I just read this article analyzing the recent Mel Gibson hoopla and how the media (and our society as whole) has reacted to it. It’s a great opinion piece, and you should read it, but I’ll go ahead and summarize. If you’ve been paying any attention to the coverage on this whole situation, then you may have picked up on them emphasizing Mr. Gibson’s racist remarks. Many say that he was let go by his agency because of the racism. From the article: “The claim is that Gibson screamed at his then-girlfriend that the way she dressed meant that she deserved to be raped by a pack of ‘n—-rs.’ The so-called ‘n-word’ is so totemically powerful that no one will even print it, and its use has finally placed Gibson beyond the pale: his own agents issued a statement saying that no one in Hollywood would touch him with a 10-foot pole. Because of his racial attitudes. But what about the (alleged) threats and assaults against his then girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, who claims that he broke two of her teeth, and attacked her while she was holding their baby? Those are mentioned in passing as ‘misogyny’ or ‘domestic abuse.’ Objectionable, maybe, but not enough to end a Hollywood player’s career.”
It’s undeniable how true this is; Charlie Sheen has come under fire numerous times for his abusive treatment of his girlfriends and spouses. Does it keep him from having the most-watched sitcom on television right now? No. Roman Polanski had a gaggle of celebrities come out to support him after his recent arrest, and that included a number of female celebs. Clearly raping a young girl is wrong, but if it’s an “artist” doing it, well, that might be excusable.
The actions of Hollywood agents and producers are dictated by what the American public wants. Oftentimes we can’t accept that someone who is on our favorite show or who directed our favorite movie could act in such a way. So we are unwilling to say, “No, I will no longer support this person or their projects with my time or money,” because, frankly, we enjoy them and we just don’t care enough. As long as this is the case, Hollywood will continue to support people like Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and Roman Polanski.
I this this is especially true when they’ve committed crimes against women. People can’t seem to fully vilify misogynistic crimes, such as abuse or rape. Too often, we fall prey to victim blaming. “She’s just a gold digger, so no wonder he got mad.” “She must have done something to make him so angry.” “If my girlfriend cheated on me, I’d be pretty pissed off too.” “Oh, she was dressed inappropriately, she was asking for it.” In fact, Mel’s rant is guilty of this, too. He tells Oksana that she’s asking to be raped by a group of Black men if she leaves the house dressed so provocatively. This kind of behavior is sexist (not to mention racist, in this particular case) and yet it’s the exact kind of behavior we are guilty of if we overlook his abusive actions towards Oksana.
Getting off track a bit, I can’t help but wonder how we would have reacted if it were a Black man saying these things. Look at the Chris Brown and Rihanna case. Sure, he was incredibly guilty, and deserved everything that came his way. But our reaction in comparison to the fallout of this Mel Gibson debacle was much more drastic. We cried over how a young man could hit a woman, how horrible he must be. His latest album tanked and his career is (probably, mostly) over. It seems that the reaction to Mel Gibson’s threats, his abusive words, and his apparent physical abuse towards Oksana is much more mild compared to the reaction to Chris’s abuse. Only time will tell how Mel’s career will suffer; sure, his agency dropped him, and right now he’s a pariah in Hollywood, but he came back once before, and who’s to say he couldn’t do it again? But we were so utterly appalled by Chris Brown’s actions, it would take a miracle to get him back on track (though many think he may have performed that miracle with his tears at the BET Awards). Why were we so utterly disgusted? Most likely because the stereotypes we hold dictate that this is the way we should expect Black men to act. This is, of course, not true at all, but I feel that when Chris Brown acted in this way, it satisfied something in our societal subconscious and we had to make the most of it.
And then there’s Kanye West. His actions at the VMAs were scarcely abusive, but the fallout was absolutely ridiculous. How could he possibly steal the spotlight from a pretty, young, corn-fed white girl? The brute. He may as well have smacked her and called her a litany of horrible names, judging by our collective reaction to the situation. What’s more is that, as rude as he was (and he was, though it wasn’t that big of a deal), he was right. Almost a year later, we can see that, I think. Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video was more deserving – it spawned dozens and dozens of copycats. The song was huge. No one can deny that the two videos sparked vastly different cultural reactions, and one was much more successful than the other in that respect. But the bigger issue was that a BLACK MAN had behaved rudely, in public, to a WHITE GIRL. How. Dare. He.
The undeniable truth behind this whole situation is that we are continually proving ourselves to be much more prejudiced than we like to think we are. Women aren’t even a minority, and yet we continue to struggle for equality to our male counterparts. We have a Black American President and yet the Black community still struggles against racial stereotypes and lack of privilege. It’s also beneficial that we’re aware how we think and act about very public cases of crimes against women. Are you too quick to blame or judge the woman in that situation? Ask yourself why women are constantly being blamed for the fallacies of men. If a man rapes a woman, it must be because she tempted him and we can’t count on men to control themselves. Can’t we see how this viewpoint is offensive to men as well? We’re so far away from both racial and sexual equality, and it’s completely baffling considering how much a more balanced society would benefit everyone.
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July 17, 2010 at 8:51 PM
Copper
A lot of female fans came out in support of Chris Brown, actually, saying that Rihanna must have done something to piss him off, and she doesn’t deserve him. And then, of course, there is that tentpole of modern misogyny, the Twilight series.
I think ultimately for this behaviour to stop, women en masse have to stop tolerating it on any level. The problem that arises is that female fans come out in defense of misogynistic individuals, which leads to the implicit idea that it’s not misogyny because, look, some women think that’s perfectly normal, so there must be something wrong with the victim for complaining. As long as it can be rationalised, especially like that, it won’t end.
But you’re spot on about the treatment of Kanye after the VMAs too, which is something I never understood, although that incident is probably the best thing to happen to Taylor Swift’s career. And let’s not forget the “Birthers” a group of people who popped up as soon as a black president got elected into office. That can’t be a coincidence.
Here’s the thing, though; a more balanced society wouldn’t benefit everyone. Think of all the individuals and groups that currently thrive off the perceived differences we build about each other. They’d really get hurt from a change in the status quo, so they’ll do their level best to ensure things don’t change. So it won’t be easy; but at the same time, it’s not impossible.
July 18, 2010 at 3:21 AM
leeraloo
Oh, yeah, women are some of the biggest misogynists ever. Granted, we may do it unwittingly, but we think it’s okay when we have these opinions about other women because we are also women.
And clearly straight white males have it best right now (and always), but it would benefit them to realize that there are certain ways in which a perfectly balanced society would benefit them. There wouldn’t be the whole “be a man, be macho” standard that they’d be expected to uphold. A guy could like to listen to Broadway or Britney Spears and not worry about it affecting their “masculine” image. I think a lot more young men realize this; it’s the old guard that clings on to those beliefs that allow them to live with heaps and heaps of privilege. These are probably the majority of social Conservatives, sadly.
November 30, 2010 at 5:16 AM
Laura
A lot here I agree with, but about Kanye West… Well, there was some anger I saw because, well, that’s rude. Yes, he was very true, but as Principle Seymour said, “There’s being right, and being nice.” But, a lot of what I saw wasn’t anger, but laughter. A lot of people were pretty much laughing at him (not with him), because he made an ass out of himself, and that’s why he got so memetic; he was funny, and what he said was easy to fit into a bite-sized ad-lib. “I’m happy for you, and I’ma let you finish, but (blank) is the best (blankity) of all time,” and all that.
Plus, that wasn’t the first time he’s done something pretty dumb/smart/I don’t even know, even if what he said was true (though not always).