http://intermargins.net/Activity/2009/Michael_Jackson_Leslie_Feinberg.htm
2003-11-28 Workers World News
美國跨性別作家 Leslie Feinberg 原著（林郁凱翻譯，何春蕤校訂）
On Nov. 19--the day Epic Records released a collection of Jackson 's greatest-musical hits--police armed with a search warrant carried out a 12-hour raid on Jackson 's ranch and amusement park. The next day, Jackson turned himself in to authorities, was booked on felony charges of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old, and was released after posting bail.
The facts about the case have not yet been fully revealed. Nevertheless, Jackson has already been virtually tried and convicted by the media.
The Santa Barbara County prosecutor's office will not file formal charges until late November.
The 45-year-old African American, a child star as the lead singer of the Jackson Five, is a legendary, internationally renowned pop star. Since the late 1980s, he has been the brunt of public ridicule in the media for having an increasingly "womanly" appearance and complex gender expression.
He has been dogged by tabloid scandal and a district attorney since 1993. At that time, Tom Sneddon, the district attorney of Santa Barbara , Calif. , tried to bring charges against Jackson , alleging sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy.
Sneddon, a prosecutor nicknamed Mad Dog, "first came to international prominence when he investigated child molestation accusations against Jackson in 1993-94. The singer was reportedly stripped naked and photographed as part of the investigation." (AFP, Nov. 21)
But no charges were ever filed. Jackson settled financially with the boy's family, saying he wanted to avoid a long court battle.
However a Lexus search of keywords "Tom Sneddon" and "Michael Jackson" between 1994 and 2001 reveals that the district attorney has continued to hound Jackson in the media. (talkleft.com/ archives)
The perception of a vendetta by the district attorney and demonstrable media bias have led Jackson 's family, many prominent African American entertainers and political leaders, and fans of all nationalities to voice their outrage.
In a statement by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Michael Jackson was being tried by the media and expressed his organization's "grave concerns" about how the Santa Barbara district attorney's office is handling this case.
The civil rights leader described the raid of the Neverland ranch by more than 70 police--some in flak jackets--accompanied by doctors and an ambulance as "overkill." Jesse Jackson added that during the Nov. 19 news conference by the sheriff's department about the arrest warrant, Sneddon "proceeded to make several jokes which were completely inappropriate."
Jermaine Jackson said his family supports his brother Michael. "This is nothing but a modern-day lynching."
The singer's mother, Catherine Jackson, told the online version of Germany 's Bunte magazine on Nov. 24 that there are two interpretations of the law in the United States : "one for whites and one for Blacks."
Odious campaign
Media coverage of Michael Jackson, both before and after these formal charges, has been damning, lurid and seemingly unending. Television stations pre-empted normal broadcasts for live coverage.
After Jackson voluntarily turned himself in to authorities at the Santa Barbara airport, media helicopters hovered in the air as a convoy of police cars and other vehicles escorted him to the county jail. More than one pundit referred to the procession as reminiscent of the slow-speed car chase that preceded O.J. Simpson's 1994 arrest on murder charges.
Over 100 reporters and photographers thronged outside the county jail as sheriffs brought in the 120-pound singer with his hands manacled behind his back.
A Nov. 22 New York Times editorial judged that "there is no doubt that Mr. Jackson is guilty of trying too hard to protect his innocence," which it defined as a child-like "infantilism."
An inordinate amount of prejudicial coverage focused on Jackson 's appearance.
Reporting by the New York Daily News was characteristic of tabloid treatment of the case. A four-page feature on the " Jackson sex scandal" on Nov. 21 taunted Jackson for a mug shot "that showed him wearing more makeup than a prom queen." A caption under a photo of Jackson flashing a "peace" sign outside the jail said the singer was doing "his best Richard Nixon impersonation." And an article described Jackson 's bedroom as his "creepy lair."
Perhaps the adjective the media use most frequently about Michael Jackson is the word "freak." That epithet needs to be confronted head-on. It lifts a rock on this odious and right-wing campaign and shines light on it.
National Basketball Association super-star Dennis Rodman was also the target of this poisonous barb when he came out publicly as a cross-dresser.
How is it possible for such a dehumanizing slur to be so widely used against internationally acclaimed and popular Black stars in entertainment and sports? Because even with celebrated skills, money and prominence, they are African Americans in an economic and social system permeated with racism.
The term "freak" has always been steeped in racism, anti-transgender bigotry and the dehumanization of disabled people.
From 1840 to 1940, "freak shows" were heavily marketed to rural areas, towns and large urban areas in the United States . They were considered one of the most popular forms of entertainment in this country--and they were lucrative.
