Pop Culture Hates Women
There's something I've been wanting to talk about for a while, but it's something I've personally been struggling with. I've been going back and forth on the topic, and ultimately I've come to a conclusion. I can no longer support any of Woody Allen's movies. Last year, (or maybe it was two years ago), Dylan Farrow wrote Allen an open letter where she accusses Allen of sexually assaulting her as a young girl. Before this happened, I argued quite a bit with my students about the Chris Brown incident. It was amazing to me how many of my female students would jump to Brown's defense when I called him a disgusting asshole. I'm astounded by the fact that my students would literally get angry with me about this discussion, and nobody came to Rihanna's defense. In fact, my students would belittle her and tell me, "Hey, she likes to get beat. She sings about it." or "Hey she was kind of a bitch to him." And I would get so infuriated and tell them, "Boycott his crap! He's a man who is not sorry for anything that he did! A man who throws a chair out of a window when they ask questions about his past is not sorry! A man who gets the face of the women he beat tattooed on his neck is not sorry!" Ugh! Why is a woman who is comfortable with her sexuality deserving of getting beat? Ultimately, it was easy for me to boycott Chris Brown. Not a fan of shitty music, you know.
But then came the case of Woody Allen. And all of a sudden, the tables were turned on me. I was struggling, and I felt awful about it! His movies are so cute and romantic! And it's just not fair! My god, it made me feel like a terrible person. Of course, I know I'm not, but I hope you all know what I mean. It was just one of those epiphanies that we sometimes have, and ultmately I could not be a hypocrite. I would not be a woman who stands up for women's rights if I continued to support Woody Allen. I would not be a woman who truly believes the thousands of women who are told to keep quiet about their rape. I would be a woman who does these things at her own convenience. And that's just not the type of fighter I want to be. In my mind and in my heart, there's no denying what Woody Allen did. He married his own 21 year old stepdaughter when he was 56.
Why would a young woman come forward about a rape that happened many years ago, now? Why would she make something like that up? I'm sick of living in this society where we constantly question the victim. And we only seem to question victims when they're women! But we have this huge list of male celebrities who are proven to be disgusting assholes, and nobody questions them. In fact, we victimize them as opposed to the real victims. I've been told plenty of times to separate the artist from the person. No. Not anymore. I refuse to support a pedophile. I refuse to support a man who beats his wife. Just to list a few:
Chris Brown
You know what's really sad? There are times when I think to myself about all these celebrities who have done terrible thing that violates basic human rights. And I think to myself, "Well shit. I mean I would have to give up mostly all movies and music if I were to continue this!" I think that's a pretty fucked up situation. The fact that we continue to glorify monsters and tell society that it's okay, as long as they are loved, as long as they entertain, and as long as they have money, they can do whatever they want.
Here are a couple of articles provided by Cracked.com that points out just how shitty some of these so called beloved celebrities are.
I'm so sick of living in a society that thrives on pop culture when pop culture continuously demeans women. For sure, we have taken major steps forward and it's awesome. Girls by Lena Dunham. Beyonce. Emma Watson. Just to name a few. But it's not enough. As a high school teacher, I'm so sick of hearing "I would never hit a girl, but I would slap a bitch." I'm so sick of hearing, "Just get her drunk and she'll loosen up easily." I am over the whole, "She was acting like a drunken bitch and she wonders why people call her a slut." Where do these kids get these ideals? It's not just pop culture, I'm most definitely aware of that. But pop culture plays a big part in it that I cannot ingore it anymore.
Here's an amazing video that points out all the anti-women issues pop culture bestows on us. And this is not me telling you all to boycott Woody Allen and Roman Polanski. This is just me telling you to open your eyes and pay attention to who we idolize.
Photos provided by |rolesreboot.org| feistyfeminist.tumblr.com|
