Regarding today’s political cartoon in the OKC paper: What was The Oklahoman thinking?Oklahoma ranks as the 3rd worst state in the nation for women. Much of what holds Oklahoma women and girls back is linked to our state’s culture of violence and disresepct for women. Oklahoma ranks #4 in women murdered by men, #1 in child abuse and our domestic violence shelters are full of women escaping violence.
So The Oklahoman today runs a cartoon showing Sonia Sotomayor - a brilliant Hispanic woman scholar, lawyer and judge - strung up by a rope while men with clubs prepare to have at her for believing she’s qualified to serve on the US. Supreme Court.
Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton, received a JD from Yale Law School where she was an editor at the Yale Law Journal (but she grew up in the projects; obviously “that girl doesn’t know her place” - right? wink, wink). President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York where she served with distinction (but she’s a woman and, worst yet, ambitious - right? wink, wink). She’s served on the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit for 10 years, heard over 3,000 cases and written over 380 opinions (but she’s of Puerto Rican descent ~~ ergo the piñata image - right? wink, wink).
Not funny; actually stupid and damaging. A picture speaks louder than words and that cartoon sends a message to women of all ages: “Back off. Know your place. Or we’ll take a stick to you and teach you a lesson.”
Shame on The Oklahoman and its publisher, David Thompson!
Agree? Let The Oklahoman hear what YOU think!
I understand the message The Oklahoman was trying to convey here, but I do not understand how the editors thought this would be the best way to do so.
ReplyDeleteWOw, I can not believe a newspaper would print something like this. SO sad!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Jean! Although I think you only got it half right - portraying Sotomayor as a pinata is as racist as it is sexist
ReplyDeleteSadly, this is pretty typical for the Oklahoman. Thanks for pointing it out
ReplyDeleteThe author is absolutely seeing things in this cartoon that simply aren't there. The image humorously suggests that the president's pick will soon be attacked by the GOP, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that the cartoon works no matter what sex the pinata is. The only "shame" here is that such hurtfully inconsiderate criticism has been hurled at the cartoonist.
Next time, please think before you blog.
despicable. How could anyone think that this would be humourous in any way at all? It makes no sense. She's nominated for an extremely high level position as a Supreme Court Justice which deserves respect not ridicule and should be kept out of the cartoons completely if someone cannot be as intelligent as Sotomayor.
ReplyDeletebut because this is a woman it will be brushed off or ignored.
call or email that paper.
It's certainly not fair to Obama but is fairly representing Republicans.
ReplyDeleteI thought the point of it was:
ReplyDeleteHow willing would the Republicans be to beat her up with all those cameras watching.
Still racist (of course she's a pinata, she's Latina!) and stupidly uses violence against women as part of the joke.
This begs to be said,
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon is depicting obama to be on her side (the sombrero) and the republicans attacking her to be fools.
It shows the current tactic that Obama and the media are using by letting the republicans attack her for stupid reasons (female, foreign looking, etc). The republicans in this cartoon look clearly stupid, while Obama looks smart.
It has nothing to do with Sotomayor's ability, but with Obama's for being so smart as to choose a justice that will create a perfect political situation for him.
Hmm. Let me first start off by saying that I think the empowerment of women is very important, and that today feminists are still needed as much as ever. The danger we face is that women are perceived as equal now, and that the need for feminism is long passed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that your analysis of that cartoon is simplistic. You completely discount the political nature of the cartoon. You don't mention the fact that those with clubs are elephants, Republicans. You completely ignore the political context in favor of only viewing the singular, the personal.
You also ignore the reluctance, almost terror, in the elephants' eyes. The cartoonist is pointing out that, in our soundbyte culture, the Republicans can't question her legal credentials without at the same time being called racists and sexists, or at least risk losing the support of those demographics for those perceptions.
The idea isn't especially shocking nor revolutionary. However, I think that your analysis, to be complete, shouldn't ignore those important parts of the cartoon.
Men with clubs? They look like non-gender-specific elephants to me.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you to a large extent - I think that you are missing the point of the cartoon.
ReplyDeleteThe cartoon acknowledges the unfortunate reality that those feelings *do* exist and are very much a part of our political system.
In the cartoon - Obama is simply daring them to do what they *want* to do...albeit...this time...publicly (and to their own political detriment.)
So much more horrible stuff at The Oklahoman. Check out my site, The Oklahoman Editorial Watch. http://okedwatch.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteGirl Scouts-Western Oklahoma CEO Cathy Stackpole blogs about the ramifications to girls. http://girleffects.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteJean -
ReplyDeleteI have never disagreed with you on anything until today. If I'm seeing it like I think I'm seeing it, I love this cartoon. It's a fair assessment of how White Republican Congressmen have treated women. Their policies have been oppressing to women. The Oklahoman is spot-on with this. I think this is provocative, and hats off to the big dogs that approved it. I mean, aren't they pointing the finger at the abusers??? Aren't they totalling outing their sexism and racism? It's the Republicans that have focused on her race more than anyone. The Oklahoman is pointing out THEIR racism. They are not, I don't think, saying this nominee is a pinata. In fact, they're saying the opposite.
I thought piñatas and sombreros were strictly limited to the Mexican culture. Can it be that they are so ignorant about Latinos that they think Mexican iconography can describe the plight of a woman of Puerto Rican descent?
ReplyDeleteEven if their intent was to comment on the unfortunate atmosphere of the hearing. Their language and imagery is completely ignorant of her background.
For the record, Puerto Rico and Mexico have totally different cultures. We are only loosely linked by the use of the Spanish language, and even then the popular dialects are very different.
What's next? Comments on North Korea by using a fortune cookie metaphor or on China by using a Sushi image?