Bearded women and those billed as mixed sex--"half-man, half-woman"--were among those displayed in dime museums, world's fairs and circus side shows. With the rise of colonialism and the expansion of imperialism, people from Africa, the Pacific Islands , Asia and South America were captured and "exhibited" in these shows.
"The presentation of imported non-Westerners was big business," notes author Robert Bogdan in his book "Freak Show." Bogdan stresses that this business was saturated with an imperialist world view and did not confront racism. "On the contrary, what [the public] saw merely confirmed old prejudices and beliefs. ... These attitudes also provided good support for the United States ' exploitation of the non-Western world during the late 19th century."
The depictions of African peoples in particular, Bogdan writes, "arising as they did from racist attitudes, helped sustain first the institution of slavery and later systematic, unfair, and unequal treatment of nonwhites."
And Bogdan concludes, "Whenever we study deviance we must look at those who are in charge--whether self-appointed or officially--of telling us who the deviant people are and what they are like."
Turning down the volume
The volume and intensity of coverage of Michael Jackson's arrest virtually drowned out all other world developments, including news about the Pentagon unleashing massive bombing raids on the civilian population of Iraq in its "Operation Iron Hammer."
Jackson's ranch was raided the day after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.
Reactionaries have long tried to justify their bigoted crusades with the groundless accusation that all people who are sexually attracted to those of the same sex, or are perceived as gender variant, "prey" on children. Progressive people need to deny the right wing an opportunity to use the high-profile coverage of the Jackson case as a propaganda weapon against the right of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to teach school, coach sports teams, adopt or gain custody of their children.
The biased publicity against Jackson has done nothing to reveal the depth and breadth of child sexual exploitation and abuse in this country, much of which takes place within families. A 1986 interview of 930 women in San Francisco by sociologist Diana Russell, for example, demonstrated that 16 percent of these women were incest survivors. The most common offenders were uncles, male first cousins, fathers, brothers and other male relatives.
Defending the bodies and lives of children requires a political movement that can raise public consciousness about the fact that child abuse is institutionalized. It is an outgrowth of class society in which women and children are considered private property within the patriarchal nuclear family.
Right-wing scapegoating lets the government and legal branch off the hook for stripping children and married women of so many basic rights.
Hands off Jackson 's body!
A torrent of mocking about Michael Jackson's reported plastic surgeries has been unleashed by this case. He is labeled "bizarre" and "monstrous."
If undergoing plastic surgery were a crime, a bevy of socialites--and not just women, either--would be forced to endure the "perp walk" in handcuffs on prime-time news. The jails and prisons in this country could not hold everyone who has undergone body and facial alterations. "Nose jobs," face-lifts, liposuction, weight lifting, dieting, hair replacement--the list is long.
Cosmetic surgery cannot be extricated from shame in an economic and social system as oppressive and unequal as capitalism. But the bottom line is the right of individuals to make decisions about their own bodies and identities. That's at the heart of the struggle, for example, for women's reproductive rights. It's not the right of the state or the church--or the media--to determine.
Sex reassignment, like tatooing and piercing, is an ancient feature of human society. Even before the rise of class society and all the oppression it brought, there were people who, through physical alteration and/or social acceptance, lived in a sex that appeared to contradict genital sex.
The public derision of Michael Jackson for a "womanly" appearance is anti-woman. It obscures the reality of sex and gender variance in the human population. And it's an attempt to further cleave human diversity into "difference"--the essence of "queer" baiting and the distillation of divide-and-conquer strategy.
