On Sat, 3 Nov 2007, Doug Henwood wrote:
>> I think this is why this British term doesn't fly in an American
>> context. It's the flipside of our having no class consciousness.
>
> The feminization of Kerry in the '04 campaign was a class insult, even
> though Bush was less of an athlete and just as upper crust.
But that's just the point -- it's not a class insult because it doesn't implicate both of them as members of the same class the way an ethnic slur insults everyone who is part of the group. It's personalized.
America is anti-elitist, which is different than having class consciousness. And one of the differences is that the feminization insults are mainly directed at the mannerisms of education -- complex speech, deliberativeness -- rather than toward manners associated with inherited class position based on name and wealth. Bush is a perfect example: his yahoo mannerisms, which are a true reflection of his lack of internalized education, are accepted as a true currency that he's not part of the educated elite. Bill Clinton is the opposite. He grew up poor but has obviously internalized a lot of education. So he was perceived in American terms as part of the resented educated elite, even if it was partially offset by his charisma as a speaker, his southern accent and his hounddogness.
Michael