Okay, so I’m not normally quite this rabid, but this is one
of those times when I have to get all frothing and foamy. (In a bad way.)
Opposing Views, which I follow on FB and read sometimes, had
an article that I pulled up about a girl in India who got revenge on her
rapist. It was her uncle, and he was a religious
doctor (called a tantrik) who claimed he could heal her but instead raped
her. He wanted her to come back for more
“treatment.” She came prepared – she brought
a cell phone and a knife. She recorded
their conversation using the cell phone, and then she castrated him with the
knife. Nice and simple, right?
There’s even a nice picture of people standing around
holding a sign that says “Stop Crimes on Women.”
But the rest of the page seems to give a totally different
message. There are five different images
across the top that are meant to drag the viewer on. Of these, four of them are of women: one of
an attractive woman crying, mascara smeared; one of two women kissing, labeled “Celebrities
That Swing Both Ways!”; one of a woman in very tight, very small clothing with
a police officer looking on; the last one of a woman in lingerie and heels in a
provocative pose, labeled “The 10 Best Butts in Hollywood!”
Seriously, Opposing Views?
Seriously? This is the shit that
you chose to pair with a story about rape?
Four different stories with images (and probably “stories” – if you can
call a list of “best butts” a story) that clearly treat women as objects. The photo of the woman in small, tight
clothing doesn’t even show her face – clearly, that’s not an important part of
a woman – and the headline is “New Rule in Seabrook, TX,” although I bet that,
whatever was the closest town to the viewer would be reflected there. It’s click bait. Meaningless crap that shows women off as,
well, meaningless crap.
So I’m no longer following them on FB. And I’m posting up this blog. Maybe if they lose enough click-thrus and
followers, they might learn that women don’t appreciate being treated this
way. Maybe they’re learn that women should
be treated with respect and…oh, who am I kidding? They’ll never learn. But at least we can stop giving them their
clicks.