I thought piñatas and sombreros were strictly limited to the Mexican culture. Can it be that they are so ignorant about Latinos that they think Mexican iconography can describe the plight of a woman of Puerto Rican descent?
ReplyDeleteEven if their intent was to comment on the unfortunate atmosphere of the hearing. Their language and imagery is completely ignorant of her background.
For the record, Puerto Rico and Mexico have totally different cultures. We are only loosely linked by the use of the Spanish language, and even then the popular dialects are very different.
What's next? Comments on North Korea by using a fortune cookie metaphor or on China by using a Sushi image?
Where's your outrage over Playboy's list of conservative women "they'd like to hate f**k?" oh i get it, you're just the liberal women's coalition......shame on you for your hypocricy....
ReplyDeleteHISPANIC GOP LEADER CONDEMNS RACIST SOTOMAYOR CARTOON
ReplyDeleteLeading GOP Activist Who Helped Secure Sotomayor Nomination to District Court
Demands Apologies from Creators’ Syndicate and Oklahoman;
“A depth of ignorance and insensitivity … that is truly appalling,” says Niño
WASHINGTON (June 6) – A prominent Hispanic Republican activist and fundraiser has demanded a formal apology from Creators’ Syndicate and The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City, OK, for an editorial cartoon circulated by Creators’ Syndicate that appeared in The Oklahoman’s Tuesday editions. The cartoon depicted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a human piñata and President Obama wearing a sombrero with a caption that read, “Fiesta time at the confirmation hearing.”
“This grotesque insult requires a formal editorial apology from both Creators’ Syndicate and The Oklahoman,” said Jose Niño, a former President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce who, besides co-Chairing the conservative Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute, has been a major fundraiser for the campaigns of President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and other Republican candidates and conservative causes.
Niño, who heads an international business development and financial services company, is a board member of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and previously served on the Small Business Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago.
In 1992, he was tapped by then-President George H.W. Bush to secure Congressional support for the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “In each of my meetings with her, in 1992 and ever since, I have consistently found her to be intelligent, focused and persuasive,” Niño wrote in a letter to Creators’ Syndicate President Richard S. Newcombe and Oklahoman publisher David Thompson. “She and President Obama do not deserve to be portrayed in such an offensive way – nobody does.”
“Having grown up, as I did, in the 1950s and ‘60s, Judge Sotomayor is no stranger to the sting of ethnic and racial hostility. From her earliest days in elementary school, she and millions of other Hispanic Americans faced challenges that, even now, all persons of color must overcome. As a woman she also faced sexism, but as a Latina, she confronted a particularly virulent strain known as machismo. That she nevertheless persevered to be nominated to ever-more influential positions on the federal bench by three different Presidents of both political Parties is an inspiring example to all Americans, and a credit to her courage and determination. Your Syndicate and newspaper should be ashamed for playing to these awful stereotypes in your portrayal of this highly capable woman.”
Noting that Judge Sotomayor is Puerto Rican, not Mexican, Niño wrote that “your depiction of the stereotypical Mexican piñata and sombrero, and your use of the phrase ‘fiesta time’ clearly show a depth of ignorance and insensitivity on your part that is truly appalling.”
HISPANIC GOP LEADER CONDEMNS RACIST SOTOMAYOR CARTOON
ReplyDeleteLeading GOP Activist Who Helped Secure Sotomayor Nomination to District Court
Demands Apologies from Creators’ Syndicate and Oklahoman;
“A depth of ignorance and insensitivity … that is truly appalling,” says Niño
WASHINGTON (June 6) – A prominent Hispanic Republican activist and fundraiser has demanded a formal apology from Creators’ Syndicate and The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City, OK, for an editorial cartoon circulated by Creators’ Syndicate that appeared in The Oklahoman’s Tuesday editions. The cartoon depicted Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as a human piñata and President Obama wearing a sombrero with a caption that read, “Fiesta time at the confirmation hearing.”
“This grotesque insult requires a formal editorial apology from both Creators’ Syndicate and The Oklahoman,” said Jose Niño, a former President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce who, besides co-Chairing the conservative Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute, has been a major fundraiser for the campaigns of President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and other Republican candidates and conservative causes.
Niño, who heads an international business development and financial services company, is a board member of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and previously served on the Small Business Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago.
In 1992, he was tapped by then-President George H.W. Bush to secure Congressional support for the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. “In each of my meetings with her, in 1992 and ever since, I have consistently found her to be intelligent, focused and persuasive,” Niño wrote in a letter to Creators’ Syndicate President Richard S. Newcombe and Oklahoman publisher David Thompson. “She and President Obama do not deserve to be portrayed in such an offensive way – nobody does.”
“Having grown up, as I did, in the 1950s and ‘60s, Judge Sotomayor is no stranger to the sting of ethnic and racial hostility. From her earliest days in elementary school, she and millions of other Hispanic Americans faced challenges that, even now, all persons of color must overcome. As a woman she also faced sexism, but as a Latina, she confronted a particularly virulent strain known as machismo. That she nevertheless persevered to be nominated to ever-more influential positions on the federal bench by three different Presidents of both political Parties is an inspiring example to all Americans, and a credit to her courage and determination. Your Syndicate and newspaper should be ashamed for playing to these awful stereotypes in your portrayal of this highly capable woman.”
Noting that Judge Sotomayor is Puerto Rican, not Mexican, Niño wrote that “your depiction of the stereotypical Mexican piñata and sombrero, and your use of the phrase ‘fiesta time’ clearly show a depth of ignorance and insensitivity on your part that is truly appalling.”
When you criticize David Letterman for his vicious, sexist attacks against Sarah Palin and her 14 year old daughter, people may start to take you seriously.
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