But what's offensive about cowboys?
A university spokesman called cowboy costumes a "crude stereotype."Okay, I'll just go as a university spokesman.
ADDED: Here's a picture of me, back in the 1950s, before I learned about the horrors of crude stereotypes:
Posts
134 comments:
Going as a university spokesman would be offensive.
But important!
Spokesperson, please.
You bigot.
I thought cowboy was a profession. What if I went as a country music singer -- would that be confusing?
No Cowboys in Colorado?? WTF.
No Cowboys in Colorado?? WTF.
A university spokesman called cowboy costumes a "crude stereotype."
Would "ranch hand" be okay? Do ranch hands find the term cowboy to be offensive?
Will Bob Costas call on Jerry Jones to change the name of his football team?
This happened in Colorado?!
"They are also asked not to host parties with offensive themes including those with “ghetto” or "hillbilly" themes"
What kind of party theme are the black students using, and how do you tell the difference between "urban" and "ghetto."
"... or those associated with "crime or sex work.""
Nothing murder-related: corpses, monsters, ghosts, cemetaries, etc.
Really, what is a cowboy a crude stereotype of?
Village People hardest hit. YMCA will never be the same.
Man, you did look different. ("Image not available.")
Your photo has been flickered.
They've been inundating my daughter with 'come to school here' propaganda - Ummm, No. I think I'll nix this in the bud.
Cowgirls, Indians & Cave Girls - Trashy.com hardest hit :)
Cowboy after OSHA inspection
They're insulting to the indigenous and cowbogenous peoples.
An abortionist with "props"? I wonder what they would consider offensive and why.
They want to make it sound like being overly sensitive is normal. "Even cowboys get upset about people dressing like them!"
A few other suggestions:
1) Men must wear collared shirts. Men's hair must be short enough that it does not touch the collar.
2) Ladies must wear skirts or dresses instead of trousers. Skirts/dresses must be long enough to cover the knee.
Oh wait, that would be an objectionable infringement on the students' freedom of speech and expression.
But yeah, sombreros and ghetto parties are definitely out, because those might offend someone other than uptight upper-class whites.
Cowboys wear guns.
They don't want people going around wearing guns, not even toy guns.
Guns are offensive, but important.
Funny. Try to imagine how the world looks to whatever university adminstrator thought this was a good idea, in fact a noble and uplifting idea.
I suppose everyone would have to walk around with a bag over their head, or maybe wrapped head-to-foot in a burqa. After all, you don't want whatever you might be wearing, or anything about how you look, to be seen as offensive. Only way to do that is to make sure no one can see anything.
And then what to do about people who are offended by those who hide everything about their appearance?
Life in the lefty loony-bin can be such a bitch.
It's offensive to poke or haunt us.
"This happened in Colorado?!"
No, it happened in the People's Republic of Boulder. Same area code, different planet.
It's always a good idea to use terms like "white trash" when trying to convince others to avoid offensive behavior.
How about ski-bibs and a bong?
Actually, I was informed long ago that the preferred term is "cowhand," which I think is to distinguish the real thing from Western movie heroes, country-western singers, etc.,plus the connotation of rash behavior.
And then there is the old joke about the easterner querying an old cowhand about his mode of dress, and he goes through the list about the hat shading from the sun, etc. and so forth, and then the easterner asks, "but what about those sneakers? Why aren't you wearing boots?"
And the cowhand says, "Why, I don't want to look like no truckdriver!"
What's wrong with geishas? Any other professions that take skill and years of training on the banned list?
Is that what's in Romney's new home secret room?
Some rich people are really odd.
Your photo has been flickered.
clicking on it takes you to Flicker
And do they also have "guidance" about not showing certain (many) old movies?
Sorry, I made the link go bad by tweaking the photo in iPhoto (trying to de-yellow the corner). iPhoto communicates with Flickr and when it does the code changes.
I knew that was going to happen.