2003-11-28 Workers World News
美國跨性別作家 Leslie Feinberg 03、04年為MJ文化及新聞現象寫了幾篇論述，
在03年戀童官司如火如荼的當下，Leslie發表這樣的文章無疑是勇敢而值得敬佩的正義之舉。
美國跨性別作家 Leslie Feinberg 原著（林郁凱翻譯，何春蕤校訂）
兒童和青少年承受性惡待（或其他形式的惡待）的處境和痛苦，是沒有辦法被一個煽動種族主義、歧視同性戀、仇視性／別異議份子的保守行動所解救的。當媒體正以聳動的報導大肆渲染麥克傑森被檢方拘捕一事的同時，我們一定要將這個事實擺在政治思考的最前線。
2003年11月19日，也就是 Epic Record 唱片公司發行收錄麥可歷年銷售最佳歌曲專輯的那一天，全副武裝的警察憑著一張搜索票，對麥可的「奇幻樂園」進行一次長達12個小時的突襲臨檢。次日，麥可主動向檢方投案，被指控性侵害一名13歲的男孩的重罪，麥可在交保後被釋放。
雖然關於麥可的案情尚未釐清（目前已經判決無罪），但實際上，麥可已經被媒體審判、定罪了。而聖塔芭芭拉郡的檢查官辦公室一直到了11月底才肯提起正式的訴訟。
45歲的麥可是一位非裔美國人，小時即以童星身分擔任 Jackson Five 的主唱，是一位傳奇的國際巨星。從1980年代末期開始，由於他與日俱增的「女性化」裝扮外表和複雜的性別表現，使他成為媒體和大眾嘲笑的對象。
從1993年開始，麥可便受到八卦小報誹聞和一位地方律師的糾纏。那時，加州聖塔芭芭拉的地方律師史奈登（Tom Sneddon）就試圖對麥可提起訴訟，宣稱麥可性侵害一名13歲的小孩。
綽號「瘋狗」的檢察官史奈登，因為在1993年到1994年期間偵辦麥可疑似性侵害一名孩童的案件在國際上一舉成名，當時媒體對於麥可的報導和新聞照片赤裸裸的呈現方式猶如審判的一部分（法新社，11月21日）。
事實上，沒有任何一項罪名被真正起訴。麥可為了避免長期的法律訴訟，最後以巨額與男童的家庭達成和解。
然而，若在搜尋引擎上查詢「史奈登」和「麥可傑克森」，我們將在1994年到2001年這段期間的新聞檔案發現，其實這位地方律師一直在媒體上糾纏麥可。
這位地方律師的報復行為與媒體顯而易見的偏見，已經讓麥可的家人、許多知名非裔美國藝人與政治領導人、以及世界各地麥可的歌迷發出怒吼。
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition（註：美國民權組織）的領導人Rev. Jesse Jackson 在一項聲明中表示，麥可其實已經被媒體審判了。Jesse Jackson代表他的團體對於聖塔芭芭拉檢察官辦公室如何處理這件案子表示「嚴重的」關心。
這位民權領袖形容這次警方對於「奇幻樂園」的突襲臨檢是「離譜的行為」。超過70名的警力（還有些員警穿著防爆背心），在多名醫生和一輛救護車的陪同下對於「奇幻樂園」進行突襲臨檢。Jesse Jackson 還提到，史奈登在11月19日一場說明警方逮捕令的記者會上，「開了許多極不恰當的玩笑」。
麥可傑克森的哥哥傑邁因傑克森（Jermaine Jackson）說，他們全家都支持麥可。傑邁因說：「這根本就是現代的私刑。」
麥可的媽媽凱瑟琳傑克森（Catherine Jackson）11月24號透過連線對德國Bunte雜誌社表示：「美國有兩種法律。一種是給白人的，一種是給黑人的。」
2003年11月19日，也就是 Epic Record 唱片公司發行收錄麥可歷年銷售最佳歌曲專輯的那一天，全副武裝的警察憑著一張搜索票，對麥可的「奇幻樂園」進行一次長達12個小時的突襲臨檢。次日，麥可主動向檢方投案，被指控性侵害一名13歲的男孩的重罪，麥可在交保後被釋放。
雖然關於麥可的案情尚未釐清（目前已經判決無罪），但實際上，麥可已經被媒體審判、定罪了。而聖塔芭芭拉郡的檢查官辦公室一直到了11月底才肯提起正式的訴訟。
45歲的麥可是一位非裔美國人，小時即以童星身分擔任 Jackson Five 的主唱，是一位傳奇的國際巨星。從1980年代末期開始，由於他與日俱增的「女性化」裝扮外表和複雜的性別表現，使他成為媒體和大眾嘲笑的對象。
從1993年開始，麥可便受到八卦小報誹聞和一位地方律師的糾纏。那時，加州聖塔芭芭拉的地方律師史奈登（Tom Sneddon）就試圖對麥可提起訴訟，宣稱麥可性侵害一名13歲的小孩。
綽號「瘋狗」的檢察官史奈登，因為在1993年到1994年期間偵辦麥可疑似性侵害一名孩童的案件在國際上一舉成名，當時媒體對於麥可的報導和新聞照片赤裸裸的呈現方式猶如審判的一部分（法新社，11月21日）。
