{"id":108269,"date":"2003-03-25T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2003-03-25T15:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=108269"},"modified":"2015-10-18T10:42:22","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T14:42:22","slug":"a-new-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=108269","title":{"rendered":"A New Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the past couple of weeks, a new epidemic is raging in the areas of the country pounded by snow. Is it a flu epidemic? An influenza epidemic? An epidemic of the common cold? <\/p>\n<p>Actually, no. <\/p>\n<p>It is an epidemic of &#8220;inappropriate&#8221; snowmen. People have begun making snowmen with penises or breasts, and ultra-sensitive members of the communities have complained to the authorities. I would have a hard time keeping a straight face making such a complaint. &#8220;Uh, yes, hello Officer. I am very upset. Something terrible is going on.&#8221; &#8220;What is it, ma&#8217;am? Is someone breaking into your house?&#8221; &#8220;No, it&#8217;s worse than that &#8230; I feel so VIOLATED.&#8221; &#8220;Has someone raped you, ma&#8217;am?&#8221; &#8220;No. But it&#8217;s just as big an outrage. I am staring now at a snowman with an erect penis, and I do not feel that I can continue to live in a community that practices such gender aggression.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Actually, now that I think about it, it must have been quite a feat for the policemen who took such calls to keep a straight face! <\/p>\n<p>It all began with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecrimson.com\/article\/2003\/2\/24\/ruined-snow-penis-stimulates-debate-when\/\" target=\"_blank\">the &#8220;pornographic&#8221; snowman at Harvard<\/a>. The crew team, as a JOKE, made a snowman with an erect penis, and (naturally) offended the delicate sensibilities of feminists everywhere. <\/p>\n<p>And then poor Crystal Lynn, of Ohio, built a snowman with breasts and created an uproar. Look at the picture of the offensive snowwoman and tell me if you feel offended by a slight swell of bosom. What the hell is going on here?? <\/p>\n<p>Feminists of this stripe want to kill language. Example: Amy E. Keel, who dismantled the snowman with a hard-on at Harvard: &#8220;It was offensive because it was pornographic. As a feminist, pornography is degrading to women and creates a violent atmosphere.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>To me, that sort of language doesn&#8217;t even sound real anymore. <\/p>\n<p>Also, just a reminder: SHE IS TALKING ABOUT A SNOWMAN. <\/p>\n<p>A SNOWMAN CREATING A VIOLENT ATMOSPHERE. <\/p>\n<p>You gotta toughen up. I don&#8217;t believe that a society should cater to its most sensitive members. That is unrealistic, and creates not a violent atmosphere, no, no, not violent at all &#8230; but surrealistic. <\/p>\n<p>I loved Crystal Lynn&#8217;s baffled comments about her snowwoman, and what SHE saw in her girlie-girl snowwoman: &#8220;She looked really good, like she was getting ready to go to a party.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Breasts are not pornographic all on their own. Penises are not pornographic all on their own. They are just body parts. <\/p>\n<p>But again, I must reiterate: we are talking about SNOWMEN. <\/p>\n<p>People have lost their minds. <\/p>\n<p>In the face of an indoctrinated-outraged-person I become a rabble-rousing politically-incorrect fiery-haired whirligig, saying stuff like, &#8220;I think Henry Miller is the bomb&#8221;, or &#8220;You know, Ronald Reagan was actually pretty smart.&#8221; I would have helped the crew team build that damn snowman, if I had been there. Just because it would have been a lark, and I enjoy a good laugh. <\/p>\n<p>One last thing: In last month&#8217;s Vanity Fair, the 5-minute interview with various celebs (always on the last page of the magazine) was with Bill O&#8217;Reilly. The questions are blunt, fired off (probably by email), and the answers just as blunt. &#8220;What is your idea of heaven on earth?&#8221; &#8220;What&#8217;s the last book you read?&#8221; &#8220;What is your favorite kind of music?&#8221; And Bill O&#8217;Reilly (who I find sometimes amusing but mostly he has slid off the rails) was asked: &#8220;What qualities do you most admire in women?&#8221; And his answer was: &#8220;Having a sense of humor about sex.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Yes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the past couple of weeks, a new epidemic is raging in the areas of the country pounded by snow. Is it a flu epidemic? An influenza epidemic? An epidemic of the common cold? Actually, no. It is an epidemic &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=108269\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108270,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108269\/revisions\/108270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}