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Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter Tuesday, September 19, 2006 I Prefer the Term "Catchy" Following up on my first blog entry, in which I mention that I wouldn't necessarily have picked "Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter" as the title of my first book, I thought I would respond to the suggestion that the title is "nasty." I prefer "catchy." Brendan Nyhan, Coulter-critic extraordinaire, disagrees. Writing for the online edition of American Prospect (in what was later mentioned in Howard Kurtz's Media Notes column in the Washington Post) he calls the title "annoying and offensive." Nyhan goes on to say that "Coulter is not 'brainless'" and that the terms "'brainless' and 'lunacy' implicitly reference cultural stereotypes of women as dumb or crazy." Frankly, I don't see the sexism in calling someone brainless (in an obvious joke) or in the contention that she's a lunatic. Neither of those is an inherently female characteristic. We all HAVE brains, after all. And while women's menstrual cycles can be affected by the moon, it hardly means that lunatics are solely female. (That's why they picked Michael J. Fox, and not Justine Bateman, for "Teen Wolf.") I could better understand his contention if I had called her "hysterical" -- a term derived from the Latin word for "uterus" and implying that hysteria was the result of some problem with the womb. Or maybe if he had said the joke was too broad. (And that is NOT a Freudian slip, thank you very much.) In any event, Nyhan writes that he "hope(s) the book is more constructive than the title suggests." I have no doubt that he, after reading "Brainless," will agree it is -- especially given that I point out in the book, a number of times, that Ann Coulter is anything but dumb. Dangerous, yes. Dumb, no. 3 Comments:Previous Posts Powered by
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The Latin word for uterus is "uterus". "Hysterical" comes from the Greek word for uterus.
Why does Brendan Nyhan criticize Joe Maguire for using the broad brush and painting blonde women as "Brainless", while giving Coulter a free pass? Doesn't Coulter categorize all liberals as Godless? If the PC Nyhan is going to paint with such broad strokes, he should make sure he covers the whole wall.
I was thinking a good title for a book about Ann Coulter would have a play on words in reference to her latest outrage: "Soulless: The Truth about Ann Coulter."
But I like "Brainless." It will suffice.