Naomi Wolf: Don’t Think of a Scam

Posted on | April 16, 2012 | 36 Comments

Katy Perry’s ‘glorification of violence’?

Pop singers rarely show up on my radar. I’m more of a classic rock guy. My occasionaly interest in celebrity news tends more toward starlet meltdowns, and other such “Hollywood Babylon” stuff. So I’m grateful to feminist Naomi Wolf for denouncing Katy Perry’s music video:

Have you all seen the Katy Perry Marines video? It is a total piece of propaganda for the Marines…I really want to find out if she was paid by them for making it…it is truly shameful. I would suggest a boycott of this singer whom I really liked — if you are as offended at this glorification of violence as I am.

Chris Bannon observes that the video portrays Katy Perry “as a feminist dream — a strong, independent, empowered young woman,” and you’ll excuse me for pointing out that FEMINISTS HAVE BEEN ALL ABOUT WOMEN IN COMBAT FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS!

Bannon accuses Wolf of engaging “in a desperate lunge to stay relevant,” which may be true, but Wolf may be like those feminists who were confused by the O.J. Simpson case. Go ask Tammy Bruce about this: As president of the L.A. chapter of the National Organization for Women — a card-carrying lesbian feminist in good standing — Bruce organized a candlelight vigil to highlight Nicole Simpson as a victim of domestic violence. The national leadership of NOW purged Bruce because (nuance alert) of “coalition” concerns about their liberal allies who were committed to defending O.J. Simpson as a victim of racism.

In other words, whenever the avowed goals of the Official Feminist Movement conflict with the larger agenda of the Left and the Democratic Party, progressive women are expected to shut their mouths and keep marching in left-wing solidarity.

It was exactly such a revelation, occasioned by Team Obama’s sexist attacks first against Hillary Clinton and then against Sarah Palin, that inspired Cynthia Yockey to jump the fence to the Republican Party in 2008. As an ex-Democrat myself, I can relate: You spend your entire life listening to liberals proclaim their commitment to your particular slice of the demographic pie — the working class, women, minorities, whatever — and then one day your see through their phony bullshit.

Sooner or later, unless you are profoundly stupid (as many Democratic voters are), you recognize that their high-flown rhetoric about sympathy for the downtrodden is hypocritical dishonest pandering, exploiting your hopes and fears and resentments in order to gain your support for their own self-aggrandizing quest for power. Peggy Joseph thought Barack Obama was going to pay her bills, and now he’s hobnobbing with billionaires when he’s not too busy playing golf.

WAKE THE HELL UP, YOU FOOLS! IT’S A CROOKED SCAM!

Recently, I was re-reading Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France and came across this memorable passage:

Everything which they have done, or continue to do, in order to obtain and keep their power, is by the most common arts. They proceed exactly as their ancestors of ambition have done before them.—Trace them through all their artifices, frauds, and violences, you can find nothing at all that is new. They follow precedents and examples with the punctilious exactness of a pleader. They never depart an iota from the authentic formulas of tyranny and usurpation. But in all the regulations relative to the public good, the spirit has been the very reverse of this. There they commit the whole to the mercy of untried speculations; they abandon the dearest interests of the public to those loose theories, to which none of them would choose to trust the slightest of his private concerns. They make this difference, because in their desire of obtaining and securing power they are thoroughly in earnest; there they travel in the beaten road. The public interests, because about them they have no real solicitude, they abandon wholly to chance: I say to chance, because their schemes have nothing in experience to prove their tendency beneficial.

Sic semper hoc.

No starry-eyed idealism is necessary to be an ex-Democrat. In fact, as soon as I became a conservative, I discovered that a profound loathing of the GOP Establishment is almost universal among conservatives.

“Hold Your Nose and Vote Republican” is an apt slogan this year, as in so many years past. If grassroots conservatives have any unifying ideology, it is embittered cynicism.

Conservatives are routinely backstabbed, ripped off, screwed over and sold out by Republicans, but at least the GOP doesn’t claim to be doing their power-grab hustle in the name of “social justice.”

(Hit my tip jar, Reince Priebus. This is the best you’ll get from me.)

What do I know about Katy Perry? Almost nothing. But if Naomi Wolf hates her, Katy Perry must be awesome, and her “glorification of violence” is something we should encourage and promote. However . . .

It occurs to me that perhaps Naomi Wolf may be too clever for us. What if, seeing the women-in-combat message of feminist empowerment — “You Go, Girl!” — in this video, Wolf decided to try to promote it by stirring up a phony controversy? What if her call for a left-wing boycott of the “glorification of violence” was in fact completely bogus, a dishonest trick to get the media talking about Katy Perry’s “controversial” video?

Embittered cynicism is like a Swiss Army Knife, capable of seeing through every manner of political hoax. After watching this video, I have a hard time accepting the sincerity of Wolf’s indignation:

C’mon, am I the only one who suspects a scam here? Anything that seems too good to be true — and this video being denounced by a prominent feminist certainly seems that way — usually is.