Fixed.
The photo is unavailable in 8 languages.
Except programming language, because if you click on it there is the photo in all of its stereotypical glory.
I think it's displaying properly now.
Yep. Shore enough, she's apackin' shootin' iron.
Probably still does.
The Dallas Cowboys should really consider a name change. Way too much swagger in that state.
I'm guessing they don't play Jump Around in between the 3rd and 4th quarters at Colorado football games.
AA,
I just send Meade a couple of meme pics I saw along these very lines. The "It's not a costume. It's my culture and it's not funny" campaign, but with mummies and vampires.
Hysterical.
Althouse, you turned out ok, given that you had such insensitive, racist, bigoted parents.
My parents once dressed me as a pirate for a costume show. I have the photo to prove it.
Probably why I became a lawyer.
Cowboy is offensive to women, of course. Girls can be cowboys too.
When first I typed the above sentence, it said "cob boy."
Stay away from that costume too.
Yes girls can be cowboys. Boys can be boy cows. All's fair in love and war.
Cute cowboy Althouse. Boots, fringe and hat, where's the six shooter?
Bushman of the Kohlrabi:
I overlooked the "white trash" description. For some reason, it is not prejudiced or discriminatory to describe white people as "trash".
Also, the administrator is equating whites, indians (presumably Asian), and cowboys with trash. What an odd assembly of prejudices.
I wonder if they processed their statement through the ministry of diversity.
I have a great idea for cutting the University's budget.
Althouse,
I'm looking closer at your picture, I can't make out if you have a hat on or not. Lots of red hair though:).
The Dallas Cob Boys.
America's ream. (Why not offend the Japanese while we are at it?)
Offend costumed as a group: Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman, Moms Mabley, Bill Hicks, Borat.
"That's not funny."
Go as the cast of Brokeback Mountain.
"Okay, I'll go as a university spokesman."
Wouldn't it be scarier to dress up as the Dean of Students? Or would that be too frightening to the children, most of whom will still be on their parents health insurance?
Go as actors: John Wayne. Tom Mix. Clayton Moore. Jay Silverheels. Clint Eastwood.
Go as the extras in King Kong.
Go as Harry Belafonte and sing Day-O. That was offensive even when it first came out.
Go as the cast of Grapes of Wrath.
Or Gone with the Wind.
I would stay away from Birth of a Nation.
Since practically any costume an be deems offensive to someone,
I can only see one possible choice which would only offend the prudes. (and we don't mind offending them)
I wonder what the average evening temperatures are this time of year in boulder?
My youngest son was a pickle two years ago. That seems safe.
"Inga said...
. . . . Boys can be boy cows."
Which most people call bulls. But you don't recognize bull when you see it.
What's offensive about a pickle?
From a news story, February 13, 2013:
A Cranston woman, Chelly Martinka, started an online campaign to get pickle maker Gedney Foods, which makes Cains and Del Monte Pickles, to stop using the word "midget" on their labels. Martinka finds the word offensive and started the campaign because her daughter has Dwarfism. Gedney foods has agreed to remove the word from the labels.
If you don't trust the British press, you can go straight to the buffalo's mouth.
If I was a college student there, the first thing I would do is go buya sombrero, cowboy hat, or headdress. because that is what college kids do (or did back in my day)
Is this place at your command?
Even cowgirls get the bluenoses.
"Annie Get Your Gun" Or cap pistol as they case may be.
Wow, George Grady, the linked piece is even more thin-skinned than I expected. The pictures are classic -- all those poor students who have to wear a "stigma" for life because of, you know, Halloween costumes.
On the bright side, it appears this is merely a suggestion by the university rather than a requirement.
Chris said...
This happened in Colorado?!
While this is happening in the People's Republic of Boulder, most of the state has been Californicated. I lived there for 27 years but glad to be elsewhere now.
Oh shucks...
I was going to say hello to Inga and congratulate her on her new Obamacare Navigator gig... but that could be in violation of the house rules...
