Hello, my name is Lenore. I’ve already come out of the closet as it pertains to my religious views. I am a Christian. I’ve already come out of the closet as it pertains to my political views. I vote Republican. However, there is one thing I have kept close to my chest.
I fear disclosing this fact will open the door to insults, accusations, and violence. I feel sharing this information will require me to become concerned about the safety of my life and the life of my family. (Thankfully, admitting my Republican voting Christian ways only brought good tidings and warm wishes from everyone.)
We live in a world where hate-speak flows like a waterfall. The instant I reveal my secret, my world will be flooded with hate and judgment. Again, quite the opposite happened when I opened up about my political and religious views.
Maybe, just maybe the world will accept my latest admission.
My name is Lenore Diane, and I have a vagina. In fact, I’ve had sex, and I have two kids as a result of the sex.
Go ahead. Judge me. That’s how the world works. We judge others, and when the others disagree, we put them in our cross-hairs.
When I was in my early twenties, I had several people tell me I looked like the actress/comedian Jane Curtain. Typically, after letting me know I looked like Jane, they would add the famous line, “Jane, you ignorant slut.”
That line was coined by Dan Aykroyd during the early years of Saturday Night Live. I was never offended by the line, I was more offended by the fact they said I looked like Jane. (No offense, Jane, but I was kind of hoping for Farrah Fawcett.)
During my late elementary and early high school years, the boys liked calling me a certain name that rhymed with Lenore. No, the name was not Deloris. (Sorry Seinfeld fans.) The boys called me ‘Lenore the whore’. Honestly, this was laughable. First, I did not get asked out by a guy until I was 19yrs old. Second, remember – I resembled Jane Curtain, not Farrah Fawcett. (And no, I do not think Farrah Fawcett was a whore.)
::
A friend of mine posted an article about Rush Limbaugh’s apology to Ms. Fluke about his derogatory comments directed at her. The article suggested Rush’s apology would not silence the critics. Then I posted two other articles about the reaction to the Rush Limbaugh story. I made the comment to my friend that I did not wholeheartedly disagree with the article he shared, but I was tired of the things others got away with in the media… namely Bill Maher.
My friend responded by suggesting I make an effort to hold Mr. Maher accountable for his hate-speak. I didn’t respond, instead I thought about his suggestion.
::
Good people of the blogosphere, I am tired of the hate-speak. I am tired of the negative campaigns. I am tired of the hate-inspired satires veiled in humor. I am tired of both sides blaming the other side. I am tired of each side turning a blind eye when their side spews hate about the other side.
Know what else? I am tired of women calling women b*****. I am tired of blacks calling blacks n******. I am tired of anyone and everyone that uses a derogatory word while trying to convince others they don’t mean it in a derogatory manner.
I am tired of the lack of respect in the world. I am tired of the steady stream of knee-jerk and split-second thoughts that fill every facet of social media, all typed out quickly, in the heat of the moment, without a pause for reflection.
I’m tired of the hate-speak. I am tired of the hate-speak on all sides.
We are all free to express our opinions. Thanks to anonymity and social media, expressing our opinions is easy. I think the greater skills (and discipline) lie in remaining quiet, putting opinions into actions rather than hot air.
Pardon me while I pull out my race Christian card:
Matthew 7:3 [NRSV]: “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?”
Come on people, we all have our own idiot moments. Can we agree to disagree without spewing about how or why we disagree? Must every negative thought be shared? Negativity breeds negativity. Don’t be hater. It creates more haters. Is that fact not obvious yet?
Then again, I’m a Republican voting Christian with a vagina, whose name rhymes with whore and who resembles an ignorant slut. What the heck do I know?
.|.
Lenore's Thoughts Exactly 
Reblogged this on emmageraln and commented:
This lady has the right idea… (a christian republican that is also sane and reasonable! :D)
Thank you for the reblog, Emma.
Ditto. In the sixties, when our society became too permissive we started down a slippery slope … and here we are.
Blessings – Maxi
Funny … my Mom made a similar comment years ago. Blessings to you, Maxi.
You’re mom is a wise woman, Lenore. Blessings – Maxi
That’s what she says, too! (smile) 🙂
I only hate mean people. The end. Except I know sometimes I’m negative when I blog, but I don’t think I hate when I do. I’m just not always positive.
P.S. I have a vagina too!!!
I don’t know anyone who is always positive. We all have our moments. I just don’t understand the point of revisiting bad decisions made by others. If that makes sense. Hang on a second… you have a vagina, too? Woo hoo!! You’re on my team!
I’ve yet to figure out when people that disagreed with our political or religious point of view became “the enemy” and that it became okay to vilify and ridicule them. What ever happened to civil discourse?
Actually I think two things happened. The first one was the 24-hour news cycle and networks realized that a discussion of nuanced policy positions was boring and didn’t get ratings. Hence, you get pundits that take extreme position and they bring on guest that are even more polarizing.
The second is the internet — where anyone can assume a secret identity and spew whatever crap they want without fear of retribution. People write awful things in comment threads that they’d never have the guts to say to anyone in public.
Oh, I have a vas deferens.
I’m impressed. For someone who has a vas deferens, you seem very intelligent in your response. Though really, I knew you would ‘get it’. I was not afraid of you or your VD. Wait. Probably not the best abbreviation, eh? *sigh*
Your two reasons are right on the mark. I’d go further and say, they don’t have the guts to say the things in public AND they may not even truly BELIEVE the awful things they spew – they simply know it will create a hullabaloo.
