Newsflash: Bill Maher Is Sexist and Annoying

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 4:32 PM on September 15, 2009.

Bill Maher sure likes to blow our tiny minds by telling it like it is, political correctness be damned! (Has any shtick, in the history of shticks, ever been more brave, original or entertaining?)

For example, on his most recent show Maher made the brave and entertaining point that physically assaulting women is funny. Said Maher, referencing charges brought by reality show star Tila Tequila against San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman (charges since dismissed):

New rule: stop acting surprised someone choked Tila Tequila! The surprise is that someone hasn't choked this bitch sooner.

Dick.

Tequila is one of those very pretty, very annoying almost-celebrity women whose quest for fame inspires way more media ire than similar efforts by the vacuous, fame-obsessed men that crowd the pop culture landscape. That double standard is understandable, of course, because when women vie for attention, money or power, it distracts them from more noble pursuits like being really, really quiet and polite.

At the Frisky, Jessica Wakeman notes how judgments about Tequila's quest for fame, as well as her alleged promiscuity (neither "whores" nor "fame whores" do very well in our culture) have creepily colored reactions to the controversy. Like the reaction of Mike Fleiss, producer of The Bachelor, who "wrote about “that skank” Tila, who “will do just about anything for publicity”. Fleiss's and Maher's screwed up responses prompt Wakemen to make a point that should be a freaking given, but very, very sadly bears repeating:

Drunk women, strippers, prostitutes and Tila Tequila can still be physically abused or raped! Jokes like the one Bill Maher did create a slippery slope, by insinuating that any woman deserves abuse if someone thinks she’s being a “bitch.” Yeah, Tila’s apparently a false accuser and that’s rotten. But guys like Bill Maher and Mike Fleiss should STFU, because not only entertainers with “discernible talent,” “Juilliard training,” and “a reason to be a star” deserve to not be abused.

Tagged as: gender, violence, women, abuse, bill maher, tila tequila