Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Letter to the NY Times: When You Raped Me

I sent this letter to the New York Times tonight. Let's see if it's printed in this weekend's Sunday Styles letters section.
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New York Times

Sunday Styles Section

To the editor:

In "Bawdy Radio Show is Now a Superstar" (Sunday Styles, Oct. 30), the Times profiles the Spanish-language radio show "El Vacilon de la Mañana.” Though the article mentions that some consider the show to be obscene, the only comparisson offered is Howard Stern. Perhaps these two examples will show how it stoops even lower:

In a prank phone call, a man is told that his wife has been unfaithful and has just tested HIV positive. He is also told that he might be infected and might die within hours unless he reaches a hospital. The man begins to sob and only breaks into laughter when the prank is unmasked.

In "Cuando Me Violaste" (When You Raped Me), a song skit set to a romantic bachata rhythm, a man with a fey voice dedicates the song to his rapist:

Here I am sufering, dying, Ramon (of love)
I have not been able to be the man I used to be
My ass you left destroyed… You dislocated my butt
Through where you passed through, I can now fit an avocado

DJ Luis Jimenez and the show’s producers act like the victims of zealous moralists while they make millions and proudly hide behind the fact that the FCC has never lobbied fines against "El Vacilon."

But, while the FCC may certainly think that skits about anal rape as a love song do not break their obscenity rules – or, more likely, they do not have the Spanish-language staff that can act as monitors – there are certainly many of us who will continue to challenge "El Vacilon" for the mysogyny, racisim and homophobia that they continue to perpetrate on a daily basis as "humor" at the expense of others.

[Oh my! Google translates freakily into Spanish here]

2 comments:

Hindira said...

I have to say you are taking this radio show too serious this is a comedy talk show, I have listened to this show for approx 4 years and I at no point have I felt they were being racist or misogynistic. They make fun of everything and everyone and who ever listen to them listen because they enjoy this type of humor. So my advice to you would be to RELAX and do not listen to the show if it offends you so.

Blabbeando said...

Hindira

What would happen if an English-language radio show ran a skit or parody of a song in which a woman talks about getting raped the night before, how sore she feels and how much wider a "hole" she has after the rape - and then moan and sigh and say she wants to get raped again?

I'd be willing to bet that the DJ's would be suspended or fired and that the FCC would slap some fines. As long as these shows continue to denigrate people in the way they do, I'll keep talking about it.