Gripe less. Act more. (Unless you are gripping about the lack of ice cream. THAT gripe is always valid.)
Your third point is a great one. I think a lot of these blowhards try to figure out what they can say to maximize their impact. Calculating “ratings” with no regard to any wreckage they leave.
Hi,
That was very well said. 🙂
Personally I don’t care what or who people vote for, or what their religion is, or even if they have no religion, if you are a good honest person, that is what matters.
We have the same thing here in OZ, some people, and I’m sure it is the minority will be against other people that don’t think they way they do, but we are all individuals, so we all have our own views, and just as well we do have different views, how boring would the world be if we all thought the same, blogs would not exist because everyone would have the same content. 😀
I agree Mags. The world would be a boring place if everyone agreed about everything. Still, I wish differing opinions were shared with respect and kindness. Diversity is a good thing – a lack of respect is not.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Mags. I appreciate your kind words.
simply … great.
🙂 MJ
Thank you, MJ.
I really worry that the Internet is only increasing our divisions. It allows us to make angry, mean-spirited comments in anonymity when face-to-face communication would cause us to temper ourselves and listen more to the other side.
Funny how something that connects us also divides us. I suppose that is the case for many things in life. I miss face-to-face communication. I really do. Conversation is becoming a lost art. In fact, conversation is being tossed in the trash alongside respect. *sigh*
Truth be told I have no idea what we are talking about. The only reasons why I licked on the news today for the first time this yeAr was to see how the new iPad looks like.
But I hate all the hate. And love writing your pieces.
Hee, hee… so, how is the new iPad? How long until you snag it? After all, the screen is cracked on the one you have. Coincidence? I don’t think so. 🙂
Glad you like my writing, Stasha. I like your photos. 🙂 (And your writing… when you write.)
Lenore, put that bushel load of fertilizer on the garden where it belongs. I see a devoted mother who looks like a clean cut american woman who has the courage to speak up and tell the world she’s had enough hate talk, negative speak and put-downers. Bravo, Lenore! Lenore! Do not add any rhyming word to that personal, meaningful and owned name.
Lenore, I’d love you to link this to Occupy Blogosphere. Many of us are tired of having to wade through nastiness to find a little humour or truth – which doesn’t have to be wrapped in obscenities!
Thank you, Amy. I’ll take a look at the Occupy Blogosphere, I like the concept provide it stays ‘nice’.
I sincerely appreciate your kind words and motivation. You are a bright light in the blogosphere, Amy. Thank you for shining!
Applause! I’m sorry you can’t hear it. Civility…yes…I would love to see civility “trending”. You may occupy the blogosphere wherever and I would come to read. I know I could find you (not in a stalking way) because you use your name. Thank you.
I may not hear your applause, Georgette, but I feel the applause from you. Thank you. You gave me chills when you said you could find me because I use my name. I do use my name, that is for certain. I dread the day I meet people face to face – not because I am ashamed of what I write – simply because of the vibrant shade of red I will turn. Ugh. Perhaps I should use a fake name. 🙂
And I use mine. I’ll always remember Mrs. Amburg, 8th grade English, a woman ahead of her time who advised to not write anything we wouldn’t want read…oh dear, another shudder? At times, I wonder if I should change my gravatar…but then, I don’t think I will.
Very well said, Ms. D!
although, that old SNL skit… the abruptness of Akroyd’s ‘reply’… still makes me laugh. A bit. Not quite on a Super Bass-o-Matic ’76 level, but… you know.
🙂
Make no mistake – I thought Dan was hilarious! I am a huge fan of dry – dead pan humor, and Dan was great at that kind of humor. I still laugh – for certain.
Glad you liked the post, SIG.
Someone recently said, when I disagreed with them, “It must be hard for you to remain civil with me even though you disagree!”
Um, no. No, it’s not. We’re all different people informed by different experiences. As long as you’re not sprinkling your thoughts with curse words and personal attacks, I’m very, very comfortable remaining civil in the face of disagreements. Nothing hard about it.
Of course, this might be harder some times than others, but I still try to temper myself in those moments. With chocolate.
Ah chocolate… things always rub me the wrong way less when chocolate is available. Perhaps that is the key to world talks and politics?
Thanks for visiting, Deb.
We all have different views (well, most of us have. Well, okay, I have. Sometimes.) But that’s no reason to fight over them. There are a heck of a lot of things in the world that would function a lot better if people would only give way a bit.
Amen, Val. Agreeing to disagree and being kind would do wonders for the world. Thanks for stopping by my place. 🙂
I’m with you, Lenore. Tell it!
Thanks, Patti. Word. 🙂
Hmmm…I missed this when it was posted but somehow your message got through. Last week I did a lot more blog reading than usual and, while I try to keep an open mind where language is concerned, to be honest I felt assaulted by much of the language. Words are powerful, both positive and negative.
This is exactly where my post from yesterday was headed : I am tired of women calling women b*****. Even when it’s supposed to be “funny,” I just don’t think it is.
Much of the time, profanity for the sake of a laugh is just lazy humor.
I responded to your comment, Hippie, after reading your post. Pardon my redundancy, I like your sentiment about profanity and lazy humor. While it may not be accurate every time, I believe your thought is valid.
Excellent!