Another Edition of the Friday Funnies
I know I promised more posts, but so far, I have been unable to deliver. Thankfully, the Friday Funnies are still in gear, and here is yet another edition. Inspired by the recent grandstanding of former President Jimmy Carter, who once again resigned from the Southern Baptist Convention (hadn't he already done that? And hasn't he figured it out by now that you can't "resign" from the denomination, especially when you remain a member of an SBC Church?) over the issue of the SBC's stance on female roles in the Church and home, I thought some Jerry Clower would cheer all of us up, particularly his meeting with "The She-Coon of Women's Lib". **See my comments below for clarification on the term "she-coon".**
**Though I published this post over a year ago with no controversy whatsoever, in recent days I have come under attack from some bloggers who claim that the term "she-coon" is an obvious racial slur. However, this viewpoint is far from legitimate reality. First, the term "she-coon" is itself a Southern colloquialism which refers to a woman who is in charge and at times dominate. Like a mother raccoon, she is willing to attack when necessary. While this term is as common today as it was in the past, it is nonetheless, still used. You can find it used by a female journalist in this article and a male journalist here (both of which are in reference to Janet Reno). If the term was such an obvious racial slur, then neither article would have made it past the copy editor and certainly someone would have made a stink about it by now. Finally, there is the issue of who exactly Clower was speaking of when he used the term. Here is an article by Darrell Huckaby where he claims that the person in question is no other than Gloria Steinem, certainly the dominate woman in charge of the women's liberation movement. Thus, there is no sensible reason to conclude that Jerry Clower's use of this term was in any way meant to be a racist slur.**
**Though I published this post over a year ago with no controversy whatsoever, in recent days I have come under attack from some bloggers who claim that the term "she-coon" is an obvious racial slur. However, this viewpoint is far from legitimate reality. First, the term "she-coon" is itself a Southern colloquialism which refers to a woman who is in charge and at times dominate. Like a mother raccoon, she is willing to attack when necessary. While this term is as common today as it was in the past, it is nonetheless, still used. You can find it used by a female journalist in this article and a male journalist here (both of which are in reference to Janet Reno). If the term was such an obvious racial slur, then neither article would have made it past the copy editor and certainly someone would have made a stink about it by now. Finally, there is the issue of who exactly Clower was speaking of when he used the term. Here is an article by Darrell Huckaby where he claims that the person in question is no other than Gloria Steinem, certainly the dominate woman in charge of the women's liberation movement. Thus, there is no sensible reason to conclude that Jerry Clower's use of this term was in any way meant to be a racist slur.**
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