We’re two of those poor HBO-less saps who have to wait until the following Wednesday to get the free podcast of the previous Friday night’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher.” And so we only just discovered his final “New Rule” from last week: “Republicans have to stop thinking up intricate, psychological explanations for why liberals don’t like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann. Let me save you all some time. Are you ready? Because they’re crazy people.” Now, Bill Maher is not exactly what we’d call a feminist icon, and he’s pretty selective about which sexism he shuns — he’s definitely not down with the systemic misogyny of religions like Islam which allow women to be stoned for exposing an ankle and which consider rape not a crime but a punishment, but he loves to talk about stereotypical dumb blondes with big tits and nagging sexless ball-and-chain wives. It’s tough, because otherwise his political views are very compelling. So when he delivers a smart, spot-on New Rule like last week’s — in which he explains how Palin and Bachmann aren’t dumb because they have boobs but because they are boobs, and how inherently sexist the Bible is — we can forgive him the pig that he his.
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I am watching him right now on Jay Leno talking about Valentine’s Day. I just looked up Bill Maher + chauvenism and I see that many people think he’s sexist and lame. It now makes sense that my narcissistic ex was so into him. He could relate to his bad vibe about women as objects pretty much. he is trying to be funny, but his manner and tone belie his intentions at comedy on some matters.
Hey, I think that those that comment on real issues in this country need to expand their venues of where they get their information and use some commonsense. Billy is nothing more then a needle dick little comic that gets off putting women down because of his little….Napoleonic Syndrome. His putdowns are just accepted because these women are conservative and like most of the brainless mass that just follow and repeat what they hear, they don’t really look into for themselves. Actually it’s because that they have proven themselves in the real world and they are pretty. It must scare the little insecure guys. I love confident strong women. Em and Lo, you really need to get your info from another source besides this guy and the Daily Show. Your response is so typical of those wanting to sound informed and with it when if you truly check into it, you’d see the little man for what he is……..lil!
Non-religious muslim girl — There is no denying that the ancient texts of old religions (like BOTH Christianity and Islam) are sexist. How people interpret and use those texts vary — some rely on them to justify misogynistic behavior, others pick and choose from the texts to create more moral versions of their particular religion. We were not saying that ALL practicing (or even non-practicing) Muslims or Christians are sexist, but rather that the original dogma of their ancient religions are.
RetroRiotGrrl — Instead of women, what if Maher talked that way about African Americans, often mentioning dumb black people with big lips or the typical black uneducated Welfare mom? No way would you be defending that kind of talk, even if some African Americans out there do fit those descriptions. Sexism is one of the last acceptable prejudices — it’s still used as a form of comedy by guys like Maher, and a lot of women laugh right along with it because they don’t want to be thought of as uptight or humorless. Even we can take a joke occasionally, but if you watch (or in our case, listen to) Maher regularly, then you know his consistent denigration of groups of women belies an underlying, perhaps even subconscious disdain for our gender. Which is a bit of a bummer, because we find the rest of his politics (and views on religion) usually spot on.
how about that awful, stereotypical description of islam? damn, em & lo, i would’ve expected more from you.
Honestly I don’t feel like the examples given of him being sexist are really all that sexist. Yes they are more negative stereotypes of women but the fact is all stereotypes are partly true. There are dumb blondes out there as well as nagging sexless wives. This doesn’t mean that he thinks all blondes are dumb and all wives are nagging sexless bitches.
Wow. I don’t really have anything to add, but this post is spot on. I really love Bill Maher at his best.