The Y Factor
What a media week for women this has been. It started off with Yoko Ono (who must use the same face cream as Madonna) awarding the Turner Prize to a (gasp!) woman. Then Mary J. Blige reconfirmed her place in music royalty after being showered with eight Grammy nominations. But the show stopping moment came with the announcement that Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, is pregnant. With one of the more delicious ironies of her impending motherhood being that her father's administration helped ban gay marriage, leaving her partner with no legal relation to their child.All of which made me think twice about my half sceptical reaction to Madonna's adoption. Is sperm-to-go from a catalogue less morally decent than adopting a child? With all the privilege Ms. Cheney enjoys, she could have easily skipped the long waiting lists, the humiliating interviews, and the interminable waiting in foreign countries for the chance to bring home an at-risk baby. This is not to suggest that artificial insemination is inherently indecent. Unless, of course, it produces another Dick.
And with that drum roll, let's celebrate the 18th edition of City Slicker's "Week's Action, Weekend Reaction."
1) Has today's talk about Cheney's lack of compassionate conservatism got you in the mood for running around London 'killing' people with random acts of kindness? React by heading to Soho tomorrow to take part in the latest public participation game to hit town Cruel 2 B Kind. Sign-in starts at 3pm, game starts at 3:30pm, ends at 5pm. 9th Dec
2) Has news of Will Self's deliberate slow walk from JFK into Manhattan got you inspired for footage of NYC? React by heading to the ICA for a rare big screen showing of Manhattan. A bit of Gershwin and some monumental city-scape photography never disappoints. Until 2 Jan.
3) Does the thought of Christmas shopping along the King's Road drive you to drink? React by heading to the forecourt of Chelsea's Bluebird which has been turned into a German-style market. With goulash, steins of German beer and mulled wine you will forget what you came for in no time. Until 24 Dec.
posted by City Slicker at 12:38 pm
13 Comments:
I haven’t gotten all agitated about the Mary Cheney pregnancy bit, but I do think it exemplifies the utter soullessness of Republicanism - that both Dick and Mary Cheney held high positions in a party explicitly devoted to destroying Mary’s life and did nothing to stand against such policies; that Republicans were willing to grant an absolution to Dick’s daughter that they would never have countenanced for anyone like her who wasn’t part of their in-crowd; that they now are tearing themselves apart both to condemn her and to overlook, for the sake of party unity, what drives them insane in anyone else.
Dear Mary Cheney,
The day you first announce your pregnancy to the world will probably be the longest you have experienced since you were outed by the Democratic presidential candidate. Your first prenatal visit, by contrast, will be a piece of cake. You can expect tests, procedures and data gathering. You can also expect plenty of questions -- for example, "Who's the dad?" "No, really, who's the dad?" "Did it hurt?" "I'm not turning you on, am I?" "Does your mother have to be in the room, too?"
Love Action/Reaction
Oh and from last night's telly:
"Vice President Dick Cheney has a gay daughter, Mary. Well, she's pregnant. Wow, that's going to be a shotgun wedding." — Jay Leno
Here’s where my problem comes in: If I spank my child in the grocery store I could easily be accused by someone of child abuse (it’s happened to people I know). That means that I’m not allowed to raise my child in the manner I see fit. But for me to have a problem with Mary Cheney’s situation suddenly makes me a raging bigot? I think this is a clear picture of one of the many double standards that exist in the minds of progressives and liberals.
Going with that rule it’s acceptable for lesbians to have children because they physically can, but not acceptable for gay men because they physically can’t. Liberals have painted themselves into a corner with situations like this because they’ve argued for sex equality on every level, and now they’re learning that you can’t have it both ways.
Cruel 2 B Kind sounds wicked.
Are you going CS?
Great stuff.
Manhattan is the bomb. Good neough as it were to convince Woody Allen he could act.
Mmmm..goulash and mulled wine
Great post, thanks. Don't know if you've seen this David Letterman clip with Cheney in it, but its pretty funny--
www.minor-ripper.blogspot.com
Two women have won the Turner - Rachel Whiteread in 93 and Gillian Wearing in 97 - at a pinch you might also count Grayson Perry (2003). Only 2 female winners in 22 years is still appalling though.
I think on the 'morally decent' front Ms Cheney wins out in my view. She is just having a baby. Madonna used her wealth and privilege to go baby shopping in a poor country in order to complete her ethically dubious rainbow family. Marvellous news that Dick is to be grandfather though, and I expect he will have such fun at the baby shower discussing gay marriage with Mary's lesbian friends.
This really irritates me... It's great that Mary & her partner are having a baby - congratulations to them but, where in the hell does the press get off? They announce it tied with how the pregnancy is going to "spark the gay marriage debate again." It wouldn't if the press would shut up! I fail to see the relevancy of gay marriage in relation to her pregnancy. The "gay marriage" issue really REALLY needs to be kept OUT of the next presidential election. If it starts being a headline, again, I'm afraid it will sway the election results like it did in the 2004 presidential election.
Ace blog you have here
Will check back
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