Discussion for article #227858
What? Well, I guess Iâll have find a different word for my âOrientalâ rugsâŚ
Occidental/OrientalâŚ
I do love me some unfiltered Smokinâ Joe commentary, but that was dumb and offensive. No excuse for that.
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Shylock. Yes.
Oriental. No.
But thatâs just me. I donât use either wordâŚ
But do i call some of my other rugs âPersianâ or âIranianââŚI also have a couple Afghans, one featuring tanks/rocket propelled grenade launchers (from the war against the Russkies) - a âperiod pieceâ if you will.
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Shylock was a character in Shakespeareâs Merchant of Venice who happened to be a greedy, shady money lender. He also happened to be a Jew.
Why is it that the term, âShylockâ, as used by Biden, in the context of discussing money lenders, is considered a slap at Jews, rather than a slap at greedy, shady money lenders?
Why does Shylockâs Jewishness trump the fact that, first and foremost, he was an asshole?
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I gotta disagree with Stewart on that one. Are we to remove all eponyms associated to Jews from English? If we say someone is a David vs a Goliath, are we inferring that Jews are small and weak? How about Fagin? Is that okay? Portnoy?
I personally find the original Shylock to be a sympathetic character. He made an honest deal, loaning money at a price agreed to by the borrower who then didnât pay him back. When he tries to get justice, the ruling of the kangaroo court (presided on by the unqualified daughter of the borrower in disguise!) effectively rules against him on the flimsiest of legal arguments.
Because Shylockâs personality and evil business practices are inextricably connected with Jewish stereotypes of Shakespeareâs time.
Thatâs the genius of Shakespeare. He humanizes all his characters, even the villains.
âŚstereotypes with which your average American is likely not overly familiar. As a people, weâre not big Shakespeare readers.
Stewart throws these things out there once in a while so heâs not beating on the wingnuts 100% of the time, just 96%.
Biden is an easy target. He says goofy things like this so often, it doesnât have much impact anymore. I thought he might have meant to say âscheisterâ.
Is âOrientalâ now totally banned? I thought is was only bad when referring to people. Itâs simply Latin for âeastâ.
Oriental is fine for rugs. Just not people, or places.
Because there are many words one could choose to convey the concept of a sleazy money-lender, and Biden chose one that famously refers to a Jew.
People are still familiar with the stereotype of Jews as money lenders, and money-obsessed. Also, the blood libel (using Christian blood for Jewish ritualistic purposes) is well-known, and related to Shylockâs demand for a âpound of flesh.â
âOrientalâ began as merely Latin for âeast,â but itâs taken on a lot of meaning since then.
All of the baggage of âOrientalismâ - which is concept worth googling, perhaps with the name âEdward Saidâ - has gotten wrapped up in the word, and now itâs broken.
Thanks. Another âismâ I didnât know existed.
What just âskewersâ? Doesnât âutterly destroyâ or give an âepicâ rant?
If Shakespeare was anti-semetic, why would he marry off Shylockâs daughter to a gentile?
And Shakespeare TAPPED that stereotype, he didnât create it.
with that in mind, also consider the new testament reference to âThose who say they are Jews but are really of the synagogue of Satan.â
A synagogue which, by many classical accounts, is located in big banks.
Canât imagine why anyone would consider a bank the synagogue of Satan.
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I like Joe Biden.
Heâs a clean, good-looking, mainstream guy.
lol
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In a society in which wives were considered property, why would an anti-semite marry off a Jewâs daughter to a Gentile?
Is that your question?
Jessica was hardly the wilting waif. And while we can only make fictional conjecture, it is doubtful she was an abused spouse.
These days she would probably be considered a feminist.
She certainly had her own mind about things.
Have you read âMerchant?â
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