How Doug Jones Destroyed Roy Moores Whole Shtick with One Well-Chosen Verb
This may not be the reason Jones won, but it shows more thought about turning Republicans supposed strengths into laughable liabilities.
Frankly, I'm surprised no one has done this effectively to Trump.
Enter Doug Jones. If theres one person on Earth whose view of gender is less enlightened than Donald Trumps, its Roy Moore. And like the president, Moore loves playing the tough guy. Hence the gun at the rally. Hence the ten-gallon hat. Hence the decision, however questionable, to ride a horse to his polling place on Election Day.
Jones could have gone the Rubio route and tried to prove he was the alpha of the race. Roy Moore pulls out a pistol? Doug Jones pulls out a shotgun! Roy Moore rides on horseback? Doug Jones rides bareback! And so on, and so on. But instead of fighting on the culture warriors turf, Jones turned to ridicule.
Prancing around on a stage in cowboy suit.
Look at the word choice in that sentence. Not walking or marching, but prancing. Not at a rally, but on a stage. Not dressed like a cowboy, but in a cowboy suit. These were precise, cutting words. They didnt just make fun of his opponent. They went straight at the central conceit of his public persona his toughness. Words like prancing and cowboy suit suggest the opposite of masculinity. Where Roy Moore presented himself as an alpha male, Doug Jones exposed him as a kind of right-wing cabaret act.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-doug-jones-destroyed-roy-moores-whole-shtick-with-one-well-chosen-verb
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Last edited Sun Dec 17, 2017, 05:26 PM - Edit history (1)
Edited it because people thought it was about dressing up. LOL. And no hes NOT referring to the horse.
David__77
(23,405 posts)At time, it has certainly occurred to me before that Democrats used language or imagery to play on people's prejudices.
CCExile
(468 posts)It is VERY annoying.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)which was exactly what he was doing.
The words "stage" and "costume" aren't feminine.
And the word "prance" refers to the gait of a horse.
dictionary.com
prance
[prans, prahns]
Spell Syllables
verb (used without object), pranced, prancing.
1.
to spring from the hind legs; to move by springing, as a horse.
2.
to ride on a horse doing this.
gabeana
(3,166 posts)exactly what he was doing,
if some on DU can't get around labeling everything as some type of isim, that they don't approve of, then we are in trouble
luckily it looks like Dems want to fight now, call out hypocrisy I feel good about that
Sam McGee
(347 posts). . . waving a tiny toy gun . . .
TheCowsCameHome
(40,168 posts)..so the tiny toy guy was it's surrogate.
volstork
(5,401 posts)it IS an option for some...
(Lauer, Rose, Weinstein, Louis CK, etc)
Kinda glad Roy didn't feel the need to follow suit.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)Alice11111
(5,730 posts)Plus, he did.it with dignity.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)We all know that horses prance.. but men attempting to flaunt their masculinity while running for the Senate should not be prancing.
That is the difference.. see that?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)This is about him being a fake, not about being feminine.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Horses prance. And PEOPLE on horses might prance. The word itself is not feminine.
Dictionary.com
verb (used without object), pranced, prancing.
1.
to spring from the hind legs; to move by springing, as a horse.
2.
to ride on a horse doing this.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Love seeing excuses for homophobia here. Really progressive.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Alabama- so I guess thats all that matters? Try t on a national stage and see what happens.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)does not have to mean "feminine", I think it just take away form the "macho" act and shows him as the puny man that he is. Sort of barks but doesn't bite.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Skittles
(153,160 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Skittles
(153,160 posts)he called it as he saw it
gabeana
(3,166 posts)I took it as this phony tool of a person who is acting like a kid on Halloween at a talent show
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Adding the feminine aspect. Ya there for a reason, and it worked but, not loving it.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)much so, that apparently you think I invented this idea?
Somehow I doubt thats what you actually believe.
But fuck this nonsense about me insulting women. Such bullshit. Same stupid argument racists use to silence people talking about racism. Must be very proud of yourself. Ick.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)You know it was NOT about the horse. Thats ridiculous. And youre a waste of time with these games. Later.
