Just a quick question exactly how many pigs are in the building trades? Exactly how are real pigs supposed to hold a hammer in their hooves? It’s a flipping children’s story, relax! Or is next outrage going to be about the frog prince? What was a good moral woman doing running about escorted, harlot! Why is this women speaking to male (of a different species) in the first place! Scandal, she wantonly kisses this smooth talking frog and marries him! She should have been a proper woman and had her parents arrange a proper marriage the evil, loose, immoral woman! Don’t get me started about that floozy “sleeping beauty!”

Not that this justifies the stereotyping of Muslims, but a lot of Muslims have inherited a rather knee jerk aversion to all things porcine with the mother’s milk. Shoot, my father’s a convert and he has acquired the customary instinctive reaction against pig-related things (including *metaphors*–he once objected to my innocent observation one day that he’d “pigged out” at an all-you-can-eat buffet).

I don’ t know the particulars of this case and in this climate one can obviously easily cross the line into caricature, but I hate to say that well-meaning non-Muslims’ anxieties about offending Muslims aren’t entirely unfounded here. Those of us who find this whole thing embarrassing might need to cut well meaning outsiders some slack–how are they supposed to know where the line is? We most certainly do have hangups about the critters.

I blogged about pigs a while ago, for those interested:
http://akramsrazor.typepad.com.....sag_1.html

Would love to join in the discussion, but most of these comments are too witty, ironic or obscure for me to follow. Maybe it’s a pan-British Commonwealth between you Brits and Aussies and I’m not supposed to understand…

Oops, rather than blogging about pigs, I should probably get my tail to juma!

I also welcome the appearance of Spongebob Squarepants who has helped break down stereotypes about prissy, preening homosexuals in the workplace (Lee 2002). This is in stark contrast to Clifford the Dog who continues to be portrayed as heterosexual and monogamous (Bartoj 2006, Humphrey 2001) and who promotes a culturally insensitive view of canine sexuality in the playground (Darrin 1999, Hodges 2001)

Why so much hatred?

Sorry, you’re right. David Irving’s brother isn’t the issue here. It’s your post, Paul. I didn’t like it.

I resent the fact that Australia never sold Porky Pig underwear. Or maybe they did and no one told me!