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Cintra Wilson is an American celebrity writer. She frequently contributes to Salon.com and the San Francisco Examiner. She is best known for her commentary on popular culture which is often humorous and sarcastic in tone. Her books include A Massive Swelling; Colors Insulting to Nature. She writes a bi-weekly column called "The Dregulator," which critiques the tabloid culture and is syndicated in a number of alternative weeklies. She also maintains a blog, The Dregublog, at her website.

Biography

Wilson grew up in Marin County, California and attended Tamalpais High School. After dropping out of high school, Wilson went to San Francisco State University. She was an avant-garde playwright in San Francisco, as well as a contributor to Frisko magazine and the San Francisco Examiner, where she wrote a weekly advice column called "Cintra Wilson Feels Your Pain." Her first play, "Juvee," based on her experiences in juvenile hall, was produced when she was 19. She lived in Los Angeles (where she was friends with Kevin Gilbert), and now lives in New York City. She currently authors The Dregulator, a column for Salon.com chronicling the worst of celebrity tabloid news. Wilson is also the creator and voice of Winter Steele, which was a puppet television series on MTV's Liquid Television in the early 1990's.

Controversy

On September 10, 2008, at the height of the 2008 United States presidential election, Salon published a commentary piece by Wilson on then Republican Party candidate for Vice President, Sarah Palin. Describing Palin as "...a boost of political Viagra for the limp, bloodless GOP", Wilson proceeded to give her views on Palin in a relentlessly scornful manner:

"As a woman who does not believe what Palin believes, the thought of such an opportunistic anti-female in the White House -- in the Cheney chair, no less -- is akin to ideological brain rape. What this Republican blowup doll does with her own insides in accord with her own faith is her business. But, like the worst and most terrifying of religious extremists, she seems very comfortable with the idea of imposing her own views on everyone else."

She went on to describe Palin as: "...the White House bunny -- the most nauseating novelty confection of the evangelical mind-set since Southern "chastity balls," wherein teen girls pledge abstinence from premarital sex by ceremonially faux-marrying their own fathers."^[1]

The comments on Palin received much discussion, and heavy criticism from the American conservatives, among them talk show host Rush Limbaugh. During a broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Limbaugh described Wilson as "one of these just over-the-top feminist babes".^[2]

Wilson's writing style later became a subject of controversy once again in parts of the blogosphere and fashion press for a store review which was published in the August 13, 2009 New York Times (where she is a contributor to a weekly series of columns about shopping in New York City called Critical Shopper). Wilson scathingly criticized JCPenney's new effort to open a new two-floor store in the Manhattan Mall, asking:

"Why would this dowdy Middle American entity waddle into Midtown in its big old shorts and flip-flops without even bothering to update its ancient Helvetica Light logo, which for anyone who grew up with the company is encrusted with decades of boring, even traumatically parental, associations?"

She also wrote: "A good 96 percent of the Penney’s inventory is made of polyester. The few clothing items that are made of cotton make a sincere point of being cotton and tell you earnestly about their 100-percent cottonness with faux-hand-scribbled labels so obviously on the Green bandwagon they practically spit pine cones." Citing J.C. Penney's strategy of competing with nearby Macy's by offering clothing to "people of all sizes", Wilson wrote: "(J.C. Penney)has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen." ^[3].

JCPenney stated that they found the review "offensive" to their customer base^[4], and after heavy criticism from fashion press, advocates for the fat acceptance movement^[5] and elsewhere ^[6], Wilson issued three apologies through her blog, after the first two were criticized for insincerity (the first posted apology being removed entirely), ^[7]^[8], with the third having an even and more sober tone. However, in her typical sarcastic style, Wilson could not resist crediting her "personal beliefs as a Buddhist" in giving what otherwise was written in the form of a sincere apology, stating that "...the extent to which my article exacerbated these feelings is a very real failure on my end for which I sincerely apologize." .^[9].

Works

Novels

(2008) Caligula for President: Better American Living Through Tyranny
(2004) Colors Insulting to Nature
(2000) A Massive Swelling

Short Fiction

Plays

XXX Love Act
Soul Hunt (Interactive)
The Bitsy La Fever's Kingdom of Passion Trilogy
Arbuckle
Dognite
Juvee
Alien Soul (One-man show)

=References

Yabroff, Jennie (September 19, 2004) "Color Her Cintra.". San Francisco Chronicle.

