tothetune | Twitter Post

Frank Iero

15:41:21: @mynameislorena I can't, diablo wrote that
15:43:10: Haha RT @seriouscreep: uhhh just saw a girl post the phrase " twiggaz" to describe her tweet niggaz. GENIUS!
18:33:10: @thewrongshoes judges?....um sorry the judges are saying not racist, because it ended in the friendly -A and not the racist suffix -ER.
21:23:12: @x_muffingirl that was actually a message for you from your mom, she also sez pick your socks up off the floor! We were hoping u saw it phew
21:27:36: @thewrongshoes you are an annoying simpleton, i bet you tell people its not the heat its the humidity. I take pleasure in blocking you.

Mikey Way

16:16:36: @Gofackadawg I want to swim in a pool of power aid slush into a French fried waterfall
16:41:51: Congrats to the debiaks once again!! RT @marcdebiak: Baby Watch 2009 update: Samuel Joseph Debiak. 7lbs 13oz. 4:01pm.
20:17:01: "Uncle Touchy's naked puzzle basement"
20:41:47: Sister i'm-ahhhhhh.....http://bit.ly/rVLKB
20:43:03: @gerardway hahahahah thanks for the cd, i definately had to pause a few times because i was "LOLing" so much

Gerard Way

20:17:43: @mikeyway Ha!

Note: Some of these tweets are potentially triggery for racist language. Please proceed with caution. We apologize for the incredibly late note.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Problem is, this isn't the first time Frank has fucked up on twitter. He's failed repeatedly (by calling a girl a "slut" and making an abortion joke), and that's why it's a big deal.

I think it would be a big deal no matter how many times Frank has failed on Twitter or otherwise. No matter who it is or how perfect or imperfect it is, it needs to be dealt with and confronted.

What's wrong with an abortion joke? That's his point of view, if he is pro-choice or doesn't have problems with it, he doesn't need to justify himself. If that was rude? For some people it was but it's not that he fucked up everything. People need to stop putting them on altars and treating them as flawless people. They're human like everyone else and we all say things without thinking. It's not an excuse for his behaviour, but also, jumping and saying he's racist because of it it's too much.

Edited 2009-08-29 02:52 (UTC)

I'm just going to pop back in here and make a few points, just because I've seen this brought up and defended quite a bit, and people don't seem to understand why what Frank said about the coathanger was so awful.

This is just my take on that particular 'joke', but it wasn't anything to do with pro-choice or his stance on abortion politics. It was a cutting, violent dig at a woman Frank felt couldn't control her children (which according to our culture is what women are supposed to be able to do at all times), and it carried a very nasty undercurrent of hatred and disrespect for women's bodies.

He made a joke about her digging her own child out of her body with a metal rod. Self-induced abortion is something women have been forced to do for centuries, and many are still forced to do because of patriarchal societal factors, rape, abuse, and fear. Frank, being male, would never have to experience or put his own body through that.

Using such loaded language to 'get his own back' on that woman was therefore both sexist and misogynistic. Frank may not have been aware of it, but that doesn't mean the offense wasn't there. Just like Frank, being white, can't understand what it must be like to have the N word applied to him in order to mark him out as a second-class human being (and yes, that word is still being used today to do just that). Had he apologised, or clarified that he'd intended to cause no deliberate offense when people told him it was offensive to use it, that would have been one thing. But he didn't. He went on the defensive about his 'right' to use it 'in a friendly way' and called people 'stupid'.

The way I see it, Frank doesn't get to decide what's offensive and what isn't once he's broadcast it out in the open. The people who are offended get that right.

To compound matters, these tweets are displayed to fans (some of them young and impressionable) on the band's website.

No one's asking him to be flawless or perfect, but there's thinking before you type, especially when you have so many people who'll take your words as golden.

I agree partially with things that you've pointed.

I live in Brazil, where abortions are considered a crime and women go to jail because of it. We simply don't have any access to abortion clinics, I have friends who had to do it by themselves, relatives and even my grandmother had to do it. But it's not the point.

It was a cutting, violent dig at a woman Frank felt couldn't control her children (which according to our culture is what women are supposed to be able to do at all times)

I agree with you, it's expected that we take care of our children and control them, but honestly; who never snapped and said stupid things like this? I have said stupid things like this and apologized.
I'm not defending him at all, the toddlers/abortion at that time didn't please me at all and i hate kids. My problem with it was because of the mom, just like you said, people expect that when a woman has a kid she needs to control him/her all the time.
Like I said, he doesn't need to justify himself, he needs to learn how apologize for certain things he says. If it was rude? Of course it was.

About the last incident, the only thing that's bugging me is the fact that people are jumping into conclusions that he is racist because of that. I won't extend on it because i'll probably use the wrong words and will be misunderstood, but i agree with you that there's thinking before you type and apologizing when you know you offended people.

Not being sarcastic or anything, thank you for your comment. :)

ps.: before you think that i'm just defending him, i'm not. if i had to say anything to his face or criticize something that he said/did, i'd do it like i already did before.

Edited 2009-08-30 06:39 (UTC)

Like I said, he doesn't need to justify himself, he needs to learn how apologize for certain things he says.

That is exactly my opinion too. He can either accept being called sexist/misogynistic/racist, or he can apologise, try and learn from the fall out his comments generate, and help himself not be so sexist or misogynistic or racist in future. Trying to justify it wouldn't work, because he'd soon find himself digging himself in deeper and would probably be forced to confront his own internalised prejudices at some point. Frank apparently feels that either radio silence or blocking off other's opinions are the best tactics here.

Frank apparently feels that either radio silence or blocking off other's opinions are the best tactics here.

I was talking to

yekith about it, a couple of hours ago. When you have 140 characters it's not easy to apologize and really mean it - again, i'm not making an excuse for him, please - because its a short space and some people have this need to pour their hearts and explain their points of view and everything. I am one of these people, specially if I noticed/was called out on shit I did/said. I like to review what I said why I said and reason over it. It's not justify your mistake, it's explain why you had that attitude and make sure it won't happen again.
He chooses radio silence/blocking/random subjects to change the atmosphere and don't have to deal with it, not the best move at all. I wish he could deal with it, but being honest. Sometimes, a simple "i'm sorry for my comment" via twitter doesn't sound genuine, at least, for me.

He's always got the option of making a blog on the MCR site. Since the tweets get fed through to the front page anyway, he's already linked his comments to his position within the band. I'm not expecting him to, but the choice is there.

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