事實上，沒有任何一項罪名被真正起訴。麥可為了避免長期的法律訴訟，最後以巨額與男童的家庭達成和解。
然而，若在搜尋引擎上查詢「史奈登」和「麥可傑克森」，我們將在1994年到2001年這段期間的新聞檔案發現，其實這位地方律師一直在媒體上糾纏麥可。
這位地方律師的報復行為與媒體顯而易見的偏見，已經讓麥可的家人、許多知名非裔美國藝人與政治領導人、以及世界各地麥可的歌迷發出怒吼。
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition（註：美國民權組織）的領導人Rev. Jesse Jackson 在一項聲明中表示，麥可其實已經被媒體審判了。Jesse Jackson代表他的團體對於聖塔芭芭拉檢察官辦公室如何處理這件案子表示「嚴重的」關心。
這位民權領袖形容這次警方對於「奇幻樂園」的突襲臨檢是「離譜的行為」。超過70名的警力（還有些員警穿著防爆背心），在多名醫生和一輛救護車的陪同下對於「奇幻樂園」進行突襲臨檢。Jesse Jackson 還提到，史奈登在11月19日一場說明警方逮捕令的記者會上，「開了許多極不恰當的玩笑」。
麥可傑克森的哥哥傑邁因傑克森（Jermaine Jackson）說，他們全家都支持麥可。傑邁因說：「這根本就是現代的私刑。」
麥可的媽媽凱瑟琳傑克森（Catherine Jackson）11月24號透過連線對德國Bunte雜誌社表示：「美國有兩種法律。一種是給白人的，一種是給黑人的。」
潑糞行動
無論在麥可被正式起訴之前或之後，媒體對於麥可的報導一直都是可憎的、可怕的、和似無止盡的。電視台甚至讓有關麥克的實況報導佔據了正常的節目時間。
麥可主動向聖塔芭芭拉的檢方投案，媒體的直昇機在他一下飛機以後就不停環繞在空中有如警方的護航車隊，其他的車輛則一路跟隨著麥克到聖塔芭芭拉的郡立監獄。許多專家指稱，這樣的車隊讓他們回想起1994年辛普森（O.J. Simpson）因涉嫌謀殺而被逮捕時，成群車輛以慢速的方式跟隨著辛普森的情形。
當警員將這位體重120磅且雙手都被銬上的歌手（麥可）帶進監獄的時候，有超過100張新聞報導和新聞照片馬上被媒體傳送到監獄以外的地方。
11月22號《紐約時報》的社論還說：「無疑地，麥可極力為自己清白辯護的行為是有罪的。」該社論還將麥可說成是「幼稚症的行為」。
媒體放縱不加節制的偏見報導更針對麥可的外表大作文章。《紐約日報》對於此案八卦式的報導就是這種報導的典型。在11月21號一篇長達四個版面關於「麥可性醜聞」的專題報導中，該報導對於麥克在警局拍的檔案照片冷嘲熱諷。報導上寫著，「麥可照片上的臉部濃妝，比畢業舞會皇后還來得濃」。在另一張照片中，麥可從監獄裡向外面的群眾比出「和平」的手勢，而這張照片下面的標語竟寫著，麥可這麼做只不過是努力模仿「當年被彈劾的尼克森總統的樣子」，而另一篇文章更將麥可的臥室形容成「可怕的獸窩」。
也許，最常被媒體用來形容麥可的形容詞是「怪胎」，這個污名需要我們正面迎戰，而這個污名也掀起了一個石塊，燈光下照出躲藏其下的右派運動。
NBA 籃球明星羅德曼（Dennis Rodman）在他公開承認是變裝者後，也同樣成為大眾媒體惡意批評的眾矢之地。
為什麼這種沒有人性的毀謗能夠被廣泛地用來攻擊這兩位在運動界上和演藝界上享有國際盛名的黑人明星呢？原因是，這兩位明星即便擁有超群的技藝、財富、和地位，終究只是活在一個充滿「種族主義」的社會經濟制度下的「非裔美國人」。
「怪胎」這個詞充斥著種族主義、對跨性別的恐懼、和不把殘障人士當人的偏見。
事實上，從1840年到1940年這段期間，「怪胎秀」（freak show）一直流行於美國的鄉村地區、城鎮地區、和都市地區。當時，「怪胎秀」被認為是全美國最受歡迎的娛樂表演，展演它們的老闆獲利甚豐。
怪胎秀裡包括有鬍鬚的女人和一些在宣傳單上描繪為陰陽人的人（「半男人、半女人」），它們在廉價博物館、世界博覽會、或馬戲團串場的娛性節目中表演，隨著殖民主義的興起和帝國主義的擴張，從非洲、太平洋群島、亞洲、南美洲被俘虜的人也被迫「展示」於這些秀場中。
「這些非西方人口的輸入，在當時是很大的買賣。」Robert Bogdan 在他的《怪胎秀》（Freak Show）一書中這樣說到。Bogdan強調，由於這項生意充滿了帝國主義者的眼光，當然不會挑戰種族主義，「相反地，民眾所看到的只不過是傳統偏見和信仰的再次肯定…而這些觀念與態度也為美國在十九世紀末對非西方民族的剝削，提供了很大的幫助。」
尤其是對於非洲人的描述，如同種族主義對於非洲人的看法一樣，幫助且維持了美國早期的黑奴制度和後來對於所有非白人不公不義的制度壓迫。
