Recently, I've been unliking - no matter how puny, silly or outright funny their name is - all the pages that post shitty pictures, videos or links to dubious sources on Facebook.
Most of these posts are sexist, racist or oppressive in some way. Even when
the name of the page is as innocuous as "Mike Wazowski".
Why is a page that is supposed to show to the world that I like a character from an animated movie posting degrading pictures? And, more importantly, why does Facebook allow it?
Why is a page that is supposed to show to the world that I like a character from an animated movie posting degrading pictures? And, more importantly, why does Facebook allow it?
Facebook has certain Community Standards that are somewhat ambiguous and
definitely not respected by many users. When a user posts something that is
distasteful or offensive, other users can report it to Facebook, who will
review the content following their own regulations and either deleted or leave it.
Over the past few years and up until recently, several news outlets have
been pointing out at their reproachable choices of action. For instance, Facebook has
been under a lot of fire for not deleting groups or pages that are pro-rape or
display pro-rape messages. It took them months to take down pages or groups
such as "You know she's playing hard to get when your chasing her down an
alleyway", "I know a silly little b--ch that needs a good slap",
"define statutory" or "Kicking sluts in the vagina because its
[sic] funny watching your foot disappear"on the grounds that it was meant to be a joke.
Nirvana's "Nevermind"cover violates the terms of use but, disturbingly
enough, a video of a child being abused by a grown man stayed on
Facebook long enough to become viral before it was taken down.
Even pages that promote anti-Semitism by denying the Holocaust happened get to stay.
Pages that promote violence against women – by posting pictures of specific women and
photoshopping bruises and a bloody nose on them, with captions that suggest
that women need
to be beaten on the regular – are allowed to stay up and running, until several
people report it and the story is finally picked up by international media outlets, Facebook issued an apology (although not to the
woman).
If hitting the news doesn't warrant the deletion of the offensive pages, change.org
petitions need to be signed by thousands or, if that doesn't get the message across, the Advertising companies need to tell Facebook to pull their
ads from these sites because they don't want their products affiliated with the page's message.
However, Facebook has taken down pictures of pregnant women, pictures from "Uprising of Women in
the Arab World" of unveiled Arab women as well as a picture of instructions for a home abortion (whether safe
& legal or not, I'm not sure...I don't know why you would go to the
pharmacist and ask for Cytotec for your grandmother's arthritis. If the
pharmacist needs to ask what you need them for, are you being careful enough?
And as for the legality...is this what a consequence of criminalizing abortion
looks like?). Also not okay to post are pictures of breast cancer survivors
who've undergone a double mastectomy, of women breastfeeding or of elbows that look like a boobs.Even drawings of female nudity are removed. Men kissing are not allowed but Jenna Jameson and Suicide Girls are.
Jeebus, that's a lot of stuff.
But is it fair to say that Facebook is hypocritical and oppressive on purpose or should we assume that they are just misguided and ignorant, playing by the rules that the patriarchy has set up over a long period of time?In which case, does pointing out sexist they are work? There are initiatives (as well as twitter hashtags) out there such as everyday sexism that don't explicitly educate about sexism but narrate situations that are sexist. But like Lindy West puts in her article about the misogyny Seth MacFarlane demonstrated in the Oscars as humour, "you might as well write me a note on a banana peel demanding that I prove to you that bananas exist". Why do we need to constantly prove that sexism is a thing? And why do women (and men) that draw attention to the social injustice we live in get threatening emails and calls, and their personal information (and of their families and friends) publicized for the sole purpose of terrorizing them?
What are we so afraid of? The wrath of these cowardly people? The anonymous bullies?
Well, I'm not afraid. Because I know the other side is better than this. I know that equality is attainable and that with it we can eradicate this violence against our bodies and our voice.
We should never stop using our voice. You saw what happened to Ariel in The Little Mermaid, right?
Guys, this is the second to last post. I hope you enjoy it, we're almost done.
But is it fair to say that Facebook is hypocritical and oppressive on purpose or should we assume that they are just misguided and ignorant, playing by the rules that the patriarchy has set up over a long period of time?In which case, does pointing out sexist they are work? There are initiatives (as well as twitter hashtags) out there such as everyday sexism that don't explicitly educate about sexism but narrate situations that are sexist. But like Lindy West puts in her article about the misogyny Seth MacFarlane demonstrated in the Oscars as humour, "you might as well write me a note on a banana peel demanding that I prove to you that bananas exist". Why do we need to constantly prove that sexism is a thing? And why do women (and men) that draw attention to the social injustice we live in get threatening emails and calls, and their personal information (and of their families and friends) publicized for the sole purpose of terrorizing them?
What are we so afraid of? The wrath of these cowardly people? The anonymous bullies?
Well, I'm not afraid. Because I know the other side is better than this. I know that equality is attainable and that with it we can eradicate this violence against our bodies and our voice.
We should never stop using our voice. You saw what happened to Ariel in The Little Mermaid, right?
 |
| That's how the getcha - forget your voice, gurl, objectify yourself. for empowerment! |
Guys, this is the second to last post. I hope you enjoy it, we're almost done.
(As my procrastination tool this semester, I'm re-watching Community - Nick is a total enabler)
I have to say the fact that Facebook deletes pictures of cancer survivors and women breast feeding is absolutely insane. I have seen much worse things posted on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteAs for why these posts last so long I almost think it has to do with how guys are brought up. Like for example you asked why people that speak out against these things get all kinds of hate mail or why these groups hide behind the saying "it's only a joke". A majority of guys are brought up to follow the dominant group and if you try to complain about an action they are doing they tend to look at you and say you are over reacting, it's only a joke, etc. Using this as an attempt to make you change your views on a particular subject to conform to the group.
And no matter how old a guy gets we still make jokes at the expense of others. So for many guys when we see these kinds of posts we sadly tend to laugh at them and not think about what these groups really are about. So when people complain about them many people don't take the complaints seriously until people are banging down their door.
Jesus.... that's just absolutely terrible...
ReplyDeleteI never knew it could be that bad and I actually had no knowledge of such things before reading this post. It's hard to believe that someone can actually promote the abuse of women and rape.
It's actually really sad that people can think and act this way. Especially how the administrators of Facebook can just sit around and let these kinds of offensive things to continue until it gets international coverage.
It is ridiculous how people prioritize things and always go for the retarded frivolous bullshit and are offended by genuinely good things.