How much did Katy Perry’s record company pay Naomi Wolf for that publicity? A lot less than Reince Priebus would have to pay me to say nice things about Mitt Romney, although for a six-figure “consulting fee” from the RNC, I’d gladly take a blog hiatus until Nov. 7, during which time I’d work on a book called Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption.

Category: Celebrities, Doomed Beyond All Hope of Redemption, Feminism, Military

Comments

36 Responses to “Naomi Wolf: Don’t Think of a Scam”

Bobbymike34
April 16th, 2012 @ 12:41 pm

How liberals and the left live with their massive contradictions is hard to figure out.

They desperately want women in combat yet decry a music video about a strong woman joining the Marines as glorification of violence.

You see my theory of why they want women in combat is that they want young women killed and mutilated and blown to pieces BECAUSE it will make it harder for the US to go to war. It is not equality but the real left agenda of neutering US foreign policy and power projection.
robertstacymccain
April 16th, 2012 @ 12:54 pm

If you research the history of this, Bobby, you discover that the first call for women in combat occurred in the early 1970s, during the waning years of the Vietnam War when the military draft was still in effect. The idea of left-wing feminists (who were all part of the anti-war movement) was to render the U.S. military useless, because while patriotic Americans might not object to their sons being drafted into the service, it would be a different thing if their daughters were being drafted.

Women in combat, gays in the military — such loony projects have always been embraced most strongly by those who are generally anti-military. This is not a coincidence.
vermontaigne
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:13 pm

I bet Naomi’s a big fan of Oscar Wilde, and believes him to have been a leading figure in the Art for Fuck’s Sake movement.
ThePaganTemple
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:13 pm

All that plus the point if they can get more and more feminist women and gays in the military, they can then demand more and more of them being moved up into the upper echelons of the military, until you at some point arguably have a military establishment dominated by the Left, and thus loyal to Leftist causes and leaders.
ThePaganTemple
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:26 pm

I don’t know how pro-military this video is. It’s certainly not anti-military, at least not in any kind of obvious, overt way, but you can make the case that the only reason Perry’s character joined the Marines was she was upset with her boyfriend, and the basic training she goes through here is giving her a chance to work out her anger and frustrations at him. Maybe not the best reasons in the world to sign a contract to join a combat force, but who’s to say?

Naomi Wolf is probably pissed off because Perry is portrayed as a heterosexual woman instead of a lesbian. And if she had been portrayed as that Wolf would have been even more pissed off that they didn’t work out their problems.
Charles Martel
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:27 pm

“A lot less than Reince Priebus would have to pay me to say nice things about Mitt Romney….”

Oh, come on. Think hard. There must be SOMETHING nice you can say about Willard.
Pathfinder's wife
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:32 pm

Meanwhile, those women who do serve (and for very reasonable reasons) and who think the women in combat is a ridiculous concept (and there is a blurring of this line with the changing nature of warfare, but that’s a finer point: the thing is the fems mean combat riflemen, mortarmen, etc. so we have to pin it down) but still would like to serve in those areas where they can do their jobs effectively have to deal with both ends of what is a bunch of lefty bullshit: “you go girl, you can have it all, any woman can vs. the big bad military warmongering war-machine of sociopathic trained killers inc.”).
And then you have the folks who don’t want them in at all.

No win situation.
Adobe_Walls
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:33 pm

You are definitely on the right track.
Dave
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:35 pm

I’m figuring somewhere around 2014, Stacy is going to write an ‘okay, I admit it, President Romney is really doing a good job’ blog entry…
SDN
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:43 pm

As opposed to the Constitution. Exactly.
SDN
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:44 pm

Bobby, they don’t live with them; they expect YOU to. They are too dishonest to live with.
Pathfinder's wife
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:45 pm

Thought it was rather hokey and degrading of the Corps — and the reasons why someone male or female would join up — (due to the hokeyness) myself, but I’m not a fan of Perry in the best of circumstances.
DaveP.
April 16th, 2012 @ 1:55 pm

There’s an awful lot of guys who joined up because of Significant Other problems over the years- one’s my cousin, who has done very well for himself in the USMC. The question isn’t why you signed; it’s the committment you bring with you.
JeffS
April 16th, 2012 @ 2:11 pm

Exactly. In that sense, this video is anything BUT hokey.
Finrod Felagund
April 16th, 2012 @ 2:20 pm

Katy Perry does have nice cleavage.
ThePaganTemple
April 16th, 2012 @ 2:55 pm

You should see that woman without makeup. She’s definitely not one of these women that look good even without it.
Finrod Felagund
April 16th, 2012 @ 3:03 pm

I’m reminded of a comment made by an old Southern preacher when asked if women should wear makeup: “If the barn needs painting, paint it, baby!”
richard mcenroe
April 16th, 2012 @ 3:25 pm

Nah, at that point we’ll all be in jail for participating in Rule 5…
Adjoran
April 16th, 2012 @ 3:34 pm

No, that would have been if Santorum were elected with his War on Porn.
Adjoran
April 16th, 2012 @ 3:54 pm

Naomi Wolf isn’t deep enough to conceive such a strategy. It’s surprising she didn’t approve – all the camo shots use “earth tones” very effectively.