Bodgan 做了一個結論：「我們在思考所謂偏差的時候，就必須先研究是哪些掌權者──不管是自己任命的還是官方任命的──在告訴我們誰是偏差，是誰在描述這些偏差。」
無論在麥可被正式起訴之前或之後，媒體對於麥可的報導一直都是可憎的、可怕的、和似無止盡的。電視台甚至讓有關麥克的實況報導佔據了正常的節目時間。
麥可主動向聖塔芭芭拉的檢方投案，媒體的直昇機在他一下飛機以後就不停環繞在空中有如警方的護航車隊，其他的車輛則一路跟隨著麥克到聖塔芭芭拉的郡立監獄。許多專家指稱，這樣的車隊讓他們回想起1994年辛普森（O.J. Simpson）因涉嫌謀殺而被逮捕時，成群車輛以慢速的方式跟隨著辛普森的情形。
當警員將這位體重120磅且雙手都被銬上的歌手（麥可）帶進監獄的時候，有超過100張新聞報導和新聞照片馬上被媒體傳送到監獄以外的地方。
11月22號《紐約時報》的社論還說：「無疑地，麥可極力為自己清白辯護的行為是有罪的。」該社論還將麥可說成是「幼稚症的行為」。
媒體放縱不加節制的偏見報導更針對麥可的外表大作文章。《紐約日報》對於此案八卦式的報導就是這種報導的典型。在11月21號一篇長達四個版面關於「麥可性醜聞」的專題報導中，該報導對於麥克在警局拍的檔案照片冷嘲熱諷。報導上寫著，「麥可照片上的臉部濃妝，比畢業舞會皇后還來得濃」。在另一張照片中，麥可從監獄裡向外面的群眾比出「和平」的手勢，而這張照片下面的標語竟寫著，麥可這麼做只不過是努力模仿「當年被彈劾的尼克森總統的樣子」，而另一篇文章更將麥可的臥室形容成「可怕的獸窩」。
也許，最常被媒體用來形容麥可的形容詞是「怪胎」，這個污名需要我們正面迎戰，而這個污名也掀起了一個石塊，燈光下照出躲藏其下的右派運動。
NBA 籃球明星羅德曼（Dennis Rodman）在他公開承認是變裝者後，也同樣成為大眾媒體惡意批評的眾矢之地。
為什麼這種沒有人性的毀謗能夠被廣泛地用來攻擊這兩位在運動界上和演藝界上享有國際盛名的黑人明星呢？原因是，這兩位明星即便擁有超群的技藝、財富、和地位，終究只是活在一個充滿「種族主義」的社會經濟制度下的「非裔美國人」。
「怪胎」這個詞充斥著種族主義、對跨性別的恐懼、和不把殘障人士當人的偏見。
事實上，從1840年到1940年這段期間，「怪胎秀」（freak show）一直流行於美國的鄉村地區、城鎮地區、和都市地區。當時，「怪胎秀」被認為是全美國最受歡迎的娛樂表演，展演它們的老闆獲利甚豐。
怪胎秀裡包括有鬍鬚的女人和一些在宣傳單上描繪為陰陽人的人（「半男人、半女人」），它們在廉價博物館、世界博覽會、或馬戲團串場的娛性節目中表演，隨著殖民主義的興起和帝國主義的擴張，從非洲、太平洋群島、亞洲、南美洲被俘虜的人也被迫「展示」於這些秀場中。
「這些非西方人口的輸入，在當時是很大的買賣。」Robert Bogdan 在他的《怪胎秀》（Freak Show）一書中這樣說到。Bogdan強調，由於這項生意充滿了帝國主義者的眼光，當然不會挑戰種族主義，「相反地，民眾所看到的只不過是傳統偏見和信仰的再次肯定…而這些觀念與態度也為美國在十九世紀末對非西方民族的剝削，提供了很大的幫助。」
尤其是對於非洲人的描述，如同種族主義對於非洲人的看法一樣，幫助且維持了美國早期的黑奴制度和後來對於所有非白人不公不義的制度壓迫。
Bodgan 做了一個結論：「我們在思考所謂偏差的時候，就必須先研究是哪些掌權者──不管是自己任命的還是官方任命的──在告訴我們誰是偏差，是誰在描述這些偏差。」
別再搞鬧劇了！
媒體對於麥可被捕一事高分貝報導，蓋過了其他一切同時在世界上發展的事情，包括五角大廈批准美國軍方對於伊拉克平民地區進行大規模轟炸行動（名為「鐵鎚行動」）的新聞。
麥可「奇幻樂園」被突襲臨檢的前一天，麻州最高法院才判決贊成同性可以結婚的法律。
保守派長久以來一直試圖正當化他們偏執的運動，她們說那些對同性有性趣的人，或者性別表現與眾不同的人，都會「殘害」兒童。保守派會利用這次麥克傑克森高曝光率的案子，作為阻礙男女同性戀、雙性戀、和跨性別人士爭取教職（教師或教練）和領養小孩的權利，而進步的人士必需阻止保守派這樣的行動。
保守團體對於麥可的偏見完全沒有揭露這個國家內部兒童遭受到性侵害和性剝削的深度和廣度。其實，最常發生兒童性侵害案件的地方就在家庭內部，舉個例子，1986年社會學者 Diana Russel 對舊金山930名婦女做訪談調查，發現有百分之16婦女都曾經歷過亂倫的夢魘，而最常見的侵害者為叔叔、表哥、父親、兄長、和其他男性的親戚。
要保護兒童的身體和生命，就需要一個能夠喚醒大眾意識的政治運動，從而讓大眾知道虐待兒童的情況其實是一個制度化的現象，這是一個父權階級社會將婦女和小孩視為私有財產的必然結果。
