Youtube: The Queen of Spain’s Beard

A few seconds into the video, when Prince Edmund (Rowan Atkinson) dresses in drag to fool the un-appealing Princess of Spain into thinking he is gay and thus avoid marrying her, it backfires:

“Aah, you dress like a Spanish man to delight me!”

They were so worried, when 9/11 happened to our Country. We were just as anxious when 3/11 happened to them.

My husband is not one of those things you listed, and neither is any of his family. They are very descent loving and considerate people. It is however “racist” to paint all people of a nationality in this case Spanish as all being the same.

Laree:

I wasn’t in any way trying to generalize or stereotype Spaniards. I have tremendous respect for their culture even if they’ve compromised on things like abortion and gay marriage. I was simply saying that there’s a part of the culture that treats foreign women as sexual objects. I was told by more than one Spanish friend that many Spaniards (and other Mediteranean cultures), regard American women as “easy.” I’ve even seen the way certain Spanish men behave in social settings. Some Spanish men are called “tiborones” (spelling?) for a reason.

I have nothing against Spain. I enjoyed my time in Madrid and the cultural exchange it provided. Yes, there are some Spaniards who make it hard for the majority who are good, decent folks.

If you felt I slighted all Spaniards, that wasn’t my intention.

http://www.counterpunch.org/pelligrino07212008.html

Nappy Headed Ho in context was SATIRE last time, I looked SATIRE, was protected speech. FCC never even investigated Imus because it was SATIRE but CBS did pay out a big settlement.

So people or companys, and or countrys are racist and or bigots, by association? That is a very poor argument.

So pointing to one bad behavior by using the same bad behavior using a stereotype.

It is however “racist” to paint all people of a nationality in this case Spanish as all being the same.

It’s not racist at all. Spaniards aren’t a race. It might be hateful, ignorant, or bigoted, but racism only applies to, well, race.

The problem is that these people are representing Spain. If someone says “all spaniards are racist (because asian actually IS a race)” then they would be wrong. But it isn’t an unfair comment to claim that spain (as a country) is racist because they send racists abroad to represent them.

If the Olympics were in Nairobi and the US track swimming team took a team photo holding fried chicken and watermelon, they would be sent home immediately when it was discovered and our President (if not, the Secretary of State) would be officially apologizing before the world.

If MSNBC had kept Imus after his “nappy headed hoes” comment, they rightly could be characterized as racist.

So it goes with the country of Spain (until they make amends) and in particular the courier company who used the photo in their advertisement.

My family is Spanish, the first thing they did after 9/11 was to call and make sure all of us were okay, and the first thing we did after 3/11 was to call them and make sure they were all okay.

Here is a link to myspace page scroll down to the slide show, you will see my husband an American of both Spanish and Korean descent, with his Spanish cousin they are both stationed in the same place overseas, which is kind of incredible to us because they are coming from two different countrys. Still I am glad my husband has family near by. My husband is not one of those things you listed, and neither is any of his family. They are very descent loving and considerate people. It is however “racist” to paint all people of a nationality in this case Spanish as all being the same.

http://www.myspace.com/cantgetherefromthere

It’s just tomfoolery, playing around with stereotypes, and let’s not go to the liberal tendency to jump down people’s throats and murder them for that sort of thing. By the way Michelle I think your slant eyes are really beautiful. =)

What a classy bunch they are… (/sarcasm)

A couple of things struck me. One, Spain has had unfettered immigration for years. I’ve seen how Spaniards treat North African immigrants. Many illegally enter Spain to do labor that a lot of Spaniards don’t want to do. Spain is having similar problems as is France. They’ve let North Africans and those from all over Africa immigrate without any monitoring and shuttled them off into their own little enclaves like Malaga where I met a growing population of North Africans.

Then there is the misogyny and outright sexism that I noticed and don’t think has changed all the much. Spain, like many other Mediteranean cultures, look down on foreign women, especially those who are American. When I was with friends or by myself I got hit on and groped. These people have no respect for personal space.

Another funny thing I noticed is how Spaniards are so arrogant that they expect visitors to do all the work in “cultural/language” exchange. They’ve become so squishy on important issues like gay marriage and abortion, where their socialists in power have made both more acceptable. This, from a country that used to be very, very conservative.

In a lot of ways, the US and Spain are experiencing cultural and economic decline. Both countries have bent over backwards to be more “accepting” at the expense of their own survival. This story is an example of the blemishes that exist in places like Spain where machismo can make up for any kind of moral or personal failing.