Even if she were that clever, she would never dare because the Left would immediately throw her under the bus since they are incapable of seeing beyond symbolism.

Don’t worry – somewhere the Bilderbergers are meeting to devise a new plan to give you something to REALLY be paranoid about.
richard mcenroe
April 16th, 2012 @ 4:30 pm

I retract this, the bust was in OK, not UT
Denverwindowwashing
April 16th, 2012 @ 5:10 pm

Are most conservatives so reflexive they can’t celebrate an American celebrating being an American Hero, USMC. All you people can do is say it’s not enough? Really? How many millions have you influenced last week toward more respect for the USMC and the grand influence it can have? Don’t you understand Katy sells her music to young people, not you? She could challenge the Wiggles for the rest of her life and make many millions per year. But she didn’t.

In this video, she dances under a gigantic flag of deep-blue with big stars on it, like all Americans should. As a true leader, she’s showing the way with class and style.

Andrew Breitbart did much more than I thought in showing culture matters, and I worry more now that he’s gone after seeing the reaction here to Katy’s masterpiece.

Mr. Breitbart would $*(&! in his (*(*&^ after watching an American superstar choosing, of all things, to get down and dirty with the United States Marine Corps.

Remember Cher and that Navy video? It was kinda cool Cher was showing respect to the Navy (what’s with the electric voice sound though?).

But Katy kicks the hell outta that here.

That was then; this is now.
Pathfinder's wife
April 16th, 2012 @ 5:31 pm

It’s Katie Perry…it can’t help but be hokey in some degree.
Pathfinder's wife
April 16th, 2012 @ 5:37 pm

I don’t find it all that great an image maker for the Corps, probably helps Perry’s career though (sorry, but this is the woman with the whipped cream spurting bra…classy she is not; neither is Cher for that matter).
No thanks; these are not Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth selling war bonds here.
But that’s probably because I’m not a fan of either Perry or Cher, and thus is a result of my personal bias.
Adobe_Walls
April 16th, 2012 @ 5:47 pm

That video took her up a couple notches in my book, and she’s pissing off the feminists so there’s a couple more.
Adobe_Walls
April 16th, 2012 @ 5:50 pm

“Don’t worry – somewhere the Bilderbergers are meeting to devise a new plan to give you something to REALLY be paranoid about.”

I’m doing just fine in that department thank you.
AnonymousDrivel
April 16th, 2012 @ 6:12 pm

If Wolf is so upset about the Marines possibly paying Perry, then Wolf should boycott. The Marines.

So, you go girl! Tell the Marines you won’t join their chicken-outfit or buy any of their products. That’ll show ’em.
JeffS
April 16th, 2012 @ 7:35 pm

Trust me, a hot (female) soldier or Marine is anything but hokey.

A pain in the ass, possibly. But not hokey.
JeffS
April 16th, 2012 @ 7:48 pm

It”s not a big deal if you do or don’t, PFW.   But the point is that she does not dis the troops, and works with them.   This alone sets her apart from much of Hollywood, and is much appreciated by those who have been there.

As an example, while I was deployed in Kuwait, we had a show by David Letterman; he stopped off on his way up to Iraq. Personally, even at that time, I wasn’t a major fan of his. Now, even less so, with his descent into irrelevance through his Palin hating.

But I appreciated his effort to come overseas (at Christmas time, I should note) to spend time with the troops.   And I still do. Because he made that effort. More than once, IIRC.

(Besides, he brought Grinder Girl along as further entertainment. That’s worth SOMETHING, isn’t it?)

Yeah, Perry didn’t go overseas to entertain the troops, she made a video. Not quite the same thing. I understand. Another Rita Hayworth she ain’t, in more ways than one.

But neither did she pee on the Marines. In this day and age, one takes what one can get.   So Perry earns at least a kudo for this.
M. Thompson
April 16th, 2012 @ 8:20 pm

I know a Marine who wishes there would have been a no-shit war on porn, so he can guard detention facilities . . .
K-Bob
April 16th, 2012 @ 9:18 pm

That’s a very good video, from a perspective of supporting the troops. A bit too much misleading in the realm of combat activities, though.

I think women should train for combat, but be put in supportive roles, just like they do in the Israeli army. After all, when your country is surrounded by the enemy, everyone must be prepared to fight.

Kudos to Perry for doing it, though.
Rich Vail
April 17th, 2012 @ 6:33 am

I am a a VERY proud Jarhead. I served in the “Crotch” in the early ’80’s and was medically discharged w/a service connected disability (blew out my knees). While I’m not a fan of KP…I did post the video on my blog. Thanks for posting it.

Rich Vail
Pikesville, Maryland
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com
ThePaganTemple
April 17th, 2012 @ 8:21 am

The video is actually very well done, though I’m not a fan of Perry’s singing, style, or her type of music in general.
Wombat_socho
April 17th, 2012 @ 9:31 am

I see what you did there.
Wombat_socho
April 17th, 2012 @ 9:33 am

Max Uriarte, the Marine who does the webcomic “Terminal Lance, posted the video on his Facebook page. The comments from Marines, Marine wives, and unindicted co-conspirators like yours truly were comedy gold, I swear. 🙂
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