右派這種把性別異類當替罪羔羊的做法，反而使得政府和司法系統得以脫罪，不必為剝奪兒童和已婚婦女基本權益而負責。
媒體對於麥可被捕一事高分貝報導，蓋過了其他一切同時在世界上發展的事情，包括五角大廈批准美國軍方對於伊拉克平民地區進行大規模轟炸行動（名為「鐵鎚行動」）的新聞。
麥可「奇幻樂園」被突襲臨檢的前一天，麻州最高法院才判決贊成同性可以結婚的法律。
保守派長久以來一直試圖正當化他們偏執的運動，她們說那些對同性有性趣的人，或者性別表現與眾不同的人，都會「殘害」兒童。保守派會利用這次麥克傑克森高曝光率的案子，作為阻礙男女同性戀、雙性戀、和跨性別人士爭取教職（教師或教練）和領養小孩的權利，而進步的人士必需阻止保守派這樣的行動。
保守團體對於麥可的偏見完全沒有揭露這個國家內部兒童遭受到性侵害和性剝削的深度和廣度。其實，最常發生兒童性侵害案件的地方就在家庭內部，舉個例子，1986年社會學者 Diana Russel 對舊金山930名婦女做訪談調查，發現有百分之16婦女都曾經歷過亂倫的夢魘，而最常見的侵害者為叔叔、表哥、父親、兄長、和其他男性的親戚。
要保護兒童的身體和生命，就需要一個能夠喚醒大眾意識的政治運動，從而讓大眾知道虐待兒童的情況其實是一個制度化的現象，這是一個父權階級社會將婦女和小孩視為私有財產的必然結果。
右派這種把性別異類當替罪羔羊的做法，反而使得政府和司法系統得以脫罪，不必為剝奪兒童和已婚婦女基本權益而負責。
放開Michael Jackson的身體！
麥可的整形手術在這次事件裡受到一片嘲諷的聲浪，他被貼標籤為「異常」和「怪異」。
如果進行整形手術是一項罪過，那麼有一大票的社會名流（不只是女人）都必須被迫容忍雙手被銬在背後，一步一步地走在各大媒體的攝影機前。這個國家的監獄是沒有辦法容納下每一位接受整形手術（包括臉部和身體）的人的，整鼻、拉皮、抽脂、減肥、節食、植髮等等，都是整形手術，而這個目錄還可以繼續延長。
在一個經濟、社會制度都跟資本主義一樣充滿了壓迫和不平等的社會裡，美容手術是不可能從「羞恥」中擺脫出來的。然而，每個人都有權利決定自己的身體和身分。這就是例如女性生殖自由運動的核心，而這個權利不是由國家、教會、或媒體來決定的。
變性，就像刺青和穿洞，一直是人類古代社會活動的一部分。在階級社會興起和其所帶來的壓迫之前，有許多人經由對於身體的改造和（或）社會的認同，以一個與其生理性別完全相反的性別過生活。
大眾對於麥可「女性化外表」的嘲諷是反女性的。麥可的外表不僅混淆了人類社會對於性與性別的僵化組合，並且更進一步地拓展人類性別表現的多樣性。這不僅是酷兒策略的本質，也是對於「分化－征服」策略的解構。
麥可的整形手術在這次事件裡受到一片嘲諷的聲浪，他被貼標籤為「異常」和「怪異」。
如果進行整形手術是一項罪過，那麼有一大票的社會名流（不只是女人）都必須被迫容忍雙手被銬在背後，一步一步地走在各大媒體的攝影機前。這個國家的監獄是沒有辦法容納下每一位接受整形手術（包括臉部和身體）的人的，整鼻、拉皮、抽脂、減肥、節食、植髮等等，都是整形手術，而這個目錄還可以繼續延長。
在一個經濟、社會制度都跟資本主義一樣充滿了壓迫和不平等的社會裡，美容手術是不可能從「羞恥」中擺脫出來的。然而，每個人都有權利決定自己的身體和身分。這就是例如女性生殖自由運動的核心，而這個權利不是由國家、教會、或媒體來決定的。
變性，就像刺青和穿洞，一直是人類古代社會活動的一部分。在階級社會興起和其所帶來的壓迫之前，有許多人經由對於身體的改造和（或）社會的認同，以一個與其生理性別完全相反的性別過生活。
大眾對於麥可「女性化外表」的嘲諷是反女性的。麥可的外表不僅混淆了人類社會對於性與性別的僵化組合，並且更進一步地拓展人類性別表現的多樣性。這不僅是酷兒策略的本質，也是對於「分化－征服」策略的解構。
Leslie Feinberg--2003: Behind the headlines on Michael Jackson
By Leslie Feinberg Dec. 4, 2003
The plight and suffering of children and teenagers who are subjected to sexual and other forms of abuse cannot be relieved by a reactionary campaign to foment racism, anti-gay bigotry and hatred of gender and sex variance.
