I invite all readers to look at Christi van der Westhuizen’s photo on her blog on Thought Leader. Please note — hopefully without my prior interpretation — that she has chosen a photo where she is looking “down” on you, suggesting she, as a woman, is not looking “up” at you, in other words she is not a victim. But of course it has the “other” meaning of “looking down” on others. In her photograph she is already suggesting othering: herself/us. (And she is the primary in the dichotomy, not the secondary, underlined by her current refusal to dialogue with her “secondary” readers).
“My” photo choice for my blog was obvious (to me); I just didn’t want the public to see my slight double chin, hence the hand. I want to look straight at “them”, be honest, listen and keep my vocabulary reasonably simple, thus implying a willingness to communicate and learn. My wife would not agree that my double chin is merely small. However, I still choose to look directly at my readership in my photo, not down at them. Many readers out “there” are extremely sharp, intelligent and I advise “myself” to do well to respect “their” thinking and “their” ability to find the many flaws in my blog posts. Which they do, and enough with the inverted commas.
The mighty Traps’s blog photo has a Tony Leon-like or Ken Owen-like tough “this-town-isn’t-big enough-for-both-of-us” look, but the mighty Traps is most certainly also honestly looking straight at you and he is inviting commentary on his posts, with the caveat, “if you are out of line, I am going to grill you”. Fair enough: this is why I have not commented on his posts — yet — partly because of a fear of patriarchal, authoritarian figures like criminal lawyers.
Sarah Britten’s photo sweetly invites you in for a cup of coffee and to say whatever you want to say, but underneath the unassuming grin (slightly mischievous but very hospitable – to me) she is easily capable of the most astute observations on South Africa “outside” South Africa. Ooops, sorry, forgot the “ ” rule.
Christi van der Westhuizen’s most serious flaw in her latest post, “Zapiro, Zuma and us” is that she does not do her readership justice. She never replies to her readers. She has implicitly and discourteously created an aloof, arrogant, othering, “looking down” attitude towards her readership. She need not deign to stoop to dialoguing with her commentators. Christi, you had better realise that by not respecting your readership you are being disrespectful and irresponsible in your treatment of people, not the “people” or “women” you invent in your rather grandiose blog, “Zapiro, Zuma and us”.
“Some” of us have actually read Jacques Lacan et al., Christi, and (not to be directly collocated with Lacan) the enormous, enriching variety of radical feminist thinkers available. But their salient dialogues have no direct bearing on the Zapiro (bless his satirical name) cartoon.
Christi van der Westhuizen has used the Zapiro (bhsn) opportunity to take a whack at “us/Zapiro” with her own personal axe-grinder: the secondary status of the man/woman dichotomy. She has not “read” the cartoon; she has only “read” her own axe-grinding agenda: the heinous abuse of women. On the topic of “literal” rape I want be clear: when it comes to raping women, I lobby for bringing back the death sentence. Rape in my mind is right up there with cold-blooded murder and child abuse, and please note, Christi, that I use simple, honest English, not academic-speak, which, though it has its place, tends to obscure the real issues Zapiro (bhsn) is reminding us of.
Christi, I was frightened by your dismissal as almost secondary or tertiary the ANC’s disregard for the judiciary system and its attempt to create exclusionism for the likes of Zuma when you matter-of-factly write, “Meanwhile, the Scorpions are being dismantled as part of the attempt to stop the case” and you don’t pause to think about the terrifying, staggering consequences of the Scorpions’ dismantling as “we” perhaps hurtle towards a Mugabe-like era. By bringing in the subjugation-of-women issue into a context where it does not belong, you do that selfsame, extremely crucial issue serious violence and injustice. I invite you to deign to notice that some of YOUR readers have already pointed out some of my argument on your blog. Yet, incredibly, in keeping with your “looking down on us” photo, you do not communicate with your readership. You remain – tacitly – aloof, arrogant and irresponsibly silent. Aren’t you othering your readers? Othering South Africa?
To use Sarah Britten’s anti-sexist/sexist “go girl” remark, well, Christi, go girl! Speak to us/me. Respond to me/us. Change your photo. I am waiting outside the saloon, with both holsters. The left holster contains the Dhammapada and Chairman Mao’s little red book, my right hand is hovering above Zbignieuw Herbert’s poetry and The Complete Idiot’s guide to Lacan, Judith Butler, Donna Haraway et all. But I actually want to listen to the real you, not the one you portend to be in your misfired blog.
