We Don’t Get To Be Outraged

So here’s the thing… I’ve been following all this about #metoo and Harvey Weinstein and Keven Spacey and Louis C.K. and George Takei (etcetera, etcetera, etcetera) as it has revealed itself in the media like a silent slow motion space explosion. It has taken me some figuring out on my internal feels about it. I was expecting from myself to immediately leap upon the SJW outrage-train as I so often do, and rattle all the sabers along with everyone else.

But for some inexplicable reason, I could not find it within myself. I felt… confused. As sometimes is the case, it has taken me a number of days reflection to figure out just what is going on within myself to be feeling this way. It all just felt so… hollow.

What it feels like is this. For decades, generations, maybe even centuries, women have been saying, “Hey, this here is a problem…” And for decades, generations, and maybe even centuries we continue to be silenced, cast aside, gas lighted, name-called, over-emotional, making stuff up, and so on and so forth. Then somehow the tides turn. A tipping point arrives and SUDDENLY people start believing.

Out of the wood works comes the outrage. Companies are dropping sponsorship. Contracts are slashed. Statements are being released. Investigations are undergoing. People are shocked. Shocked! I tell you!

 

Meanwhile, us women are over here going, “Really? Where’s all this concern been for the last millennia?” I mean, this very same culture which is currently scrambling to decry predatory behavior is the very same which gave us John Wayne, Han Solo, Rhett Butler, Stanley Kowalski, James Bond, Happy Days, Belvedere Vodka, Edward Cullen, and Christian Grey. Not to mention the huge online communities such such as 4chan, reddit, Return of Kings, Men’s Rights, and so on. The same who cheerfully sings along as Danny Zucco’s leather jacket friend asks “Did she put up a fight?” and no one bats an eye.

The same which gave us the super questionable subplots in Sixteen Candles, Revenge of the Nerds, General Hospital, and so forth,  in which the underdog gets the girl after he literally rapes her. That which, for a good long while, only gave us the Princess Leia collectible action figure available in which she is wearing the gold bikini, literally the uniform of her sexual captivity…

The list goes on… and on… and on…

We witness scads of movies in which the guy is ‘rewarded’ with the beautiful woman at the end due to his machismo, niceness, heroics, or because he tricked her somehow into liking him. The message is consistent. Do x,y, and z, and you get the girl. So when people do x, y, and z, and they don’t get the girl, they are faced with this dilemma and the underlying (or overtly blatant) message is, just go take it. Those who do are rewarded, lauded, and sometimes even voted into the highest office in the land.

Bottom line, we can’t name these men being accused of sexual assault and harassment as outliers, monsters which are obviously the exception. No. What we are seeing here is the natural outcome of a hedonistic society which devalues over half the population, viewing the majority of its citizens and commodities worth nothing more than the pleasure they can bring to those within the dominant demographic.

We are reaching a tipping point, and maybe this will bring about a new day of understanding among human beings. Change takes time, and maybe these allegations will in turn open people’s minds and begin a new era of self-reflection and mutual respect. But until then, I’ll be here, waiting for the Ghostbusters sequel.

Guest Post: Edgar Bacon on America

Edgar Bacon is an essayist who also has several published works on Amazon. He typically writes under a pseudonym. Follow him on Facebook here. I am thrilled to have him as a guest blogger. Thanks Edgar!

So election day has come and gone in America. Some of us are okay with the results. Some of us are terrified. Already there are phrases being bandied about, threats of cessation. People exclaiming, “He’s not my president!” Others are smugly crossing their arms and declaring that we should all fall in line and respect him. Strangely these appear to be the very same people who dug in their heels and cried about every conspiracy under the sun for the last eight years. But about one thing they are right. The Electoral College has spoken.(I find it imperitive to point out that our girl did indeed carry the will fo the people through the popular vote.) Nonetheless, Donald Trump is the President Elect. There is no getting around it.

As chagrined as I am on the outcome, I will not be one of those people who say, he is not my President. I will say I did not vote for him. I will say I think he is wildly unfit for the job, but we live under the democratic system and it is what it is. As long as I choose to live in the good ole U.S. of A. he will be my president, regardless of how I feel about it.

What I will say is this. This is not my America.

