Double Standard Much?

[jamesq]

When Belinda Stronach crossed the floor in 2005, the Calgary Herald's letters to the editor was filled with derisive comments about how she was (among other things) a whore. When called on it, they said they were justified because "a whore was someone who would sell out their principles".

Strangely, I see no mention of Wajid Khan crossing the floor in this week's letters. Is it because he's a man or because he's (now) a Conservative?

Comments

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Sadly, that's exactly what I expected. *sigh*

[catalytic.livejournal.com]

Silly man, male whores are called "studs". </sarcasm>

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Not by me - I call them "man-whores". Because almost anything is funnier with the prefix "man-". Like "man-bags". :-)

[jamesq]

Himbos

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Heee...that's a fun one too. :-)

[catalytic.livejournal.com]

Man-lunch... man-clown... man-milk... man-garden...

Yeah, you're right. Pretty funny no matter what. :-)

[jamesq]

I was planning on doing this, but I would like to be able to point to an example of whore accusations before I say it in print. I remember reading it, but I don't keep old newspapers in case I need to back up an argument. Going to the library to check their archives would be too much like work for a two sentence letter.

[wee-megan.livejournal.com]

Sould the archives on the Herald's website have it? Maybe the search function with the keywork "whore" would bring it up. I doubt they use that word terribly often ;) Just an idea.

[jamesq]

I checked this. The Herald's on-line archives only go back 30 days, and you have to pay for them.

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Here's some possible fuel, although not letters to the editor:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/05/18/stronach-sexism050518.html

http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/001943.html

[jamesq]

That second link had some funny shit in it. I especially like the homophobe with the ironic user name "logjammer":

"Just printed off an application form for membership in the Separation Party of Alberta... I AM CANADIAN..."

The evidence suggests otherwise buddy.

Quite the number of nutbars in that group.

[conejita-diabla.livejournal.com]

Yep - and shockingly, they're not nearly as vitriolic about Khan's crossing:

http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/005278.html#comments

[canadianknight.livejournal.com]

Well, ignoring the double-standard for a moment, there is another factor at play here, at least in my mind.

Stronach was a well-known figure that was played to the media a great deal. She was supposed to be this great prize when she finally ran for office. Then, she turned on her party and gave the Liberals a pretty big advantage at the time. Plus it came out of the blue, and was pretty damn obvious that she'd been bought.

Wajid Khan, on the other hand, is not nearly as well known, and is a minor player. He's also been leaning towards the Conservative side for some time, so it wasn't a big surprise, unlike Stronach.

Plus, we're talking about someone who left the Liberals for the Conservatives, which would generally be popular here in the West. Going in the other direction is a different kettle o' fish.

So, while there may be a double-standard at play here... I don't think it's the ONLY factor. :)

[jamesq]

After Belinda's defection, this happened (from the wiki about Ms. Stronach above):

"One month after Stronach's defection, a private member's bill was tabled that would require a by-election to be held within thirty-five days of a member of parliament quitting a party. According to this proposed legislation, the MP would have to sit as an Independent until the by-election."

Without knowing the details, I assume this was a CPoC member's proposal. Now that they are in power I predict the bill will not tabled.

Interestingly, I haven't seen anything like the sort of criticism anywhere in the media or the country about Mr. Khan's defection. I like to think it's because the Liberals know how the game is played and don't whine about their setbacks.

[ersatz-marduk.livejournal.com]

Nah. It's because you couldn't bring up charges of racism when people bashed Stronach.

I'm really hoping that's not a factor, but I wouldn't be surprised if there it was at least slightly relevant to some (lack of) responses. In general, people seem to be more afraid of accusations of racism than sexism when it comes to what appears in print, possibly because xenophobia tends to take a more monolithic view of the reaction we'll receive from "the other". We don't fear genderalizations as much because we can count on members of both sexes to pull them out as weapons. In my experience, you're more likely to hear a woman called a bitch, cow, or whore by another woman. Is it any less sexist when that's the case?

Then again, the perception that he's now on "our" (conservative) side is probably more of an issue here.

Conservative Standards

[http://users.livejournal.com/-grog-/]

...apply to everybody but them. When they do something it's "principled".

(The primary "principle" is power)

The "smalldeadanimals" blog is a collection of Canadian wingnuttia that almost matches up with "freedominion" and the US "freerepublic" forums for the depth of stupidity that lives there.