Loss of Stature

Thursday, August 24, 2006

I am at the age where I no longer have personal "idols"...people whom I admire so much that I would try to emulate them. That is a sentiment best reserved for the young and not so useful as one matures. I do, however, have a number of people who I respect, people of stature, people who one might choose as a role model for one's children. They exhibit traits that are laudable and they inspire confidence, integrity and a kind of reliabilty. You might be confronted with a new idea or theory and, even though you would want to do your own investigation and flesh in all the details, you might rely on that person whom you respect to proffer an opinion that you might use as a starting point.

A recent one of these "role models, for me, is Randi Rhodes, who hosts a show on Air America and who can be seen on television broadcast news as an occasional contributor. I felt that she was a kindred spirit, that our political outlooks harmonized, and that I could trust her to give me an honest account of a an event or theory or historical tidbit with which I was unfamiliar. I thought I could trust her judgment.

My view, unfortunately, has changed. Yes...I still believe she has an excellent grasp on political agendas...and...yes...I will still listen to her insightful and often scathing analyses of political events and personalities. But...my trust in her to be an open minded and compassionate human being is gone. My belief that she, as I, live life in accordance with the golden rule has been eroded.

Why have I changed my opinion in this regard? The first instance in which I lost faith was her remark concerning Anne Coulter. I am no fan of Ms. Coulter...I consider her to be a mean spirited, unfeeling and vehemently hateful and opinionated woman. Her self righteousness goes beyond the pale, as does her hypocrisy. Nonetheless, when I heard Randi Rhodes speculate, on air, more than once, that Anne Coulter was a man...just look at her adams apple...I began to wonder. As a transgender person, I have learned to have a relatively "thick skin" but Randi's assertion showed no understanding of the transgender community whatsoever. I understand the gist...Anne Coulter has the sensibilities of a man...but...to cite her adams apple as proof, altho a feeble attempt at humor, could be extremely hurtful to members of the TG community who have not developed that thick skin, or who have just recently started exploring their gender issues and stand to be stigmatized by such remarks.

Nonetheless...I was willing to give Randi Rhodes the benefit of the doubt...it was a joke...not meant to be hurtful...and...I DID get the point!! But...upon listening to the show of Tuesday, Aug. 22...my decision that Randi Rhodes could no longer be entirely respected crystalized. Her attacks on marijuana smokers exhibited vast ignorance and showed her to be just like all those others who make snap judgments and have built in biases that cater to elitism, self-inflated egos and an unwillingness to accept diversity. Equally distasteful was her attack on those women who do not feel driven to conform to what society considers "proper". So what if they choose not to shave their legs? Or under their arms? Ms. Rhodes condemns them as being less than proper women.

This attitude displays the same type of ignorance we see from George Allen and other less than enlightened Republican candidates. She has obviously NOT walked a mile in the other person's shoes. I used to be a regualr and daily pot smoker...I have left that behind me by some 2 years. Her sterotypes of behavior displayed by marijuana smokers is distorted, hackneyed and represents a caricature of reality. They are not dull witted, slow or stupid. They are not necessarily easily distracted. Their munbers include professionals of many ilks and the assertion that all of these people are social misfits is erroneous and deprecatory. Her zinger aimed at the Grateful Dead and deadheads is an example of the citing of a minority behavior and purporting it to be a majority behavior.

I have to wonder if Randi Rhodes has friends and acquaintances who took offense at these remarks. Once again, I understand her attempts at humor, but humor that belittles others is a facile kind of wit. Humor that belittles oneself helps to strike resonant chrods with listeners. And, in an allegedly political and socially relevant forum, one expects the host no to alienate her listeners through the use of uncalled for disparagement.

I pray that her remarks were all in jest and that she truly has the openmindedness, compassion and sensitivity for which I had originally given her credit.

Please Randi...restore my faith!!

trickster108