depetro comments

[Donna Halper]

>Dan B wrote--
>Gay, lesbian, and transgendered are the terms used by homosexuals.

Don A said and Dan B replied:
>
> > We don't make fun of people's personal appearance.....
>
>Have you watched the Daily Show?  They do it all the time.
>

Dan and I don't always agree, but we are absolutey together on this 
one-- I don't know what the standard is.  I've heard Howie Carr and 
Jay Severin on the right and Randi Rhodes and Mike Malloy on the left 
doing all sorts of what sounds to me like name-calling.  Yet some 
people get fired (DePetro) some get warned and suspended (Dennis and 
Callahan) and some get absolutely nothing done to them no matter how 
outrageous they are-- Rush Limbaugh's comments about Michael J. Fox 
offended many of us, and I've heard a number of hosts use words like 
"bitch" or "ass" or even "scumbag" on the air, but nothing 
happened.  So what is the standard and why won't somebody finally 
tell us what is and is not acceptable?  Paul Sullivan in the Globe 
today (Eileen McNamara's column, I believe) said he too thinks this 
was more about other things DePetro had done.  But no kidding, as a 
consultant and a fan of talk radio, I wish I had some idea about what 
is and is not acceptable.

As for certain words being used by the people themselves, that is an 
interesting question. It seems to be okay if the people themselves 
are doing it, but perceived as an insult when outsiders do it.  That 
is, black people may call each other "niggah" but that doesn't mean a 
white host should call black people by that term.  Italians may make 
mafia jokes or Irish make drunk jokes, or whatever.  There are indeed 
gay people who have made 'sissy' jokes.  But it seems to be a way of 
taking the slurs and re-claiming them, or by making fun of these 
slurs, some sociologists have suggested that it promotes group 
cohesiveness-- "they say this about us, but we are able to joke about 
it, so it doesn't hurt as much."  Interestingly, when I hear a Jew 
joke, not an ethic joke but one that makes fun of stereotypes about 
Jews, I don't find it empowering or funny-- I find it offensive and 
annoying.  But that's just me, perhaps.