Proposed Christi van der Westhuizen responses, written by Rod MacKenzie(a writer who really wants to get back to his original blog-theme, explaining China to South Africans, and vice versa, but has wittingly/unwittingly been drawn into this discourse):
- Rod, by dichotomously placing me on the right hand side of your Rod/Christi discourse, I am unable to respond as you/they or they/you have defined me as a subjugated woman from the outset in this discourse, so I cannot …
- Rod, when are you going to grow up/mature or mature/grow up? Can’t you see the real issue in the Zapiro cartoon is women, not the way Zuma and the ANC are completely destroying us all … The fact that we are being slowly but surely annihilated is of course totally beside the point. The cartoon is about women, but let us carefully look at that portentous, overly political, collective word, “we”…
Rod, I appreciate your humour here and I think you make a good point relating to Christi’s over- “intellectualising”/”feminising” the cartoon and missing the real point.
But I do have a bone to pick. You accuse Christi of not talking to her readers but you similarly failed to enagage my comment in your first blog explaining South Africa to the Chinese and seemed to favour discussing matters with select readers who agreed with you only. Am I being too sensitive?
Keep up telling it like it is.
Here’s a blogging tip: If you want to direct anyone to Christi’s column, put a hyperlink in your piece…
Hi Rod
I find your tone as patronising as I find Christi’s unpatronising. While I don’t disagree with the message of Zapiro’s cartoon, when I first began to read the debate I immediately thought that this was just another example of cheapening rape and the pain that raped people (including men) feel. Shakesville has a good series of articles about how rape jokes/ joking imagery can be triggering for rape victims ( http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2006/02/and-people-ask-why-im-feminist.html). Although I appreciate Zapiro’s work, I do think that with the rape epidemic in this country he could have chosen a less damaging image.
Oooh – this is gonna be fun / a damp squib.
All you had to do, Rod my China, is to tell Christi to go back to reviewing pop/rock albums for the Liberal Afrikaans Media (WHAT effing Liberal Afrikaans Media?) and that may/could have sparked a shit fight that may have been interesting/lowbrow.
Replying is very hard after a strenuous session of spittle-licking. Ms Van is well schooled in this dark art.
In none of her 3 posts has Christi replied to comments. But she nailed her mast to the wall with her book “White Power” and will now never be able to climb down.
Christi can use a Halloween pumpkin for her photo for all I care, it makes no difference.
Nor am I intimidated by talk downs, academic speak or intellectualizations; I did not bother with her blog because it is bollox.
She attempted to fabricate a ‘gender issue’ where none existed because that is her ‘thing’
It is only within the context of a non existent gender issue that the charge of an ‘inappropriate rape metaphor’ would have any conceivable substance.
Well said Rod, thank goodness someone with the patience to unpick Christi’s misguided notions and misplaced zeal (other than my own clumsy attempt).
And Jennifer – what analogy would you have Zapiro choose? A gun to her head (as suggested by Christi)? Would that be less traumatic to rape victims or equally offensive to hijack victims?
Here’s a question for both you and Christi – what if Zapiro had drawn a daisy that we all ignored and a journalist had written a story describing the violation in words? Would that have been more acceptable? Does the word rape not trigger the same reaction as the pictorial equivalent? To a rape victim I would imagine it does. To the rest of us I think not. I think the piece would have passed unnoticed along with the picture of the daisy.
You’re analysing her character and motivations based on her photo? Really? Sounds like one of the lunch break games my girl friends and I played in high school.
I don’t happen to agree with some of what Christi wrote about the Zapiro cartoon but I nevertheless respect her for having the guts to publically and unapologetically state her views – in all her blog posts.
Your response strikes me as juvenile and flimsy.
@ Odette
umm…get with the agenda girl….he was being ironical/satirical…it’s a bit like a political cartoon…but then you have to have an ability to think laterally for that..
@ Jennifer
Take a short course in the appreciation of political cartooning and you might begin to understand Zapiro’s symolism. No, the cartoon has nothing to do with women per se. Get off your feminist hobby-horse and stop chucking the red herrings (which is what Christi was also doing)
What a silly piece. Christi has a point. She might make some of her language more accessible, but she has a point.
Rod, your English also crumbles a bit.
What does “hopefully without my prior interpretation” mean?
“Dialoguing”?
“Portend” to be?
Etc.
Apparently, she was going respond to your comments but I chased her away by asking why she didn’t bring the Madam in-charge of this newspaper to task, as she did with Mondli & his cartoon boy…
That was a killer punch, because she thought (that) we were not going to notice her sexist and shielding tactics for Her Majesty.
Fire the whole lot
What was wrong with WHite Power Lyndall dear?