I guess there is only one way to find out.
What if you are "white trash," and didn't get into costume for Halloween, but just wore what you always do? There are trailer parks in CO, though maybe not within Boulder city limits.
Please folks: 'Cowpersons'
The mascot of the University of Wyoming is . . . wait for it . . . . Cowboys!!
Must be a rivalry thing.
Is this a Cafe thread? Hi Lem, Navigator gig? Sure, why not? I actually worked a night shift last night at my other profession. No it's not what you think!
C'mon, everyone knows there ain't no cowboys in Colorado.
Sheepherders. Not cowboys.
They're all about the sheep in Colorado.
Not that there's anything wrong with that, you understand...
How about "buckaroo" ? That's Spanish.
I'm not as thin-skinned as the University Administration apparently thinks that Blacks, Asians, Cowboys, and Hookers are. I hereby grant permission for any student who wants to do so to dress up as An Old Fart for Halloween.
You're welcome.
In the photo, you are a cowgirl, not a cowboy. Cowgirls are OK!
According to the University of Colorado's own web site they have almost 400 students of American Indian* ethnicity enrolled. I wonder (1) what they're supposed to dress up as and (2) they're offended by the university linking them with "white trash" as an objectionable category.
I think the Colorado administration needs some sensitivity training.
* The university's term, not mine.
Lot's of Cowboys in Prep HS football in Colorado too. Gunnison in Denver comes to mind. I'm sure there's others. 'Course, you can dress in that uniform because then you're not a cowboy, you're a football player.
Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to be cattle-handling persons.
Yes, but it's okay for the queers to have a parade where floppy titted lesbians go topless, and the faggots wear diapers and wave rubber dildos around.
I'm loving it back here in the 1950's.
Why do liberals limit their doctrine of 'Offensiveness" to just visual images and certain words? I say it is high time to apply it to opinions--both oral and written.
As for the First Amendment, all the smart people know that it has evolved to recognize
"offensiveness" as a general exception to free speech.
Why do liberals limit their doctrine of 'Offensiveness" to just visual images and certain words? I say it is high time to apply it to opinions--both oral and written.
As for the First Amendment, all the smart people know that it has evolved to recognize
"offensiveness" as a general exception to free speech.
Hmmm....Boulder.... How about everyone goes dressed as JonBenet Ramsey?
Henry,
"My youngest son was a pickle two years ago. That seems safe."
Cucumbers, and people who use them, might be offended.
If I was a student at UC Boulder I'd dress as a cowboy specifically to spite them.
(Hell, I know people who are literal cowboys, working in rodeos and wrangling horses and the like.
They dress "western", at least on the job.
The "stereotype" is how people who do the job actually, in fact, dress more often than not.)
Bushman said: It's always a good idea to use terms like "white trash" when trying to convince others to avoid offensive behavior.
In fairness to the University, the "white trash party" is a reasonably popular specific theme.
It's not like the University conjured the term out of thin air; it's a real thing that people have done and do.
Would it have been better if they'd made up some sort of weird Bowdlerized term for "a white-trash theme"?
Buckaroo is pretty good, but go as Buckra for Halloween. Put on a sign: "Big Buckra." If you are a white person anyway. Then see if anyone in Boulder has any idea what that's all about. Depending on the point of view, you can offend both white people and black people with that getup. At least some of them. Perhaps only the historically clever and knowledgable. Or the particularly ignorant.
For extra credit, talk with a drawl and drink straight bourbon. Be friendly and condescending at the same time. Discuss hunting and fishing.
Stereotypes are terrible, aren't they.
I am more shocked this is happening at the university level than at the thought that you can't dress as a cowboy in COLORADO. Reading the headline, I thought for sure it referred to a middle school.
Just when I thought college students could not be treated in a more infantile manner...I read something like this.
Maybe you could dress up as an Argentinian gaucho and get a pass on the cowboy ban...