Cheviteau
(383 posts)...until you just told us. Now all of DU'ers know it.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Weird how very common sexist and homophobic shit was in films just 20 years ago. And still pops up in places where being macho is still regarded a positive.
https://www.outsports.com/2015/12/22/10643980/carolina-panthers-josh-norman-giants-odell-beckham-gay-slurs
https://www.outsports.com/2015/12/22/10643980/carolina-panthers-josh-norman-giants-odell-beckham-gay-slurs
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)And neither that word, nor "stage" nor "cowboy suit" imply anything feminine.
brush
(53,778 posts)Last edited Sun Dec 17, 2017, 02:04 PM - Edit history (1)
little pop gun.
It was appropriate and effective.
Why would you have a problem with exposing that fraud for what he is a poser of masculinity who is far from it as you can get a pedophile?
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)brush
(53,778 posts)I couldn't disagree Moore.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)"You going to get out here, and you're going to dance around and prance around like you're a ballerina, that goes to show you,"
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)form of the word -- but there are male dancers and female dancers. The word dance itself isn't female. And neither is the word prance.
dictionary.com
ballerina
[bal-uh-ree-nuh]
1.
a principal female dancer in a ballet company.
Compare prima ballerina.
2.
any female ballet dancer.
Response to pnwmom (Reply #141)
Post removed
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Doodley
(9,091 posts)that he is a pretender and makes fun of his pathetic attempt at a he-man image.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Fashion school I notice it more than the average person. Weird.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)as many gay men as you do, since my father, his partner, and most of their friends are gay. But none of them "prance" or talk about prancing.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)You know whats weird? Pretending to think it was referring to a horse, or that people AT fashion school would use gay dog whistles- that is weird. And dishonest.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)Other students? Faculty?
Maybe it isn't the dog whistle you're convinced it is.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)We see you.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)So I thought you were hearing it at Fashion school, and I asked you who was saying it. You still haven't answered, other than to say you've heard it in books and movies.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)men? This is news to you? If it is, its kind of amazing you have opinions to share about homophobia. At least you admit again and again youre coming at this from a place of deep ignorance. Thats interesting.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)what I thought you meant when you said you "noticed" it there. I still don't know what you meant.
But I hope you realize that gay men are also doctors, lawyers, physicists and police officers. There are gay men in every profession.
swimboy
(7,284 posts)people take notes.
jalan48
(13,866 posts)Looks like his judgement was sound on this one.
tinrobot
(10,900 posts)So, yeah... it worked.
Jones won without having to be more 'manly'. I think that is progress.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)But I agree it added something to the accusation of him being a fake.
dchill
(38,495 posts)Because "effeminate" isn't it.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Do we really need to be spelling them out again?
dchill
(38,495 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)I am alien to the idea that a lot of "macho" is a great attribute for a law maker. It usually impairs a person's judgment. But yeah, that worked on a few of THAT audience.
dchill
(38,495 posts)The word I'm looking for would just emphasize that in describing these hollow jerks.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)My Gawd !
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Inadequate. Worm.
dchill
(38,495 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)dchill
(38,495 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Long.
JenniferJuniper
(4,512 posts)tinrobot
(10,900 posts)vkkv
(3,384 posts)"Trudging across the stage" might also suggest a masculine figure, while "floating across the stage" might suggest a feminine figure. Also 'dainty' or 'willowy' suggest the feminine. 'dapper' suggests the masculine..
Like that.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Jesus, its mildly homophobic. And not really what we want to hear from leaders on the national stage. But I know a lot of people want to cater to the fragile egos of Trump supporters... no matter how alienating that is to the base.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)and his tiny gun, of which Jones was making fun of.
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)he is. Moore did that to appeal to the "sexist assholes."
Doug pointed out that the masculinity was an act, that it wasn't real.
Doug Jones was right to do it.
It wasn't so much feminizing as honest.
I'm a woman. I don't prance. No one would ever describe me as prancing. I don't really see the word as particularly feminine, yet it detracts from the image of masculinity. It is more a word that suggests dishonesty or pretense or someone who is acting in a precious way. As I recall, "precious" was a well loved word in Alabama.
