Suspended CNN Analyst Roland Martin has learned a hard lesson this week. When you take to Twitter during the Super Bowl and use homophobic statements, people are going to get mad, and you probably will lose your job. Hey, you know what they say about karma, right?
Of course the guy who tweets as @rolandsmartin is backpedaling faster than Lance Armstrong on rewind on my DVR right now after making several cracks about "real bruhs" who would dare line up to buy underwear from David Beckham's new H&M line. Martin's sticking to his claims that he was making fun of men for liking Beckham because he's a soccer player. Get that?
It's not really about liking the man's fine curves because you are a little light in the loafers. It's because only real pansies are soccer fans!
Oh. Wait. Doesn't that sound a wee bit . . . homophobic?
Let's take a look at the original series of Tweets, shall we?
If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl
Ain't no real bruhs going to H&M to buy some damn David Beckham underwear! #superbowl
Did you catch the word "real?" Because certainly the best way to define a man as "real" is to ensure he only do manly man things like watch football, wear ugly boxer briefs his Mommy purchased for him (and then marked with his initials in permanent marker on the waistband), and smash beer cans on his forehead. Right? Oh, no? That's not it either?
This is the problem with using gender stereotypes as insults. They serve no purpose but to belittle people who don't fit into your narrow worldview. The fact is, my very straight husband loves both soccer and fashion. And wouldn't you know it, he happened to be watching the Super Bowl because he's a football fan too! Stereotype busted!
Trash talking in sports is a long-standing tradition, but it's supposed to be done all in good fun. It's not supposed to be a means to cut actual people down. This is what Martin needs to understand.
You can't use homophobic statements and then pretend you didn't say them; you need to own up to it, apologize, and then take a long, hard look at how you talk about sports. Hating soccer is fine; but how about bashing the game, not belittling the fans?
How did you take Martin's tweets?
Image via Twitter