Just Say Cho

[November 2nd, 2005] Comedy isn't pretty—or funny. At least not in Margaret Cho's latest book, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight (Riverhead Books, 240 pages, $23.95). In it, the popular stand-up comic, who also happens to have an enormous queer following, unleashes her left-leaning rants on sobering topics such as gender, racism and politics. It's a shocker to read how far Cho veers away from her standard shtick to discuss the issues of the day, leaving little room for her sharp-edged tongue to explore what her fans really want her to talk about (her vagina). Last time I talked to her, in 2001, she confessed to hating her body and sex. But last week, when I chatted with a slimmed-down—but even more fired-up—Margaret from her hotel room in Boston (she hits P-town tomorrow as part of her current book tour), she turned her critique to more political bodies.

QW: People will accuse you of spilling too much ink on George Bush and not enough on your own hairy bush.

Margaret Cho: There could be lots written about that. But much of what's important to me politically, like racism and queer rights, is trivialized. People on this book tour have said, Oh, you're just so angry...isn't that cute? That's why I wrote a serious book. I'll get to my own bush next time.

Is gay marriage the same as the civil-rights movement? People get pissed off when anyone compares them.

It's a contest where people are like, "Our suffering was way worse than your suffering." I'm not comparing the two struggles, but, what with Rosa Parks dying, I finally figured out this week that we have to look at the example of the civil-rights movement and go by that.

So how does that happen?

The civil-rights movement is amazing because black people went from slavery to people being afraid of them. There's still racism against African Americans, but no one would ever dare do it in public because they're afraid of it—white people at least have enough sense to do it in private. I want to find the secret behind that, because I need that as an Asian American and a queer. Getting angry is hard to do, but maybe that's the answer.

But angry can be seen as crazy...

You have to be careful and find that voice inside that can stand up (and be heard). Maybe instead of Black Panthers we can be the Pink Panthers. You know, some sort of cute movement where we wear three-quarter-length car coats and big natural afros like Angela Davis.

Then who is our Martin Luther King?

I don't know. That's the one focal point that is missing.

On page 69, I found one sentence was either the most revealing or the most inflammatory: "That is why being political is an essential part of my life. In the end, it's all I have." Doesn't that make you just as responsible as those politicians who refuse to separate politics from the personal?

Yes. I'm guilty of that same thing, but then at the same time I know that what I'm pursuing, what I want politically, is actually better for everybody concerned. I feel like I'm conservative. Because all I want is equality. That, to me, is very conservative.

What surprises people after reading this book: that you had an abortion or that you still ride subways?

I find neither surprising. That's because I did that; I do that. I'm a very guarded person, and because of that I have the freedom to be very honest about my personal life and give the perception of total disclosure, but really, that's not true. When somebody is very honest, then you imagine that they are giving you everything of themselves, but really it's just the fact that it's the truth.

I want to end with the first sentence of the book. After all is said and done, "who do you think you are?"

You know, I think I'm a good person. And I think I am somebody who's always tried. And ultimately, I'm very proud of that. I keep trying even though I get very frustrated.