Tipper Gore
Mary Elizabeth Gore (born
August 19,
1948), known as
Tipper Gore, is the wife of former Vice President
Al Gore and was
Second Lady of the United States from
1993 until
2001.
Born
Mary Elizabeth Aitcheson in
Washington, D.C., she grew up in
Arlington, Virginia. Her parents
divorced when she was four years old and she was raised by her mother and grandmother, who gave her the affectionate name Tipper, which stuck all through her schooling. She attended St. Agnes (now
St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School), a private
Episcopalian school in
Alexandria, Virginia, where she excelled at athletics and played the
drums for an all-
girl band,
The Wildcats.
She met her future husband, Al Gore, at his
high school senior
prom (
St. Albans School in Washington, D.C.) and they were soon dating. When Gore went north to attend
Harvard University, Tipper followed, attending Garland
Junior College and later
Boston University.
Mrs. Gore received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in
psychology from
Boston University in
1970 and her
master's degree in
psychology from
George Peabody College, which later merged into
Vanderbilt University in
1975. Mrs. Gore worked as a newspaper photographer for the
Nashville Tennessean until her husband was elected to the
U.S. Congress in
1976.
In
1985, she co-founded the
Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) because she heard her 12-year-old daughter playing "
Darling Nikki" by
Prince. Critics of the PMRC, including
Jello Biafra,
Dave Mustaine, and
Frank Zappa, have accused the PMRC of conducting public and under-the-table
censorship campaigns against various recording artists and have pointed out the PMRC's ties to the American
religious right.
In
2000, Tipper Gore began to make public appearances as a "mental health" advocate. She has been criticised by human rights organizations for her ambiguous stance towards involuntary psychiatric treatment, including forced drugging and commitment of people labelled as mentally ill.
In
2002, Tipper was urged by her supporters to run for the vacant U.S. Senate seat her husband once held in
Tennessee, which was being vacated by
Fred Dalton Thompson. However, Tipper declined the offer, stating it was not the right thing for her at that time.
|
Tipper Gore with husband, Al, along with their children. |
In
2002, she and Al wrote two books on family values and the transformed American family:
Joined at the Heart and
Spirit of Family. The Gores also hold an annual conference in
Nashville that bring together families and those who work with them to talk and design better ways to strengthen family life in America. At the center of
Family Re-Union is the belief that programs and guidelines should respond to the needs of families and communities and should build on their strengths.
Al and Tipper Gore now reside in Nashville, TN. They have four children:
Karenna Gore Schiff (
August 6,
1973), Kristin (
June 5,
1977), Sarah (
January 7,
1979) and
Albert III (
October 19,
1982). They also have two grandchildren (via Karenna), Anna and Wyatt.
Tipper Gore is the subject of the song "Hook In Mouth" by
Megadeth, available on their
So Far, So Good...So What! album, released in
1988, in which frontman Dave Mustaine accuses Gore of re-writing documents and stories and obstructing freedom. She is also the subject "Startin' Up a Posse" by
Anthrax, found on their
1991 release
Attack of the Killer B's (sung by
Scott Ian), which also accuses Gore of obstructing
freedom of speech, but humorously accuses the PMRC of being "
whores" and uses heavy levels of
profanity just to get under Gore's skin.
In addition to these songs, she is mentioned in the songs
'Shelter Me' by
Cinderella, 'IfwhiteAmericatoldthetruthforonedayitsworldwouldfallapart' by
Manic Street Preachers,
'KKK bitch' by
Body Count, 'White America' by
Eminem, 'Sucks' by
KMFDM, 'Lovely' by
Suicidal Tendencies, 'Censorshit' by the
Ramones, 'Stigmata (Live)' by
Ministry, as well as 'Voldemort Can't Stop the Rock' by
Harry and the Potters.
Warrant also have a track on their
Cherry Pie album called
Ode to Tipper Gore, which is just quotes she would most definitely oppose. Canadian Alternative Rockers
Furnaceface penned the anti-Tipper ditty ironically entitled 'We Love You, Tipper Gore'.
In his book
The Ice Opinion, the rapper Ice-T wrote [page 98], "Tipper Gore is the only woman I ever directly called a bitch on any of my records, and I meant that in the most negative sense of the word". On the song "Freedom of Speech", Ice-T had also written lyrics that implied that she did not understand the nature of sex.