TNNurse
(6,926 posts)as feminine words. Horses prance, dancers prance, reindeer prance and lots of different people wear costumes.
I thought it was just ridicule and do not consider that feminizing.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Jeeze I guess I watch to many old movies, LOL.
TNNurse
(6,926 posts)Of course a threat waving that gun around. Neither femininity or homosexuality came to mind. I prefer idiotic. I think he has verified that with the refusal to concede.
mentalslavery
(463 posts)Play on the field! Repuks are emotional thinkers..you can only change there opinions by making them feel bad about their current opinion. Don't address information...criticize and ridicule them.
The van jones approach might feel good....but it sucks....ie-does not work
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)And the next logical thought is- what could go wrong with that? Outside of Alabama, out in the liberal sphere we live in?
mentalslavery
(463 posts)and we would not use it outside of bama.....play on the field! Thats what that means....
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)catbyte
(34,390 posts)very sensitive to using female-as-insult. The way Jones used it illustrated how phony Moore's whole shtick was.
vkkv
(3,384 posts)using the contrary, in some cases, to belittle someone -or to suggest something contrary to how they might perceive themselves.
Example - It no insult to suggest a female is feminine but to describe a female as masculine in some way could be offensive, yes?
Same in vice-versa.
jrthin
(4,836 posts)Article referring to or inferring anything female specific. Men pran
Doodley
(9,091 posts)Nitram
(22,801 posts)to a child.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)But I guess a lot of people here LIKE it enough to pretend it referred to the horse and not the man.
Nitram
(22,801 posts)more than 40 years ago. The prancing sounded like exactly what a small boy in a cowboy suit would do when he was pretending to ride a horse. I did it myself. Jones infantilized him.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Whistle. And now Ive been accused of insulting women and hanging out w homophobes. This is some twisted shit. BTW, you probably know some homophobes and if you went to Alabama or where you came from youd hear that shit again. Thank god its a lot less than it was 20-30 years ago. But its still there.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Nitram
(22,801 posts)of the phrase. I'm just going with my initial reaction to reading it. You are going with yours. Neither of us is wrong, we just reacted differently.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Words and their history are important. We just went through a year of putting up w racist, sexist and homophobic dog whistles, it matters greatly to many of us.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)that Doug Jones was employing a homophobic dog whistle.
And you've provided no evidence but your opinion.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)And since then youve pretended gay students use it and my argument against dogwhistles are some sort of insult toward women I invented. Keep at it, you get funnier w every fake argument you post.
Nitram
(22,801 posts)feminism, we are not being homophobic. We just don't think doug Joes was being even slightly homophobic. He was calling Moore a childish man.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)However it is dishonest to suggest the description was about the horse. Or that Im insulting women by mentioning that its an old dog whistle that denigrates men by ascribing to them behavior traditionally assigned to women. There are lots of them. Not sure why anyone would pretend it is not a thing, culturally. But its either deeply ignorant or dishonest.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)school, and I ASKED you who was using the word there, students or faculty or who?
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)Campus in a city? Like ever? There are lots of other people around the community. Imagine that!
Sneederbunk
(14,291 posts)FuzzyRabbit
(1,967 posts)Lottery winnings are taxed. This tax on unearned income seems fair to most people. Another tax on unearned income is the estate tax, but when it is called a "death tax" by the republicans it sounds like an unfair tax.
Environmental and workplace regulations that ensure safety are good. But call them "job killing regulations" and the same rules become bad.
Anti-choice for women becomes "pro-life" and those who are not anti-choice are "baby killers."
You can't use the n-word anymore, but you can call them "thugs" and everyone knows what you mean.
And on and on, including dog whistle language.
progree
(10,908 posts)Just another one to add to your excellent list.
Also "right to work" when destroying the right to collectively bargain.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)but this is a verbal knife.
Sam McGee
(347 posts). . . how about some similar descriptions of Trump's performances??
"strutting"
"prancing"
"raving"
"preening"
"like a carnival barker"
"like a mean teenaged girl"
"like a 2-year-old pitching a fit"
Anyone?