Already we are seeing evidence of the kind of atmosphere we can expect for the next four years. Before the polling stations had even closed there was at least one shooting in California. All over social media, stories are starting to pour in about assaults both verbal and physical. Twitter feeds of open mysoginy are no longer afraid to keep quiet. Nor are they shamed to do so out in the streets during open daylight hours either. Racist statements which were once whispered behind closed doors are now proudly posted or spoken for all the world to experience.

This is not my America.

The vitriol which has arisen from this campaign has emboldened the hidden racism broiling not that far under the surface of this nation. The mysoginy and outright creep fest that this man has given us has rivaled that of coked-out movie stars. The priveledged live by their own rules. The problem is, this time he is in the most powerful position in the land. It is open season on… well, everyone. Unless you can hide behind being a cis, white, straight male, you are no longer safe.

This is not my America.

 People are frightened. If he does what he promises to do, we will become a facist nation. There is no question. That is, if we haven’t already. If ACA is repealed, people will die. It is that simple. This is why people are terrified. If equal amendment rights are rolled back a huge chunk of our population will lose so many rights that the rest of us take for granted. The level of hostility will rise. If Roe v. Wade is scaled back, millions of women will lose life saving access to care, and people will die. And finally, if some such foreign leader calls him the wrong name, or insults him somehow… well, I’ll let you do the math on that one.

I’ll say it again. This is not my America.

Walking down the street, I feel a modicum of safety in my everyday life. The America I know strives to provide that same level of safety to all her citizens. All of them. The America I know strives to be a world leader, an example of opportunity for people of all walks. Oh, and quick reminder, unless you grew up on the rez, we’re all immigrants. No caveats. No loop holes. Let’s get over that already.

It could be we will get through the next four years without so much as an incident. I hope that is true. Hopefully the system of checks and balances will keep everything running, the grind of working politics. Maybe all this braggadocious was just hot air and come January, he will show up with his game face on.

But whether he does or not, the evidence shows the people taking advantage of the example already set before us. It is these people that terrify me. It is these people who make my blood run cold at the idea that, yes folks, this in fact, is our America.

BANNED!!!

Well, this is a first…

A couple of days ago, I am scrolling through my Facebook feed, as I do and I come across a post, responding to the bathroom debate. This post strikes a chord with me and so I repost it. I click through to the original post, and I find that it is in the early stages of going viral. I believe it was stated that it had been shared 15,000 times in the first 24 hours. That’s viral, y’all.

Then, some time later, I return to facebook to find that I have been completely logged out. When I go through the steps to log back in, a page sized warning appears, containing the very post which I already know has gone viral. I have already posted it twice as the original poster has said that hers had been removed several times as well. Okay, fine. I log back in. Now I don’t consider myself TOO MUCH of an online activist. I have at most dabbled in the whole SJW scene, but this post was good. Very good. Like Killer Martinis good, and obviously, I am not the only one to think so.

I reposted it. Last night I opened my phone for one quick check. Once again I have been completely logged out. Once I go through all the steps to log back in I receive a page sized warning that I have been BANNED from Facebook for 24 hours, and the offending post is named as the reason. Much eye-rolling ensued. This is a description of one person’s perception of her own experience. Nothing more.

So why then, did it continue to be removed? One of the warnings I received stated that it contained “nudity or descriptions of nudity”. Unlike, for example, the group I found rather easily who’s description contains a well-known slur and who’s icon depicts a celebration of rape? Or another page which contains memes such as one describing the “perfect date” followed by a picture of a chloroform bottle, a black van, and a forest. Both pages show followers in the thousands. These are just two examples.

Checking out facebook’s  Community Standards pinpoints objections towards nudity and hate speech as I was informed in my wrist slap ban notice. Apparently rape threats do not constitute hate speech? I cannot fathom what within this post would constitute nudity or hate speech, especially compared to what is already so easily found on the social media platform.

My intention is to re-post the offending letter here, but I do wish to gain permission from the original author for doing so. As I have been banned from facebook for the time being, I cannot contact anyone through the platform. But a quick Bing search of the name Kasey Rose-Hodge should give you a long list of the various outlets which have picked up the story. Why would this be banned so vehemently and consistently by a platform which encourages “People [to] use Facebook to challenge ideas, institutions, and practices.” What do you think?

EDIT: The number of shares has been updated to 15,000 in the first 24 hours. The post originally said 4500.