It's imperative to keep this reality in the political forefront as sensationalized media coverage about Michael Jackson's arrest dominates the news.On Nov. 19--the day Epic Records released a collection of Jackson 's greatest-musical hits--police armed with a search warrant carried out a 12-hour raid on Jackson 's ranch and amusement park. The next day, Jackson turned himself in to authorities, was booked on felony charges of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old, and was released after posting bail.
The facts about the case have not yet been fully revealed. Nevertheless, Jackson has already been virtually tried and convicted by the media.
The Santa Barbara County prosecutor's office will not file formal charges until late November.
The 45-year-old African American, a child star as the lead singer of the Jackson Five, is a legendary, internationally renowned pop star. Since the late 1980s, he has been the brunt of public ridicule in the media for having an increasingly "womanly" appearance and complex gender expression.
He has been dogged by tabloid scandal and a district attorney since 1993. At that time, Tom Sneddon, the district attorney of Santa Barbara , Calif. , tried to bring charges against Jackson , alleging sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy.
Sneddon, a prosecutor nicknamed Mad Dog, "first came to international prominence when he investigated child molestation accusations against Jackson in 1993-94. The singer was reportedly stripped naked and photographed as part of the investigation." (AFP, Nov. 21)
But no charges were ever filed. Jackson settled financially with the boy's family, saying he wanted to avoid a long court battle.
However a Lexus search of keywords "Tom Sneddon" and "Michael Jackson" between 1994 and 2001 reveals that the district attorney has continued to hound Jackson in the media. (talkleft.com/ archives)
The perception of a vendetta by the district attorney and demonstrable media bias have led Jackson 's family, many prominent African American entertainers and political leaders, and fans of all nationalities to voice their outrage.
In a statement by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Michael Jackson was being tried by the media and expressed his organization's "grave concerns" about how the Santa Barbara district attorney's office is handling this case.
The civil rights leader described the raid of the Neverland ranch by more than 70 police--some in flak jackets--accompanied by doctors and an ambulance as "overkill." Jesse Jackson added that during the Nov. 19 news conference by the sheriff's department about the arrest warrant, Sneddon "proceeded to make several jokes which were completely inappropriate."
Jermaine Jackson said his family supports his brother Michael. "This is nothing but a modern-day lynching."
The singer's mother, Catherine Jackson, told the online version of Germany 's Bunte magazine on Nov. 24 that there are two interpretations of the law in the United States : "one for whites and one for Blacks."
Odious campaign
Media coverage of Michael Jackson, both before and after these formal charges, has been damning, lurid and seemingly unending. Television stations pre-empted normal broadcasts for live coverage.
After Jackson voluntarily turned himself in to authorities at the Santa Barbara airport, media helicopters hovered in the air as a convoy of police cars and other vehicles escorted him to the county jail. More than one pundit referred to the procession as reminiscent of the slow-speed car chase that preceded O.J. Simpson's 1994 arrest on murder charges.
Over 100 reporters and photographers thronged outside the county jail as sheriffs brought in the 120-pound singer with his hands manacled behind his back.
A Nov. 22 New York Times editorial judged that "there is no doubt that Mr. Jackson is guilty of trying too hard to protect his innocence," which it defined as a child-like "infantilism."
An inordinate amount of prejudicial coverage focused on Jackson 's appearance.
