Erica Jong Thinks I Want to Do My Mother: A Response
I feel compelled to respond to an article written in part about me by emigree contributor Erica Jong. According to the eight hundred year-old sex novelist, my offhand description of Hillary Clinton's arms as "flabby" means that I'm a misogynist and a sexist who is guilty of "Momism," which she describes as an "Oedipal obsession with the bad mother -- to counter a boy's attraction to his good mother." The whole of her argument is based upon my use of that one word, "flabby" -- which she argues is evidence of my typically male tendency to fixate on the appearance of female politicians. Like other sexist men, I apparently trained my monomaniacal focus on Hillary's appearance while while ignoring the paunches, liver spots and comb-overs of male politicians.
Jong has apparently never read anything else I've written. Here is a short catalogue of some of the physical descriptions I've used in recent articles about male politicians:
RUDY GIULIANI, former presidential candidate: "Virtually neckless, all shoulders and forehead and overbite, with a hunched-over, Draculoid posture that recalls, oddly enough, George W. Bush, the vestigial stoop of a once-chubby kid who grew up hiding tittie pictures from nuns." Also: "The electoral incarnation of Tommy Lee Jones' acid-bath-surviving Two-Face character." A "bottomless pit of vengeful little-guy ambition."
MARK PENN, former chief strategist for the Clinton campaign: "Penn is the Democratic version of Karl Rove. He even looks like Rove, only he's fatter and more disgusting. Up close in a forum like this, his eyes bulge out of his fat, blood-flushed head; his neck spills out of his too-tight shirt collar; and he generally looks like Jabba the Hutt, his suit bursting at the seams, with only the bowl of snackable live toads suspended at arm's length missing from the picture."
MIKE HUCKABEE, former presidential candidate: "Huckabee, who in recent years has lost 100 pounds, has the roundish, half-deflated physique of an ex-fatty. With his button nose and never-waning smile, he looks slightly unreal, like an oversize Muppet."
TOM DELAY, former House majority leader: "DeLay moves through the aisles like some kind of balding incubus, and as he passes, Republican members instinctively turn their backs on him, not wanting to be caught in the Gorgon's gaze (or, more to the point, be threatened with the loss of a chairmanship or reelection funding)."
JAMES SENSENBRENNER, former House Judiciary Committee Chairman: "An ever-sweating, fat-fingered beast who wields his gavel in a way that makes you think he might have used one before in some other arena, perhaps to beat prostitutes to death." Also: "Your basic Fat Evil Prick, perfectly cast as a dictatorial committee chairman: He has the requisite moist-with-sweat pink neck, the dour expression, the penchant for pointless bile and vengefulness."
MITT ROMNEY, former presidential candidate: An "utter tool...a poll-chasing stuffed suit with a Max Headroom hairdo who will say (or won't say, for that matter) whatever the fuck it takes to get elected." Also: "When it comes to the satanic art of presidential campaigning, this lean, heavily moussed political athlete is a stone prodigy, a natural who glides through campaign events with the aid of some dark supernatural power - a tie-clad, sweat-resistant cross of Roy Hobbs and Rosemary's Baby."
BORIS YELTSIN, former Russian president: "A pig... A human appendage of a rotting, corrupt state, a crook who would emerge even from the hottest bath still stinking of booze, concrete and sausage."
TOM TANCREDO, former presidential candidate: "Vengeful midget."
JOHN McCAIN, Republican nominee: "On the trail, McCain looks equally pathetic -- slow-moving, soft-spoken and physically frail. With his lecturing tone and corny jokes ('Governor Schwarzenegger and I have many similar attributes'), he recalls the moralizing granddad who's not a bad egg overall but who embarrasses the fuck out of you by waiting till your late thirties to give you the birds-and-the-bees speech."
That's just from the last few years. And yet according to Jong, the reason I decided to use the term "flabby" when describing Hillary Clinton is because, deep down inside, I want to fuck my mother. "And love is the problem, of course," Jong-Freud writes. "You cannot fuck your mother so you must revile her."
I mean, wow. And I thought I was a hack.
Sincerely,
Matt Taibbi
Related:
Erica Jong Responds: Eight-Hundred-Year-Old Jong Responds to Callow Youth Taibbi
Matt Taibbi: Erica Jong Rolls Out Every Liberal Cliche in Existence
Previously:
Erica Jong: Misogyny, Momism and Militarism
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
It's funny how mothers get blamed for everything, including their son's bad writing.