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)maddiemom
(5,106 posts)Yes there are "mean boys," usually characterized by bullying and physically threatening behavior. But speaking as a former teenage girl, mother of one and teacher of many, I see subtlety as pretty much lost on boys at this age. If boys instinctively have it, it doesn't work for them until after high school. Girls, if so inclined, can begin being "mean girls" as early as preschool. Maybe a defense for not being as physically strong, although some little girls CAN also bully both girls AND boys, in some cases.
Volaris
(10,271 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)Piasladic
(1,160 posts)EX:
Prancing is fun.
Prancing is a noun; is is the verb.
Prancing around on a stage in cowboy suit.
noun, preposition phrase, prepositional phrase = fragment
underpants
(182,806 posts)Good point.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)japple
(9,825 posts)owe me a new keyboard...stomp....stomp...gets rag to clean up beer spew....
chia
(2,244 posts)Well played.
shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)I think "He" is the undeclared subject (noun) and prancing is still a verb in this case.
karynnj
(59,503 posts)Prancing is the present participle of the verb "prance".
vkkv
(3,384 posts)Sure looks like a verb from where I see it... Am I wrong?
Or am I just prancing around the edges of grammar?
Perseus
(4,341 posts)That is a very good one too...Made me laugh.
BigmanPigman
(51,593 posts)in order to appear macho and enhance his "tough cowboy" image I say let him have it with both barrels! Is that the correct cowboy, gun toting lingo? I don't know anything about horses but those who do have said that he was hurting that poor animal and that makes him is a very cruel, abusive bastard in my opinion (on top of being a pedophile)!
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Fuck him...and save the horse he rode in on.
groundloop
(11,519 posts)Also, the context of that statement was that Jones has no intention of killing the second amendment, and that he can be seen with his gun in a deer stand or duck blind and not prancing around stage in a cowboy suit.
FakeNoose
(32,639 posts)... where does that come from? There are no cowboys in Alabama and I doubt if there ever were any. You want see a cowboy, go out to Texas or New Mexico maybe.
People in Alabama are either urban, suburban or farmers in the rural counties. It's like most other states in the USA, with few exceptions. The Gulf Coast area may be slightly more relaxed because it's a vacation spot with casinos and resort hotels. However it's only relaxed for vacationers not the people who live and work there.
Roy Moore's whole schtick with the cowboy hat, the gun and his sad, pathetic horse was really ridiculous. If I lived in Alabama I'd be outraged. Instead I can just laugh at the guy and be glad that he lost.
Kali
(55,008 posts)most of the western cowboys originated from those areas if they weren't Spanish/Mexican. having said that, Roy Moore is no cowboy.
SunSeeker
(51,557 posts)rgbecker
(4,831 posts)SunSeeker
(51,557 posts)japple
(9,825 posts)SunSeeker
(51,557 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,166 posts)HRC used skepticism, ignoring Trump's nonsense, or turning a "fish eye" when he would blurt something absurd.
Her handlers should have taken it one step further: ridicule.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)He could have made more money if he just put his inheritance in an index fund.
He went bankrupt running a business where addicts come in and demand to give you their money.
and so on.
He is the Kim Kardashian of politics (no offense to someone who got famous from self-made pornos).
mudstump
(342 posts)was his itsy bitsy gun!
George II
(67,782 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)Rhiannon12866
(205,405 posts)He said if he wanted to wear a costume, he should change it up, a cowboy one day and maybe Sherlock Holmes the next...
Cryptoad
(8,254 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)Tactical Peek
(1,209 posts)Wesley Clark, 2004
''To me, patriotism is not dressing up in a flight suit and prancing around on the deck of an aircraft carrier,'' General Clark says, a reference to the president's appearance on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in May to announce the end of major military action in Iraq.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/us/2004-campaign-stump-speech-gen-wesley-k-clark-rising-above-politics-high.html
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)groundloop
(11,519 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)taking over was the easy part.
scarytomcat
(1,706 posts)only done better
nice job Senator Jones
colbertforpresident
(241 posts)Some of the statements jones has made since winning make me wonder which party he represents.