Blogger Inga said...
Yes girls can be cowboys. Boys can be boy cows. All's fair in love and war.
_______________________________
When boys become boy cows they are called steers.
Cowboys?
But but but... what about AGGIES?
SayAnn,
Did you hear the Aggies bought 100 septic tanks?
They say once they learn how to drive them they will invade Oklahoma.
Was I racist?
At Humboldt in the late 70's, any suggestion like this would have invited a hearty fuck you and a flood of cowboys and Indians. I would be curious to learn how the students respond to this.
@Paul, two University of Colorado administrators met in front of Sewall Hall. The first one noticed that the second was holding a wiggling sack.
"What's in the sack?"
"Chickens, and if you guess how many, I'll give you both of them."
"I don't know. Three?"
When asked what I was dressing as for Halloween, I used to say "I'm going as a cold air duct" and then watched as that filtered through their brain.
So dressing like a college administrator is out then? I find them offensive.
Ghosts, zombies and "purple bats" are non-crude stereotypes?
("Purple Bat" is what my granddaughter has declared as her costume and "not dark purple".)
Isn't the entire point of Halloween to dress in crude stereotypes?
"Okay, I'll just go as a university spokesman."
A very funny line! Well done!
Here's another news story, from the local paper. CU students are so pathetic. How can their mascot be a buffalo? It needs to be a sheep. A ewe.
I kinda get where they're coming from. And besides, it's not really a problem for me. I'm just going to dust off my "pregnant nun" costume and use that again.
No problem there.
Michael Ryan's comment calls for a sheep joke I first heard from my grandmother 50+ years ago:
Q. Why did the ram commit suicide?
A. He heard someone singing "There'll never ever be another you".
Here's another white trash joke - like the first, it works better orally:
Q. Did you hear about the terrible accident at the County Fair milking contest? It was an udder disaster.
Does this mean I can or I can't wear my Ward Churchill costume?
UC-Boulder makes things too confusing.
Due to an unprecedented number of phone calls seeking clarification on the University's Halloween costume policy, we are releasing these expanded guidelines for holiday dress.
Examples of unacceptable costumes:
Ghosts, ghouls, haints, or other spirit beings. Such depictions may cause offense to those of non-traditional spiritual faiths.
People. No one desires to be reduced to a stereotype, and we support this deeply felt lack of desire at UC Boulder. Exceptions outlined below.
Sexually attractive. No costumes of any type that may present cause for comparison between persons based on desirability as partners in sexual congress will be permitted. No costumes that arouse desire in others to engage in or imagine oneself engaged in sexual congress will be permitted. Sexual attractiveness as per the standard model does not meet the guidelines of the University's Values Rubric, and any attempts to pursue sexual attractiveness as per the standard model will be interpreted as hostility to the agreed upon Values Rubric, causing one to be subject to ethics examination for possible admittance to UC Boulder Values Formulation Training.
Examples of acceptable costumes:
Helpful Recycling Truck Operator
Friendly Obama Campaign Worker (Free costume apparel and accessories available at campus administration offices.)
Non-endangered animals (Note guidelines regarding sexual attractiveness above.)
Angry Republican
Male witch
Female wizard
Vampire without sharp teeth (Sharp teeth present a safety hazard forbidden by campus property insurance agreements.)
Ignorant, Hate-Filled Bible Thumper
Koch Brothers
Bushitler
Dishes or flatware
Brick
Intact CFL bulb
Tree
Fire hydrant
Box with person inside
Face-related toiletry item, such as toothbrush or soap.
Pillow
Sustainably farmed local foodstuff
Office supply item, such as stapler or scissors
Condom
Thank you for making this a Halloween that is fun for everyone!
"It's the U.K., so maybe something's lost in the translation. I see they don't capitalize "indians." (I'm offended!)"
Two nations separated by a common language dept.
