Mancoward

1270 Notes

Last week I did the Mancow morning radio show in Chicago.
It did not go well.
As a comic, I’ve done a lot of morning radio. It’s the main press for most Midwest clubs. Never have I had an experience like the one I just had.
Everybody is familiar with the Morning Zoo stereotype – the sound effects, the enforced “fun” environment, the sidekicks who are treated like piles of garbage by the bully host.
What I wasn’t ready for was the intense and immediate misogyny and racism. Right as I walked in, Mancow was explaining, in reference to the three women who were on the show, that he doesn’t allow any of his staff to have sex with any of “his” women until he has sex with them first. (One of the women was a Fox News Anchor – a professional. She said nothing the entire time I was there. The other two women just stood there in low cut tops, not saying anything either, primarily used as eye candy. They were instructed to stand next to men who were allowed to speak on the show.)
Then, as I explained that I was jet-skiing from Chicago to New Orleans to raise money to send 500 goats to African families, he launched into an insanely racist riff where he explained that the reason I was sending goats to Africa was so that African men could rape the goats and give them Aids instead of giving it to African women. And he kept pausing for me to jump in. I just stared at him. I wasn’t going to hop in and play with him.
Then, after Mancow figured I was no fun, they kept playing clips from Elliot Rodger’s now famous Youtube video. They seemed to be playing it almost as straight content with no comment. They’d just cut to it every once in a while, like, “Check out this zany nut!”
And I realized what I should have said. I should have said that part of the reason that kid mass murdered people is because of a culture of misogyny, a culture that this show was actively creating and enforcing. But instead I said nothing. I just waited to be allowed to leave. And for that I’m the real coward in this situation. I didn’t speak up, primarily to avoid an awkward social and professional situation.
But what’s the worst that would have happened? It would have gotten uncomfortable for a few minutes? I’m not invited back to the Mancow show? Who gives a shit. I’m not going back even if I am invited.
So, this is me, making a public statement: I’m going to speak up, even if it means making things uncomfortable. I’m not going to sit politely and ignore bigotry. Obviously morning zoos on Fox Radio are not the easiest place to speak up, but they’re not the hardest either. I just have to try. I’m not going to just stand around and smile while you spout ignorance and hatred. I just can’t afford to anymore.

That is disgusting.