Jong is right. Men attack women every day, every minute, for their appearance: big theighs, big butt, skinny legs, flat-chested, ugly face, big nose. That's why women are so self-conscious about their appearance that we have an entire industry dedicated to very expensive self-mutilation also known as plastic surgery. So when this commentator, or any other, refers to a woman as having a flabby ass, legs, arms, or anything else, it is inappropriate, cruel, tacky, and a cheap shot. I don't like Hillary Clinton. But the only reason anyone would say her arms are flabby is to be cruel.
Cruelty towards women is so often accompanied by violence against women. Yell out to a woman walking down the street something about her fat ass, and not only will you humiliate her, you will also create immediate physical fear. Because all women understand that many men are violent towards women, so we are always in danger.
A so-called "political" writer, male, who attacks a 60-year old woman politician based on her body, is really just a red-neck with a fountain pen.
Apologize to your mother, to your grandmother, and to everyone woman you know. Then try to remember not to comment on women's bodies. Or we'll all have to start commenting on men's [small] dicks. Nothing personal.
So, you're saying that because Matt Taibbi mentioned Hillary Clinton's flabby arms once, he's going to start raping and punching women in the neck? Stop. Talking. You sound like an idiot. He made one comment. Which, compared to the thousands of other comments he has made about the appearance of male politicians. is nothing. If you ever read any of Taibbi's works (which I can tell by your obtuse post that you haven't), in his articles, he attacks Hillary because of her DEEDS, not because of her "flabby arms". Seriously. Go to therapy. Deal with your "male issues", whatever they are. Then you can be allowed to sit at the "big kid's table." But when you start to politicize your own misandry and calling it "feminism", you sound like an idiot.
Gee, I feel sorry for all these women who let men affect them so much. Personally, I don't run in fear every time a man has said something negative to me. In fact, f*** 'em! Most men making those comments are just fat asses anyway who are mad because they can't get laid. I don't need or want an apology from them, let them rot. Besides I've heard the same crap from women.
What a crock. Women need to stop spending all of their time worrying what men think about them, their bodies and focus on what they can do for themselves. I am sick and tired of hearing how women think that men are sexist and misogynistic for calling a spade a spade. Get thicker skin, men do this amongst themselves all the time and without appology. Stop crying about getting your feelings hurt and grow up.
What about this--- she looks pretty good for 60-- her arms are great for her age- her mental aptitude exceeds Bill's at this point-- she has always been more focused, more self-controlled, more cerebral than him- she doesn't run off at the mouth, so lay off of Jong-- she analyzes-- that's her job--
I still have more respect for Erica Jong than I do for Alec Baldwin.
A satarist for morons who don't know MTV from PBS.
Can you explain to this moron what a "satarist" is? Maybe you mean a sitarist, like Ravi Shankar. You certainly don't mean a satirist, because though you personify satire, like so many Clintonistas do, you surely don't understand it.
So very condescending to jump on a typo and thereby impugn the intelligence of "some many Clintonistas".
Try winning in November without us.
Matt, I saw you for the first time a few months back on Bill Maher having never read your stuff.
I have to say, you really came off as this kind of immature kid with bad self esteem issues that you were trying to cover up with frat boy humor. I watched as the other guests politely chuckled and then turned uncomfortable as they realized you were a total hack. And these were Obama supporters. I notice you make fun of anyone "old"; like you use their age against them (as if they can help it). Why is that?
Thanks for a sane response. These posters that call him "brilliant? It is scary.
And it makes you want to boycott Bill Mahr. I mean, anybody that would give this guy a podium, to say things that bullies in junior high say? And we wonder why our culture just keeps deteriorating?
His piece here is pathetic. It is just like he is is giving you a summary of his works, as if to say "See, I really am stupid."
Thanks again. I know there are smart people in the world. But sometimes, when I read things like this guy writes, I just have to be reminded.
Reflections on a candidates appearance should be used for characterization, not insult. Matt, I have a little bit of a crush on you, but you are a jerk with thinning hair. I still think you're super cute, but people in glass houses...