External links

Official Web site

This article about a United States writer of non-fiction is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about an American journalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] ttp://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/09/10/palin_feminism/

[2] ttp://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_091508/content/01125111.guest.html

[3] ttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&ref=fashion

[4] ttp://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/08/13/nyt-critical-shopper-criticized-over-jc-penney-column-issues-zen-apology/

[5] ttp://diaryofamadfashionista.blogspot.com/2009/08/now-cintra-wilson-knows-how-it-feels-to.html

[6] ttp://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/08/cintra_wilson_now_understands.html

[7] ttp://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/cintra_wilson_jc_penney.php

[8] ttp://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/tempest_in_a_tshirt_xxx_large.php

[9] ttp://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/once_more_with_feeling_1.php

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@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 The comments on Palin received much discussion, and heavy criticism from the American conservatives, among them talk show host [[Rush Limbaugh]]. During a broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Limbaugh described Wilson as "one of these just over-the-top feminist babes".<ref>http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_091508/content/01125111.guest.html</ref>
-Wilson's writing style later became a subject of controversy once again in parts of the blogosphere and fashion press for a store review which was published in the August 13, 2009 ''[[New York Times]]'' (where she is a contributor to a weekly series of columns about shopping in New York City called ''Critical Shopper''). Wilson scathingly criticized [[JCPenney]]'s new effort to open a new two-floor store in the [[Manhattan Mall]], asking:
+Wilson's writing style later became a subject of controversy once again in parts of the [[blogosphere]] and fashion press for a store review which was published in the August 13, 2009 ''[[New York Times]]'' (where she is a contributor to a weekly series of columns about shopping in New York City called ''Critical Shopper''). Wilson scathingly criticized [[JCPenney]]'s new effort to open a new two-floor store in the [[Manhattan Mall]], asking:
 "Why would this dowdy Middle American entity waddle into Midtown in its big old shorts and flip-flops without even bothering to update its ancient Helvetica Light logo, which for anyone who grew up with the company is encrusted with decades of boring, even traumatically parental, associations?"
-She also wrote: "A good 96 percent of the Penney’s inventory is made of polyester. The few clothing items that are made of cotton make a sincere point of being cotton and tell you earnestly about their 100-percent cottonness with faux-hand-scribbled labels so obviously on the Green bandwagon they practically spit pine cones." Citing J.C. Penney's strategy of of offering "people of all sizes", Wilson wrote: "(J.C. Penney)has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen." <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&ref=fashion</ref>.
+She also wrote: "A good 96 percent of the Penney’s inventory is made of polyester. The few clothing items that are made of cotton make a sincere point of being cotton and tell you earnestly about their 100-percent cottonness with faux-hand-scribbled labels so obviously on the Green bandwagon they practically spit pine cones." Citing J.C. Penney's strategy of competing with nearby [[Macy's]] by offering clothing to "people of all sizes", Wilson wrote: "(J.C. Penney)has the most obese mannequins I have ever seen." <ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13CRITIC.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&ref=fashion</ref>.
-JCPenney stated that they found the review "offensive" to their customer base<ref>http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/08/13/nyt-critical-shopper-criticized-over-jc-penney-column-issues-zen-apology/</ref>, and after heavy criticism from fashion press, advocates for the [[fat acceptance movement]]<ref>http://diaryofamadfashionista.blogspot.com/2009/08/now-cintra-wilson-knows-how-it-feels-to.html</ref> and elsewhere <ref>http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/08/cintra_wilson_now_understands.html</ref>, Wilson issued three apologies through her blog, after the first two were criticized for insincerity (the first posted apology being removed entirely), <ref>http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/cintra_wilson_jc_penney.php</ref><ref>http://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/tempest_in_a_tshirt_xxx_large.php</ref>, with the third having an even and more sober tone. However, in her typical sarcastic style, Wilson could not resist crediting her "personal beliefs as a Buddhist" in giving what otherwise was written as a sincere apology, stating that "...the extent to which my article exacerbated these feelings is a very real failure on my end for which I sincerely apologize."  .<ref>http://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/once_more_with_feeling_1.php</ref>.
+JCPenney stated that they found the review "offensive" to their customer base<ref>http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2009/08/13/nyt-critical-shopper-criticized-over-jc-penney-column-issues-zen-apology/</ref>, and after heavy criticism from fashion press, advocates for the [[fat acceptance movement]]<ref>http://diaryofamadfashionista.blogspot.com/2009/08/now-cintra-wilson-knows-how-it-feels-to.html</ref> and elsewhere <ref>http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/08/cintra_wilson_now_understands.html</ref>, Wilson issued three apologies through her blog, after the first two were criticized for insincerity (the first posted apology being removed entirely), <ref>http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/08/cintra_wilson_jc_penney.php</ref><ref>http://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/tempest_in_a_tshirt_xxx_large.php</ref>, with the third having an even and more sober tone. However, in her typical sarcastic style, Wilson could not resist crediting her "personal beliefs as a Buddhist" in giving what otherwise was written in the form of a sincere apology, stating that "...the extent to which my article exacerbated these feelings is a very real failure on my end for which I sincerely apologize."  .<ref>http://www.cintrawilson.com/dregs/2009/08/once_more_with_feeling_1.php</ref>.
 == Works ==