Reporting by the New York Daily News was characteristic of tabloid treatment of the case. A four-page feature on the " Jackson sex scandal" on Nov. 21 taunted Jackson for a mug shot "that showed him wearing more makeup than a prom queen." A caption under a photo of Jackson flashing a "peace" sign outside the jail said the singer was doing "his best Richard Nixon impersonation." And an article described Jackson 's bedroom as his "creepy lair."
Perhaps the adjective the media use most frequently about Michael Jackson is the word "freak." That epithet needs to be confronted head-on. It lifts a rock on this odious and right-wing campaign and shines light on it.
National Basketball Association super-star Dennis Rodman was also the target of this poisonous barb when he came out publicly as a cross-dresser.
How is it possible for such a dehumanizing slur to be so widely used against internationally acclaimed and popular Black stars in entertainment and sports? Because even with celebrated skills, money and prominence, they are African Americans in an economic and social system permeated with racism.
The term "freak" has always been steeped in racism, anti-transgender bigotry and the dehumanization of disabled people.
From 1840 to 1940, "freak shows" were heavily marketed to rural areas, towns and large urban areas in the United States . They were considered one of the most popular forms of entertainment in this country--and they were lucrative.
Bearded women and those billed as mixed sex--"half-man, half-woman"--were among those displayed in dime museums, world's fairs and circus side shows. With the rise of colonialism and the expansion of imperialism, people from Africa, the Pacific Islands , Asia and South America were captured and "exhibited" in these shows.
"The presentation of imported non-Westerners was big business," notes author Robert Bogdan in his book "Freak Show." Bogdan stresses that this business was saturated with an imperialist world view and did not confront racism. "On the contrary, what [the public] saw merely confirmed old prejudices and beliefs. ... These attitudes also provided good support for the United States ' exploitation of the non-Western world during the late 19th century."
The depictions of African peoples in particular, Bogdan writes, "arising as they did from racist attitudes, helped sustain first the institution of slavery and later systematic, unfair, and unequal treatment of nonwhites."
And Bogdan concludes, "Whenever we study deviance we must look at those who are in charge--whether self-appointed or officially--of telling us who the deviant people are and what they are like."
Turning down the volume
The volume and intensity of coverage of Michael Jackson's arrest virtually drowned out all other world developments, including news about the Pentagon unleashing massive bombing raids on the civilian population of Iraq in its "Operation Iron Hammer."
Jackson's ranch was raided the day after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.
Reactionaries have long tried to justify their bigoted crusades with the groundless accusation that all people who are sexually attracted to those of the same sex, or are perceived as gender variant, "prey" on children. Progressive people need to deny the right wing an opportunity to use the high-profile coverage of the Jackson case as a propaganda weapon against the right of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to teach school, coach sports teams, adopt or gain custody of their children.
The biased publicity against Jackson has done nothing to reveal the depth and breadth of child sexual exploitation and abuse in this country, much of which takes place within families. A 1986 interview of 930 women in San Francisco by sociologist Diana Russell, for example, demonstrated that 16 percent of these women were incest survivors. The most common offenders were uncles, male first cousins, fathers, brothers and other male relatives.
Defending the bodies and lives of children requires a political movement that can raise public consciousness about the fact that child abuse is institutionalized. It is an outgrowth of class society in which women and children are considered private property within the patriarchal nuclear family.
Right-wing scapegoating lets the government and legal branch off the hook for stripping children and married women of so many basic rights.
Hands off Jackson 's body!
A torrent of mocking about Michael Jackson's reported plastic surgeries has been unleashed by this case. He is labeled "bizarre" and "monstrous."
If undergoing plastic surgery were a crime, a bevy of socialites--and not just women, either--would be forced to endure the "perp walk" in handcuffs on prime-time news. The jails and prisons in this country could not hold everyone who has undergone body and facial alterations. "Nose jobs," face-lifts, liposuction, weight lifting, dieting, hair replacement--the list is long.
Cosmetic surgery cannot be extricated from shame in an economic and social system as oppressive and unequal as capitalism. But the bottom line is the right of individuals to make decisions about their own bodies and identities. That's at the heart of the struggle, for example, for women's reproductive rights. It's not the right of the state or the church--or the media--to determine.
Sex reassignment, like tatooing and piercing, is an ancient feature of human society. Even before the rise of class society and all the oppression it brought, there were people who, through physical alteration and/or social acceptance, lived in a sex that appeared to contradict genital sex.
The public derision of Michael Jackson for a "womanly" appearance is anti-woman. It obscures the reality of sex and gender variance in the human population. And it's an attempt to further cleave human diversity into "difference"--the essence of "queer" baiting and the distillation of divide-and-conquer strategy.
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