When a talented writer is describing a villain, he often describes that character's negitave physial appearance in order to externalize that character's negative inner appearence. It's been done since the dawn of literature, but when Matt Taibbi does it, he's a mysoginist and wants to fuck his mom? And how about that arm flab anyways? Is Garrison Kieller now a mysoginist because he talked about his teacher's arm flab, saying the kids named the flab under her arm "Hoppy" and "Bob". Does Garrison Kieller want to fuck his mother now? How about those kids from The Adventures Of Pete And Pete who were so bored one summer they stared at Mrs. Blowtard's Arm Flub for hours on end? "It's like a flesh Avalanche!" Do those kids now want to fuck their mothers? Or is it more likely that Erica Jong once again pulled some half-assed bullshit theory out of her ass because she blindly follows her canidate. For her, Hillary is the one. Reality shapes itself around that, no matter how twisted, no matter how wrong. You know what? We had 8 years of that kind of thinking in the white house, we don't need any more.
You assume that Hillary Clinton is, objectively, a villain, rather than a hard fighting candidate in a presidential nomination race.
You also assume Matt Taibbi's work is worthy of the term "literature"; Jonathan Swift he ain't.
And finally, Keillor is a story-teller who may base his fiction on real life people, but it's still just a story. He's not viciously attacking someone in the here and now whose politics he disagrees with by resorting to junior-high remarks.
Satire need not, and often is not, gentle, but let's compare apples to apples. Keillor and Pete & Pete are hardly at the low, amateurish level that Taibbi illustrates in his list of insults.
First, let me acknowledge divided loyalties. I have personal reasons to side with both Matt and Erica.
Second, let's be clear: This argument makes you both look petty and stupid.
People keep claiming that Hillary is being unfairly judged on her looks. Of course she is, but it's not sexist... it's human nature. Remind me who our last short, bald President was. Matt, you're a douche but you totally nailed it.
And so because it's "human nature" that makes it acceptable? Okay, repeal all the anti-discrimination laws! I honestly believe that while looks may influence some voters, most really do vote based on the policy stands and belief in the ability of the candidate to deliver on that policy.
And by the way...our last bald president was Dwight Eisenhower, who won two decisive victories over his bald opponent, Adlai Stevenson. That election was hardly light years ago. We've even had presidents who wore wigs!
And do you really think if someone "satirized" Obama's wide nose there would be anything but cries of racism? How about mocking his nappy hair? To quote Bob Dylan, "How does it feel?"
Sounds like you're all in agreement with Rush Limbaugh's notion that we don't want to have to witness the aging of a female president.
Jong is right. Descriptive adjectives don’t lie; they never do. And after reading what you posted here, you also want to fuck your father and every other male you have ever met, plus furry animals, fish that have the letter “r” in their name, and yet to evolve unnamed and undescribed life forms. You’re sick.
The list of people and animals you would like to bonk excludes, of course, any and all journalist. Your’s not that sick.
Yeah maybe the real target of his desire is Ann Coulter.
Matt, you are a hack. And also gross, crude, rude and indecent. Yeah, throw in vulgar too!!!
I honestly don't know why I keep reading your blogs and articles.
Careful, Matt. Erica Jong is going to accuse you of wanting to fuck Rudy Giuliani next.
A Hack? Hardly,those are the musings of a mental mdiget that borders on retardation. let me guess, you were dropped on your head as an Infant?
mental midget is right
Matt's writing in Rolling stone is insightful and a bit irreverent.
John Stewart gets his political points across with all sorts of cerebral humor, and some very low brow stuff too.
So Matt uses insults that go beyond the political on men and women. Big deal. His targets usually deserve everything they get.
In this case Matt has been writing like a real liberal, calling Clinton out on her blatant hypocrisy on homosexuals, war, and the like.
Erica Jong is a classic establishment hack, and in her twisted elitist world, Hillary may well be a liberal.
This is an attack by a wealthy privileged rich woman on an honest trash talking smart dude who dared to go after Hillary Clinton. If the flabby arms thing hadn't come up, no doubt Jong would have continued to lay in the weeds for Matt, biding her time.
You see it is soooooooooooooo much easier to attack someone for a rude comment than it is to defend a monster like Hillary and her policies.
Jong is a lightweight.
Brilliant and spot on!
Jong is just jealous that apparently no one wants to f*ck her -- "zipless" or otherwise.
Jade - you are either not much of a thinker or you are still looking forward to your 14th birthday. Either way, attacks like this are just as lame coming from you as they are from Matt. He's just a better writer.
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
