“Where is that marvelous ape?”
Published by Quin July 27th, 2008 in Punkass!, McCainery, Rape
So in case you haven’t heard already, a couple of weeks ago Rum, Romanism and Rebellion unearthed this joke that McCain told at a meeting of the National League of Cities and Towns in 1986:
Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, “Where is that marvelous ape?”
After some uppity women at NOW made a fuss, then-McCain press aide Torie Clarke issued a weak non-denial, saying he “doesn’t recollect telling that joke”, and– despite independent verification of the story by several socially prominent witnesses– claimed it was all just the nefarious work of Democratic senate challenger Richard Kimball.
So, besides the fact that, at the ripe young age of 59, McCain thought extreme sexual violence was funny… and was happy to spread the old lie that all any woman really needs is a good raping in order to release her hidden libido… and had a penchant for jokes with dubious racial overtones… what are we to take from this incident?
For one thing, it’s more ammunition for the argument that McCain isn’t just pandering to the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club for votes; he’s a card-carrying member.
But for the in-depth analysis, let’s turn to trusted logotherapist, nail technician, and advice columnist Herr Doktor Blume.
Now, at first you would think that this is nothing but repellant sexism. Joking about rape is the type of thing that men who fantasize about sexual violence are wont to do, and the fact that the woman was “beaten senseless” attests to almost pathological misogyny. But coupled with his war experience, we begin to wonder if this is not also symptomatic of a more general issue. Note that at the end of the joke, the woman appears to enjoy her beating and sexual violation, and ask: who is this marvelous ape?
Where Mr. McCain was beaten senseless by the Viet Cong, the woman was beaten senseless by a powerful gorilla, a King Kong, if you will. Perhaps this is a clue to the identity of that marvelous ape?
This is, in fact, a real puzzle to me. Considering the experience of powerlessness and torture that McCain himself suffered, one would think that he would have much more empathy for all victims of forcible physical abuse, no matter what their sex. Unless, of course, he secretly enjoyed it. Because all any man really needs is a good arm-hanging to unleash his hidden libido.
And now, a question for discussion.
McCain’s rape joke, on the surface, is more obviously repellant than when Bernie Mac and Obama joked around that women are hos. But is it possible that Obama’s joke might have been just as bad… or even worse?
Both jokes share the assumption that women are sluts, but Obama’s was delivered in terms that a much larger portion of the public– especially men– would consider acceptable discourse. Thus it might more effectively prop up Patriarchial values for longer.
Then again, McCain’s rape joke was a whole other level of extreme. Perhaps, if he gained the influence of the title of President, his kind of old-fashioned misogyny might be poised for a comeback in a big way.
Which brand of not-feminism do you think will be better for our country?
I’d say—and I hate the pull “I was once sexually assaulted” card but it’s relevant here—that the kind that treats rape like it’s a woman’s fulfillment still strikes me as worse. Especially since McCain made the joke himself, and Obama was doing the homosocial thing.
That said, I think one of the most powerful things men can do to resist sexism is to call each other out for it, instead of laugh along like it’s no thing when you hear jokes like Bernie Mac’s. It’s hard to do. Other men will act like you’re being a weiner. But it’s important.
I think that it’s really important to keep on calling both men out for this shit, and all other men who perpetuate it. In answer to your question… *sigh* they both suck, and perhaps I take an optimistic view of things, but I think that Obama’s refusal to withdraw his homosocial support from the complete dickwad who made that non-joke is something that can be used as a ‘teachable moment’, while McCain’s telling of non-jokes can’t - both because of the nature of the fucking up, and because of who they are. McCain is too anti-woman for any feminist threats to work against him.
I choose: curtain number 3. I don’t think there is any way to tell which of Obama or McCain is more misogynist based on their or their friends’ unfunny jokes. Also a better comparison might include some of Obama’s own jokes: the finger thing, the 99 problems but a bitch ain’t one, the periodically, when she’s feeling down… I agree that McCain’s joke was more repellent, but it is not McCain who has ignited this latest salvo of hatred towards women: that honor goes to Obama. Obama has no problem denying women the right to vote or abortion on grounds of mental health; McCain has no problem denying them access to abortion and equal pay. IMO, they both hate women, and neither one of them is fixable.
McCain’s worse. That’s kind of clear from all his other stances in regards to women. And I gotta say, that whole thing about McCain and what sounds like Stockholm syndrome is about the biggest streeeeeeeeeeeetch I’ve seen in a while…
But the Herr Doktor’s grand theory explains everything so perfectly! If McCain suffers from Stockholm Syndrome, then it makes him empathic to victims of violence after all– incredibly so, in fact! Because if McCain came to love the Marvelous Ape who abused him, it explains why he would think it so natural for women and Iraqis (and Iraqi women) to come to love their victimizers. Dr Blume doesn’t say Iraqis have developed Stockholm Syndrome. He merely points to the evidence that McCain [erroneously] thinks they have; then offers a theory, rooted in that rigorous hard science of psychoanalysis, to explain why.
Like NomNomNom, I suspect that neither candidate’s position on feminism is fixable. McCain is a priori a lost cause to feminists. Obama has made it clear he’s comfortable with women being pissed at him. I think the only chance of Obama leaving his current comfort zone regarding his views of women would be if he thought his candidacy was seriously being endangered as a consequence. But (with some notable exceptions who remain in the vast minority) most people keep saying “what he’s saying sucks, but what choice have we got?” and making it publicly clear that they still intend to vote for him. And encouraging others to do so too. Thus completely losing any possible leverage they might have had.
But I will also say, now that I’ve had a day to mull it over, I agree with everyone else, too. When it comes to the question of who would be the more successful cheerleader for misogyny, McCain’s peppy team spirit could take the He-man Woman Haters all the way to the Superbowl. And unlike the GWOT, McCain’s GWOW would never ever be constrained by real-world barriers like a collapsing economy or rising fuel costs. If anything, the opposite– when things go bad, the Patriarchs sure do love their scapegoats!
Wow. I just came across this blog, and at the risk of sounding anti-intellectual, I think y’all are reading wayyyy too farking much into both of these comments. Believe it or not, some of us enjoy the sheer tastelessness of bad humor for its own sake. (See http://www.somethingawful.com/d/news/that-marvelous-ape.php ) Am I a sociopathic, insensitive, wanna-be child murderer for having told a “dead baby” joke, or three? Ok, perhaps so, but that doesn’t diminish the validity of my opinion. Yes, I know it’s disgusting and quite tasteless; that’s the point. And lest you think such humor only the forte of the dumb and humorless, check out the film “The Aristocrats”. To assert that all of these comedians are somehow actually promoting incest, cannibalism, sexism, racism, bestiality or what have you is absurd. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and an imaginary rape ape is just an imaginary rape ape.
S. Carrot: Yes, you do sound anti-intellectual.
At the risk of analyzing jokes to the point where they’re not funny anymore, dead baby jokes and the like work because they’re so absurd and shocking. Rape jokes work on a different level; a wink between the participants that there’s maybe just a little truth to what they’re saying.
In other words, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who actually advocates unloading a truckload of dead babies with a pitchfork. It would not be that hard, however, to find a guy who believes that women secretly want to be raped, or lie about being raped, or somehow “ask for it.”
Besides which, it’s not really that good a joke. Not nearly as good as the one about how to make a dead baby float.