The Nation Magazine's Homophobic Cartoon

[justin899]

You can see it here. Update on story here.

While some misguided people may think this is funny I find it utterly distasteful in the extreme for what is supposed to be a liberal magazine.

[Fenris]

1. That cartoon neither makes sense nor is aesthetically funny.

[eg101]

2. can I say the "V word" here?

??

[terrya]

3. Yes, it is offensive.

Here we are...with a good amount of evidence to suggest that Abraham Lincoln was homosexual...and what's some people's reaction? Horribly offensive cartoons such as this.

Yes, I'm sending katrina what's her name an email. This is bullshit. And I'm shocked to find it in The Nation.

T

[Brian_Expat]

4. I'm not shocked

Lots of liberals think they can be homophobic because they're liberal and thus have "special dispensation."

[terrya]

6. Well, fuck that.

I'm reading an excellent book right now, "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln" which makes an well documented, researched case that Lincoln was gay. And as a gay man, it's a source of immense interest in gay history to know that. So, when I saw that low, pathetic attempt at "humor", I was pissed.

Yes, some liberals think they can be homophobic because they think they have "special dispensation". And that's even worse than a right wing phobe...liberals such as them should know better.

Sorry, Bri. Rant time.

T

[Brian_Expat]

20. Oh I agree with you Terry-man!

I'm just explaining the "logic." And the backhanded "apology" was even more offensive. Imagine if they'd done a similar comic on blacks or Jews and followed it up with such a craven non-apology.

[Warpy]

5. I think that cartoon was meant to satirize the right

and the crazies who are trying to portray Lincoln as gay, either to credit the Log Cabiners or to discredit the party's early progressive character. In any case, the cartoon points out the ludicrous nature of the "Lincoln was gay" crazies. At this point, nobody would know. At this point, nobody should care. A public figure's sex life becomes an issue only when it's a gaybashing closeted gay or a heavy duty patriarch who has a domme on speed dial.

Oh, and The Nation isn't a liberal magazine. It's a pinko magazine on cheap paper.

[salvorhardin]

7. The Nation is a pinko magazine??

I didn't know anyone on the left still used that kind of language. The editors and writers of The Nation may be to the left of you politically but is that any reason to use a slanderous term coined by the far right to demonize the left? Oh, and by the way, The Nation has been a glossy for quite a while now.

[Tony_Illinois]

12. The Nation is not glossy--my copies are on rougher paper.

[Tony_Illinois]

10. The Nation is printed in the USA on recycled paper.

[salvorhardin]

11. Yeah, but back a few years ago

They were printed on pulp (recycled even then). Today their stock is basically indistinguishable from any other magazine.

[justin899]

15. Well you "think" WRONG!

There is nothing crazy about Lincoln possibly being gay. What is crazy is the presumption that he must be straight.

The cartoonist doesn't point out a damn thing. Putting a man's on a woman's body is BIGOTED and offensive. PERIOD!

Gay men have NO DESIRE be the opposite sex, but that is what the cartoon implies. It is an old stereotype, and claiming it is satirical is fucking stupid. Even the cartoonist doesn't claim that was his intent!

[justin899]

16. Furthermore

I'm getting sick and damn tired of heterosexists claiming their own bigotry is nothing more than satire.

[dsc]

8. I wrote this letter

Dear Ms. VandenHeuvel:

I am nothing short of appalled by both the unfortunatly unfunny Grossman cartoon that appeared in the Nation (the Babe Lincoln cartoon) and the tacky response you chose to make to criticism of it. People make mistakes. An apology would have been warrented and put this to bed. Instead you allow this hateful, ignorant cartoon speak for your magazine. LGBT liberals, of whom there are quite a few, deserve better. Liberals who know and love LGBT people, of whom there are even more, deserve better. The Nation is the premier liberal magazine in the United States. Or at least it was.

I know you know better than to believe that ignorant stereotype of gay people that you perpetuated in your magazing with that cartoon. So your refusal to admit your mistake is even worse. It is one thing to be ignorant or sloppy. It is another to be willful. I hope you fix this matter soon. Otherwise it will be hard for this LGBT liberal to watch you on TV again with the same joy I did before this episode.

Sincerely

Name
Town

[Tony_Illinois]

9. Thank you for this post. I am a subscriber to The Nation, and

when I saw this cartoon on the bottom right two pages of commentary, I thought there would be a tie-in to the text in which it was inserted.

However, after reading everything around it, there was no connection to this cartoon whatsoever. It is jarring to see, and once you read its caption, it is completely insulting and lowbrow.

The Nation should know better.

[noamnety]

13. I emailed, too

Dear Mr. Grossman,

As you so aptly put it in your apology for the Babe Lincoln cartoon, “Better a cheap and infantile joke than no joke at all, or so I thought.” I thought this was going to lead to an admission of wrongdoing. Instead, you transitioned directly to thanking the editors for their insensitivity in printing the cartoon. Bravo!

It baffles me why some can’t grasp the notion that playground bully mentality ought to be valued above human respect. Why fight against stereotypes, when we can perpetuate them and have a good laugh?

Perhaps in some future cartoons, you could “playfully” depict gays as child molesters. Also, you could depict people of various races as being stupid or lazy. There is nothing funnier than racism, homophobia, and making fun of minorities (so long as you aren’t the target). As you said, it’s the stuff of “true inspiration.” Those who aren’t straight, white, rich and male will just never get it.

(signed with my obviously female name)

[flamingyouth]

14. My subscription to The Nation ran out in December

I've been meaning to renew, but now I've changed my mind. :mad:

[Duncan Grant]

17. Thank you.

My sentiments exactly. What could they have been thinking?! :hi:

[SnowBack]

18. What a disgusting piece of trash...

The Nation must be turning into to allow such an insulting cartoon...

[swimmernsecretsea]

19. How odd...

I used to read the Nation, along with other publications, when I worked at a bookstore. Something must be seriously wrong editorially if a cartoon like this can be published.

[Uncle Roy]

21. I guess I'm alone on this,

but I didn't find it offensive. I didn't find it funny either. I took it as an attempt at some kind of rowdy absurdist over-the-top humor that meant well, but just didn't work, like a screen play that tried to combine Gore Vidal's Lincoln with his Myra Breckinridge.

But then, I don't get offended very easily. My view is that if someone means well, that's what really matters. If their heart is in the right place, you can offer them a little gentle education from time to time, to help their heads catch up.