Bill Maher has opinions on the situation in the Gaza Strip and they are loaded with sexist bullshit for some reason.
On Thursday, thousands of Israeli troops stormed into the region, leaving behind dozens of civilian casualties in their wake. On Wednesday, four children were killed by an Israeli missile.
Thursday evening, responding to the conflict in the region, Maher, the host of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and a comedian known for his outspoken stance on a variety of political and social issues (who also hosted a show called Politically Incorrect) tweeted this:
Maher is completely entitled to his opinion about the situation in that region. Agree with his stance or disagree, but no one, certainly not me is here to tell him he doesn’t have a right to take a stance.
But ‘crazy woman’? Dude. First of all, that’s an unoriginal joke that stopped being funny in 1993. Secondly, “crazy woman” is a loaded term with a fuckton of implications for women. Making a joke about hitting a woman to make a point about a country where people are being killed is just gross. It’s not just PC whining, OK? If you really want people to take your opinions about issues that are important to you seriously (as Gaza clearly is to him), how about taking a moment to extend the courtesy to other people and do the same for issues that are important to them? That’s what I don’t get in situations like this. If you want to be taken seriously as a political pundit, how can you be so dismissive in the language you use when referring to women or other marginalized groups?
But I guess it’s not about that. It’s “what shocking thing can I say at a time like this to ruffle the most feathers?” This is the second time today we’ve seen a celebrity use Twitter to make a completely inappropriate “comedic” tweet about a horrible international news story.
People on Twitter of course had immediate reactions to his choice of words. Some took issue and some showed support from him against the “PC police,” which in case anyone needs a reminder is not a real goddamn thing. As my good buddy Jamie Kilstein once put it, “the PC police aren’t real. You’re not going to go to jail. You’re just an asshole.”
Amen, sister.
Image via Twitter.