Aspersions on my Character
07/08/2003 11:01 p.m.
So in the debate world, it's well-accepted if not necessarily endorsed knowledge that aggressiveness (the hallmark of a good debater) is interpreted as bitchiness when displayed by a female.

Kind advice was given me by my opponents today: "I mean, we both know that girls can't be as aggressive as guys or they just come off sounding like, you know, a superbitch."

They're SO right... how dare I point out their stupidity without kowtowing to their inherent (male) superiority?

Nevermind that they said "If a country commits human rights abuses, it's not sovereign anymore, it's not even a country. It's illegitimate." Of course only a bitch would point out that the United States has been indicted by the World Court and the ICJ of horrible human rights violations, including but not limited to actually sentencing (to death) and executing foreign nationals who had not been informed of their rights to appeal. (Because they're not US citizens, we don't really care about their rights... but wait, does that make us not a country anymore? Are we not citizens of that non-country? Good logic, boys.)

Note that I didn't even say any of that. Granted, I did go a bit hardcore on the hegemonic implications of their advocacy, and ended up citing Cornell West's Race Matters on the nihilism that's created through institutionalized domination... but doesn't that just make me well-informed? It's not my fault their sorry-ass case was full of holes-- but apparently girls should be more tactful if they want to point out those holes... after all, these boys tell me that judges don't want to vote for the bitch, even if she's dead-on.

So anyway, I'm just feeling like sometimes grammar, and vocabulary , and arguments, are the modern Scarlet Letters-- though keep in mind that they're perfectly acceptable when wielded by a male. Women don't wield them, though, so much as they're branded by them. I wrote the poem And Then the Backslash today, partially inspired by the way I felt forced to surrender some of my command of language in order to seem more appealing to debate judges, and to avoid being hated by male oppositions.

This sucks, dude. But I apologize for the profanity contained herein, lest I further offend someone today. But you're right, I should find more tactful ways to phrase my frustrations, as well as my arguments. But the "bitch" words aren't my fault-- they were used against me in the first place, so I refuse to take responsibility for their existence.

If that made any sense to you, you probably should join a debate team. And if it didn't make sense to you, but you've ever been called a bitch, I think you should join too. Maybe if we all behave thusly, the expectation will finally change, and we'll be the norm instead of the undesirable anomaly.
I am currently Angry
I am listening to the sounds of oregonian keyboards