Thursday, May 6, 2010

Dear Elizabeth Hasselbeck:

Shut the hell up.
Please.
Just. Stop. Talking.
Apparently the plastic "representative" of a conservative, white-bread mom demographic from "The View" thought it would be funny to "joke" about a sexual predator who spied on a Dancing with the Stars contestant in her hotel room, saying that if only he had waited a few weeks, he would've seen the same thing "without the jail time."
O, tee-hee-hee, Miss Priss! You are funny. SO DAMN FUNNY. Because isn't it hilarious when women are stalked by perverts and sent death threats? Isn't that just so f*ing HILARIOUS?!? Frankly, I'm a little shocked that someone IN the entertainment industry doesn't know that- just like the ridiculous outfits used in ice-skating, it is the standard for ballroom dance costumes to be flashy, revealing and bright. As a friend from the world reknown BYU Ballroom Dance Company once explained to me, the more attention you can get from your costume, the more likely the judges are to notice you and watch you rather than your opponents. The men's costumes are much the same. A lot of skin. A lot of sequins. It's pretty standard.
This explanation is coming from a student at one of the most conservative schools in America. If that 19 year old BYU student can understand the pageantry and performance of ballroom dance and a paid television personality can't?!?

Furthermore, AS a public persona, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, you should know a few things about survivors of sexual abuse. It's not their fault. I'll say it again, to make sure this gets through your bleached out thick-ass, self-righteous head: IT'S NOT THEIR FAULT. When someone is abused, raped, stalked, preyed upon- it is is not because they were out after dark; it is not because they were wearing a skirt; it was not because they chose to get undressed in their hotel room; it is because the perpetrator is sick. The perpetrator is one who chose to prey upon, exploit and abuse another human being. That criminal commits these acts because there is an underlying disrespect for human life which allows for selfish acts that hurt others. By assuming that abuse is linked to, say, what a woman is wearing (on a televised dance show, by the way) not only perpetuates the myth that a woman would have any control over a sex-criminal's actions and therefore, she must've been asking for it, but it sends an equally harmful message to others: if you do everything right, these bad things won't happen to you.
Take just one minute to think about how damaging and inaccurate that message is.

I'm disgusted by the blatant display of ignorance you've chosen to show us, Elizabeth Hasselbeck. I'm shocked at the crude manner in which you find humor at someone else's humiliation and fear. And I'm horrified that you actually think that by wearing a dress with "all this fabric" somehow makes you better, safer or more deserving of respect and boundaries than any other woman.

You're an idiot.
Please refrain from speaking.
Thanks.

14 comments:

Amy said...

Putting this out there: I don't like the way you just stereo-typed the "conservative, white-bread mom demographic" as if all conservatives agree with Elizabeth Hasselbeck...and not that I condone her actions AT ALL, but she is also not the first person (conservative or liberal) to make a joke about something like this. Joking about that is inappropriate no matter what. Why you gotta hate on the conservatives?

Linds Barttels said...

i love my scandanavian heritage that made me blonde & white- but i'm kinda a whole wheat, 12-grain, pumperknickle kinda girl :)

Tannertrue said...

I agree with what you are saying. But where was the similarly vitriolic blog-post when Whoppi stood up for Roman Polanski by saying that his drugging and subsequent sodomy of a 13 year-old wasn't "rape-rape"?

I think it would just be better to condemn The View in general. Getting a bunch of painfully stupid women together to talk about topics that are beyond their depth is a bad idea and should not be broadcast.

f*bomb. said...

Agreed, Tannerama. It bums me out every time to think that such an awesome concept just is so horribly, horribly bland. But I don't control what's on at the gym, unfortunately.

Sorry, girls, but- the producers have specifically chosen Elizabeth Hasselbeck to represent your demographic. That's WHY she's on the show- to represent the conservative, white women of the world. Many would say she's the only representative that's not furthering the uber-liberal agenda of televised broadcasting.

Amy said...

So, because the producers of a TV show chose Elizabeth Hasselbeck to represent conservative white-bread moms, that makes it ok for you to assume that the entire conservative population agrees with her?

Just because someone from a demographic said something idiotic doesn't mean the entire demographic thinks that way.

There is no reason to belittle a group of people based on one person's comments.

louisgray said...