In the UK "Indians" (capitalised thus) would usually mean real Indians, as in from India, who play a rather more prominent role in our history than native Americans do. "Red Indians", with the qualifier, might get capitalised (and Lakota and Navaho, etc. certainly would), but "cowboys and indians", as in the violent game played by small children, would usually get spelled thus. There's more to the world than Leftpondistan, y'know...
So is four-year-old Althouse a generic cowgirl or a specific cowgirl - Dale Evans or Sally Starr?
Speaking of stereotype vs. specific, I remember a Halloween (manufactured) controversy in Madison in the mid 80's when the (white) UW student body president came under attack for going in blackface. His defense (which I will always remember as "the one-glove defense") was that he was dressed as Michael Jackson. If he had only waited a few years, he could have gone in white pancake makeup.
BTW, was Sally Starr on TV when Althouse was four? I can't find the date when she first appeared.
Cowgirls are OK!
Yes, as always the women are encouraged to be whatever they want to be. But dressing up as a stay-at-home mom will get you some dirty looks, unless you explain that you are doing it ironically.
Ann, you're getting kinky. Stop it. I can't stand it.
They've been inundating my daughter with 'come to school here' propaganda - Ummm, No. I think I'll nix this in the bud.
Grew up maybe 30 miles south of there, and my kid is in graduate school there. Has been fairly far to the left as long as I can remember, and that means 45 years since I was a freshman (but not there). Back then, there seemed to be an axis of left leaning schools - Berkeley, Boulder, Austin, (yes) Madison, Amherst/Boston. Boulder hasn't changed much in that regard since the Vietnam protest days, when one could apparently find any drug they wanted within a block on the Hill just west of campus. Town is still terminally hip, and hard left.
Funny thing though is that the President (still, I think) is Bruce Benson, former GOP candidate for governor and state chair, and his interim predecessor was Hank Brown, former GOP Senator (Even w/o term limits, Republicans there at the national level tend to serve a term or so and then retire, while the Dems tend to go as long as they can).
In any case the university is good and bad. Pretty good STEM, esp graduate schools. Several Nobels there. But too much emphasis on research and not enough on teaching though. Definitely a party school though - hard drinking and a huge amount of pot smoke hanging over parts of campus. You can get a very good education there as an undergrad, if you are disciplined and work at it, but if you aren't, it can be disastrous. Been this way for a long time though - was this way 40 years ago, and apparently hasn't changed. I would guess though that if your kid is being pursued aggressively there, it is either for athletics or academics, both of which would be fairly safe - they have always taken care of their athletes quite (maybe too) well, and their Presidential Scholar (or whatever it is) program is top rate for undergrads, better than many private schools.
One more thing though. Boulder is not only terminally hip, but also probably the fittest big University town in the country. Everyone it seems is hugely into outdoor sports year round. This means that the co-eds tend to be thin, trim, and tanned. And, ditto for the guys too. Also, a lot of money sloshing around, since out of state tuition is nearly that of private schools. So the social competition for the young women can be brutal.
I keep being reminded by my kid (who is there in graduate school in STEM, and did a summer there in an NSF REU program there as an undergrad) that the University really is quite good, and you can get a very good undergrad education there. And, realistically, they probably aren't any worse about the PC stuff than the bulk of large universities, and even colleges, around the country.
This is part of the University's mission of promoting social justice. It is one reason why it deserves a tax exemption and why it's customers should be subsidized.
This is part of the University's mission of promoting social justice. It is one reason why it deserves a tax exemption and why it's customers should be subsidized.
I would truly love it sghould the son of a real-life eastern Colorado rancher dress for school on Halloween as he dresses every day - Stetson, denim shirt, leather belt, Wranglers and stirrup-soled boots.
I DARE UC-B to bring such a student up on judiciary violation.
Popcorn.
