Vox’s Max Fisher: If you praised badass woman fighting ISIS, you’re a racist

http://twitter.com/#!/physicsgeek/status/515555544497913857

Just when you thought you’d seen Max Fisher scrape the bottom of the intellectual barrel, he goes and outdoes himself:

The condescension and racism behind American praise of Maryam al-Mansouri, the female UAE pilot who bombed ISIS http://t.co/BHzD7eWbL9

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) September 26, 2014

This meme “Hey ISIS, you were bombed by a woman” is fundamentally racist. On multiple levels. http://t.co/qewQ99e0yj pic.twitter.com/X1PnVRz0X6

— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) September 26, 2014

Hey, Max, those tweets are mind-blowingly stupid. On multiple levels:

Oh, look. @voxdotcom thinks praising a female pilot from the UAE is actually racist. http://t.co/ZfJUE3c89T

— RB (@RBPundit) September 26, 2014

So @Max_Fisher thinks ISIS is a race not an ideology. https://t.co/6rGqpqWalU

— Mistressnancy (@Mistressnancy) September 26, 2014

Islam isn’t a race, you paste eater. https://t.co/SA4Jp3MKBA

— Ɍɇx ɨn Ɇffɇȼŧ (@RexHarrisonsHat) September 26, 2014

Dear @Max_Fisher, radical, terroristic, beheading, genital mutilating, Islamic Jihadists are NOT a race. #TruthAche https://t.co/C63XIvEn6U

— Chris Loesch (@ChrisLoesch) September 26, 2014

@Max_Fisher @ptbrennan11 because savage misogyny in the name of a death-cult is a race, now. #Genetic

— Hugs n Kisses (@Coondawg68) September 26, 2014

.@Max_Fisher No, it's not racist. Read about her…she's incredible. And read about the positive effect she's had on her division.

— Color Me Red ن (@ColorMeRed) September 26, 2014

But what happens when you try to navigate the actual post? Here’s how it kicks off:

In the three days since United Arab Emirates air force Major Maryam al-Mansouri flew in the American-led mission to bomb ISIS targets in Syria, there have been many rounds of congratulations and chest-thumping in the United States over this triumph of feminism and humiliation of ISIS.

Mansouri’s accomplishment and importance as one of the first-ever female fighter pilots in the Emirates and in the Gulf is real. So is the progress she represents for Emirati women. But the American celebration of Mansouri has been grounded in some embarrassing misconceptions, and has echoed common Western prejudices and stereotypes about Arabs that are condescending at best and racist and misogynist at worst.

There are two sets of American misconceptions here. The first is to play up Mansouri as representative of the UAE as a champion of gender equality, when in fact the UAE is objectively quite bad on women’s rights, and the fact that we allow them such a lowered bar represents a soft bigotry of lowered expectations. The second is to repeatedly contrast the UAE with Saudi Arabia in a way that explicitly frames Saudi gender restrictions as the default for Arab and Muslim societies, when in fact Saudi restrictions are freakishly unique and widely reviled in the Muslim world.

We recommend reading the whole thing, if only to marvel at its evolving stupidity.

Totally missing the point is becoming a common theme in everything @Max_Fisher writes about the Mideast. http://t.co/EGacIRHkJz

— Charles Hoskinson (@cehoskinson) September 26, 2014

This is some amazing shaming-gymnastics by @Max_Fisher http://t.co/JvIYD1aa6G

— John Sexton (@verumserum) September 26, 2014

The gist of Fisher’s article appears to be this: It’s racist and misogynistic to celebrate the fact that a women is helping to kick ISIS’ ass, because she comes from a Muslim-led country whose lousy women’s rights record shouldn’t be ignored. But, if you point out that Muslim-led countries have lousy women’s rights records, you’re a racist Islamophobe.

Get it? Neither do we:

.@Max_Fisher if I understand you correctly it is racist to believe women have equal rights in UAE as well as believing the opposite?

— Meine Weltsicht (@weltsichtig) September 26, 2014

Did Max Fisher seriously just accuse conservatives of whitewashing the poor human rights records of Muslim countries? Holy LOL.

— neontaster (@neontaster) September 26, 2014

The only thing missing was a Voxsplanation about how Israel is somehow behind all of this.

@Max_Fisher @AndrewStilesUSA is this real life?

— Brian Walsh (@bigbri1681) September 26, 2014

It’s getting more and more difficult to tell. Maybe this’ll help a little:

Guys, report @Max_Fisher. Parody accounts need to clearly identify themselves as such.

— Blast Hardcheese (@claudeakinsmask) September 26, 2014

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