Amy, I don't think Farrah was looking to belittle the entire group based on Elizabeth's foolishness. However, it is clear that Elizabeth and ABC think she represents your demo. So it's not about Farrah belittling your demographic, but that the demographic should be embarrassed by Elizabeth.

Regardless of Elizabeth's background, what she said was dumb and she should stop talking. :)

f*bomb. said...

Thank you, Mr President.
At no point am I belittling a group of people- in fact, I address the individual by name multiple times. Mostly because I'm sure Elizabeth Hasselbeck reads my blog about as religiously as I watch her show.

And as long as you can accept me for the baby-eating liberal I am, I can love on as many white conservatives as will let me.

Tannertrue said...

But, that then brings up the question of WHAT THE EFF are these producers thinking when they look at Elizabeth Hasselbeck and say to themselves "She's a good representative for an entire demographic."?

I do believe that it does betray that producers on this show see conservatives as Elizabeth Hasselbeck. They hold conservative women in that high of a regard. To think that they brought her on for any other reason than to make statements like she just made and to occasionally get in a shrieking match with that harpy Joy Behar, is crazy.

So, conservative women, don't be mad at Farrah for her perceived racist comment. Be mad at The View for thinking that Elizabeth Hasselbeck represents you.

And Farrah, it's not that it is bland. It is that it is terrible. You know what I see when I look at the table on The View? I see dogs playing poker. Cute concept. But those dogs have no idea what they are doing. It would almost be excusable if the women on that show were pretty because then I would understand that some scummy producer wanted them on there as eye-candy. What makes it all the more perplexing is that they are neither pretty nor insightful.

f*bomb. said...

How did this become anything about her thoughtlessness being representational of a group of people? Sounds like she just made an ass of herself and should not simply apologize to the individual she hurt, but should maybe take a moment of introspect to recognize WHY she would connect a woman's wardrobe to the threats she receives.

If your name isn't Elizabeth Hasselbeck, this post wasn't directed at you.

Tannertrue said...

Then why was it posted in a public forum such as a blog?

Jus' sayin'.

Salt H2O said...

I agree with Tannerama-

I've always thought/ known that the View chose Elizabeth because she makes conservatives look like morons. It's not in the producers best interests to put a composed, well spoken conservative on their show because well...they're liberals.

It's like when I'm selling- if the buyer hasn't looked at my competitors yet I always suggest they consider the competitors I know how to beat.

louisgray said...

Salt H2O, I'm typically a nice guy and Farrah may agree, but that's silly. There's no liberal plot to take over the media and put in conservative plants that look like morons. They do that all by themselves.

One needs only look at Fox News and any of that cast of characters to see how this particular political wing is behaving of late. It's epidemic.

Who should the View have on instead who you think is more representative and respected?

f*bomb. said...

I'm not really sure how this became about "The View" or women as a group...there have been plenty of postings on advice toward individuals that no one has seemed to find a personal offense (outside the individual it was addressed to). No one went nuts over my plea for Jake Gyllenhaal to cut his Jesus haircut out on "Prince of Persia" and certainly no one minded when I advised The Bachelorettes to collect their dignity, nor did anyone seem to cry over Sanjaya's train-wreck song choices or any of the other Idol commentaries I've offered up. Clearly (if you've watched the posted link of Elizabeth Hasselbeck's commentary), she is speaking as an individual idiot and not to represent a group of idiots. I think that's mostly how the show is supposed to work.

I looked up this clip after hearing about it on the radio; the other time was when Michelle Obama was a guest and it was just as painful and embarrassing as you can imagine. As someone who's only seen parts of maybe two episodes of "The View" on purpose, I don't care to get in too deep on the show's individual working parts to begin with, but I WILL answer this:

If we were looking for a respected representative of conservative, white housewives, I'd say we already have that.
Her name is Kelly Ripa. And I wanna grow up to be JUST LIKE HER.

Tamara Atkin said...

Whoever disagrees with Salt H20 doesn't know jack about sales and marketing. It's not a conspiracy theory, that is simply how it's done. And trust me, they are all about selling something.

And did everyone miss what Tannerama said? Hasselbeck stupidly implied that the dancer is practically naked on tv consentually, but it was actually whoopi who disgustedly implied that a 13 yr old wasn't assaulted without cause. I'd like to hear some outrage where outrage is due.

But on a lighter note, Kelly Ripa is awesome. I hope her show gets better ratings than the table of harpies show. But I doubt she is actually a conservative.