And speaking of Boulder and JonBenet Ramsey
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/25/details-1-indictment-in-jonbenet-ramsey-slaying-to-be-released/
Since ain't nobody said it yet:
CU-Boulder is a government institution limited in its authority over student activities by the US Constitution, which includes the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits the government (for example, the CU-Boulder administration) from limiting the free expression of their students.
This would be such a slam-dunk big money win for anyone penalized for disobeying the Stasi dictat of the admins that I'm surprised lawyers aren't advising their fraternity brothers on how to document their parties for the trials.
Pickles are offensive because they are also known as 'vinegar husbands'. Husbands are always offensive.
I find the University of Colorado Bolder to be offensive.
Now what?
I find the University of Colorado Bolder to be offensive.
Now what?
I'm from Colorado, and Boulder is NOT part of Colorado: it's part of Massachusetts. That's a big part of why my grandfather sent his kids to Mines.
This Halloween I think I'll go as a Bronco Buster --- as in Bronco Bama.
Why is dressing like an Indian, offensive?
Ward Churcill was in Colorado, wasn't he? It's very much a hippie state nowadays.
Michael Ryan: "How can their mascot be a buffalo? It needs to be a sheep. A ewe."
Not even a ewe, a wether.
By the way, why not dress up as a rodeo clown wearing a Mohammed Turban Bomb mask?
Diversity administator!
Since I live eight down the hill, I'm now making plans to attend in an Indian costume. If they complain, I'll point out that I *am* an Indian (Choctaw). That should be interesting.
If I had a daughter,
I'd dress her up in green,
And send her up to Boulder,
To coach the football team,
But if I had a son, sir,
I'd tell you what he'd do.
He'd yell "to hell with Boulder",
Like his daddy used to do.
Mommas don't let your babies dress up to be cowboys! Don't let em be Indians or sleazy cave sluts, let em be doctors of gender and such!
Mommas don't let your babies dress up to be cowboys! Don't let em be Indians or sleazy cave sluts, let em be doctors of gender and such!
Funny, about a quarter of Texas cowboys were African American, another quarter or third were Mexicans. The rest white. So, where's the stereotype? I find it very offensive that a western University know so damned little about western history. It's not like ancient, it was less than two hundred years ago and the records are in English.
It would have saved us a lot of money if only we'd known just how ignorant these folks are before we sent our kids to school.
The rest of Colorado doesn't refer to Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) as the People's Republic of Boulder for nothing. They're so far left they consider Stalin too conservative. There are a lot of good colleges in the state, but CU isn't on the top of MY list.
The rest of Colorado doesn't refer to Boulder (home of the University of Colorado) as the People's Republic of Boulder for nothing. They're so far left they consider Stalin too conservative. There are a lot of good colleges in the state, but CU isn't on the top of MY list.
"Would "ranch hand" be okay?"
Um, no. Think of those unfortunate souls who have no hands. Or no ranch.
Highly offensive.
Freeman, that's beyond awesome!
If you ever need a job, do be sure to check out university diversity department openings; you've got the vocabulary and tone down perfectly.
♩♭♬ - I'm an old cow-person
From the Rio ... umm ... umm ...
Never mind.
Yeah. Cowboy costumes are really offensive. I'm gonna make a wild guess that the hundreds of manifestations of hookerwear the ladies will be flaunting will be seen as "empowering," not offensive. That would be prudish!
I accompanied my daughters trick or treating dressed as Indiana Jones, a well-known Western despoiler of indigenous archaeological treasures.
I apologize for this insensitivity and am willing to engage in self-criticism under the Party auspices.
I accompanied my daughters trick or treating dressed as Indiana Jones, a well-known Western despoiler of indigenous archaeological treasures.
I apologize for this insensitivity and am willing to engage in self-criticism under the Party auspices.
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
How about going as a minotaur? Or would that be too much like a cowboy?
"University of Colorado Boulder tells students to avoid costumes including cowboys, indians, white trash or anything potentially deemed ... cowboycostume.blogspot.com
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