Lisa – I apologise for not replying to you – I never received your comment,I think. they are emailed to me by Thought leader and I generally respond to comments that have required a response, though not always. I will go back to good old Wrigley’s and have a look.
Jean – thank you. “hopefully without my prior interpretation” means “hopefully without my prior interpretation”. That is to say, I am courteously asking that you don’t automatically take on/ take in how to “view” Christi’s interpretation because I said you must see her as “looking down” with its various connotations. My cruddy on line Microsoft dictionary does not like dialoguing, I think it is usable as a verb for dialogue. On dictionary.com “portend” is way cool. My English tends to bend when I have to deal with IRRESPONSIBLE so-called intellectualism, which was the case here. And Christi still has not responded to any of “us”.
Guy Berger – blogging tip point taken – silly me
Odette – I did not analyse “her” based just on a reading of her photo. I said a few other things about her article too. (I am getting embarassed about having to state the obvious in my comments). Her photo choice is deliberate – as is mine -and requires commenting on.
Poor, poor old Christie!
She’s been “found out”.
Isabella
The reason I bought the book “White Power” is that it is a brilliant and accurate record of the facts. However, it is also biased in some of the conclusions. I pointed out some of that bias in Christi’s first post. If you are interested – read it. It is my first comment. I am not going to repeat myself.
Bananas & Oranges
“I invite all readers to look at Christi van der Westhuizen’s photo on her blog on Thought Leadership. Please note – hopefully without my prior interpretation – that she has chosen a photo where she is looking “down” on you”[…]
Hmmm! while you still at it, can you also do yourselves an act of kindness, compare Rod Mackenzi’s photo on his blog on TL, with Chairman Mao’s photo at Tiananmen Square…..aren’t you noticing anything common?
Uuugh! Rod vs. Mao, yi zi er shi…what a delicious recipe for Chinese People…I wish I was proficient enough to express such in Mandarin, so that even people residing in Xiaogan, Dongguan, Ningbo, Shanghai, HK & Beijing can hear me loud and clear.
Ag! Don’t mind me…I’ve observed that Rod is mindful about his readers , just like Mao’s famous slogan “Serve the People”… unlike Christi and co.
@ Lynne
* Yawn *
Odette – on yawn…oh, Madam, I see you have woken up. Good evening. Would you like some coffee before you smell the fresh napalm in the coming dawn, blooming like roses in the spring?
Sipho – you trying to speak Mandarin there when you write yi zi er shi? You comparing me with Mao? Ni de naozi huale ma? Wode naozi hen hao. Ni keyi dong putonghua ma? We jiede…bu keyi. Soyi ni bu jidao Zhongguo. Soyi bie xiezi ni naozi huale de yijian. (Literal translation: Is your brain broken? My brain is very good/not broken. Do you understand Mandarin? I think…you can’t. Therefore you don’t know China. Therefore don’t write your “brain-broken” ideas.) Have a nice day, drive carefully, get home safely and do come again soon.
@ Rod
Make that coffee decaf and hold the napalm – it clashes with my perfume.
Odette- NOW you are on my tongue-in-cheek wavelength. Some people take themselves too seriously. I used to, and now only occasionally struggle with the symptom.
@ Rod
I try not to take myself seriously too but we’re all human – though I have my doubts about Dubya (amongst others).
Now through in some chocolates and you’re my friend for life.
However, I still yawn at Lynne – preachiness irritates me.
Rod
Hey!!! Take it easy pal
I just asked your readers to compare your photo with Mao’s…where does this venom comes from now?
I told you that I don’t know Mandarin, you need not to consult your Asian pals to write your malice thoughts in opposition to me in “Chinese dialect nogal ”.
I’ll try to be a good passenger.
Siphiwo – I was not being malicious, that’s going through your head, not mine. It’s all tongue in cheek, look at my conversation with Odette above, right next to yours. I can speak some Mandarin, and I was bragging about it, I don’t have to consult my Chinese friends. Mandarin is not a dialect, it is a language. There are some three hundred languages in China – some call them dialects, which I don’t believe. If one oke in one city speaks his “dialect ” to another oke in another city in China and they simply don’t understand each other then that’s two different languages – to me. I am now worried about my resemblance to Mao as I can see on the currency here where his face is enshrined. Agh it will probably help me as “they” won’t deport me if I screw up on my work permit as they will think I am a re-incarnation. I am often compared with the Buddha. Now THERE’S a compliment.
There is obviously a lot more to figure out about this issue, but you made some really good points. I will definitely be checking here more often. Thank you.