bumble gum and popper a genny screamer during my "talk".
or maybe the time that the leader of a team taught course though i would give an interesting talk on affirmative action. after all, as a woman, i would support it. but, as a member of the white working class, i wouldn't. so, i should be able to give 'em an interesting discussion of the moral and political reasoning i used. AS FUCKING IF.
you want more? well, i don't want to tell it because, as i do, i break down and cry from the years of pain that i and others are subjected to by the kind of spew that sprays from the mouth and keyboards of lefties who should know better.
inbreds is a reference to joanna's racist description of the klewless, toothless inbreds (her word) that live in places like hicksville who are disgusting because there are no bookstores.
well gee fuckin' whiz, kids. there was one bookstore at the uni. in a town of 20k people, just what other bookstore might be needed. IOW, the blame was placed on their physical character--the result of being, apparently, inbred--as to why there were no bookstores. no economic analysis about the difficulty of supporting bookstores in small communities. no self reflection to wonder if, perhaps, there were the same number of bookstores per capita in sanfran, manhattan, and hicksville (my guess is that per capita, it's the same). no economic analysis of the fact that, in hicksville, peole do have interesting cultural things they do--like square dancing, or country music, jamborees, festivals, auctions, crafts, religion, fairs, knitting and quilting circles etc. that they find pleasurable and beautiful, but of course, these are kewl, sexy, and ethnic.
i have listened to the condescending crap all my life. it's fucking racializing stereotyping because it marks the bodies, souls, and minds of the poor in a way that is as damaging as any other racializing or gendered marking of bodies that goes on at the micro and macro levels of gender and racial oppression that we consider "honorable" and worthy of "our" attention.
kelley