Tags
"Whistle", Blade Runner, burglar, CM Life, column, de facto sexism, Digging our heels in the ground, disrespect, feminism, flash mob, Flo Rida, ignorance, men assigning women numbers, men killing their girlfriends, murder, One Billion Rising, Oscar Pistorius, radio music, rap music, Reeva Steenkamp, testimony, violence, We have a problem, women empowerment
**JRN202
“One billion women violated is an atrocity. One billion women dancing is a revolution.” – onebillionrising.org
It was incredibly fitting how the organization One Billion Rising launched their global flash mob – a dance that raises awareness on violence towards women – around the time “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend. There were people at my school who participated in this revolution on Wednesday last week, dancing to a mixture of songs that referred to women empowerment. This flash mob took place five times that day at five different places.
I think One Billion Rising are using a sweet method to draw attention to their organization and their cause. I went on their website and it’s impressive how they are pursuing improvement for women all over. http://onebillionrising.org/
In regards to the Pistorius case, I find it merely tragic. Whether the Olympian is innocent or guilty, there is no justice to Reeva Steenkamp’s death. She was so young and appeared to be very happy with her place in life. Is Pistorius a cold-blooded killer? Well… The jury is still out on my part, because while his tears at the first court day seemed sincere, I am skeptic about the testimony he made to the court this week. Yesterday, the Bleacher Report tweeted (via @nationalreport) an image that demonstrated Pistorius’ side to this horrible crime. https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/304980608067715073
According to Pistorius, he thought a burglar had entered the house, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Did it not occur to him that Steenkamp could have been in that bathroom? She was not in bed with him; he must have noticed that. Besides, the neighbors and the police have said that the apartment area is heavily protected; it’s nearly impossible to break in.
Pistorius has since been granted bail and there is the word out that he is attempting to contact the victim’s family. The latter makes me sad, because no matter how you look at it, imagine they must feel about him. Perhaps that’s sign that’s he’s innocent, or maybe it’s just guilt, maybe both. Who knows, it’s too early to tell.
De facto sexism
A few days ago I also read this column in CM Life called “We have a problem,” which talked about how women are still disrespected in various areas in our daily lives, but most people don’t even acknowledge it. The music that the radio plays over and over, day in and day out, shows as a perfect example how society is totally cool with guys rapping about women as though they’re sex objects to be played with. The reporter Areille Breen did well in summarizing the lyrics and clarifying the context behind the words:
The best part was when the Ying Yang Twins tell the audience about their sweaty testicles and tell women to crawl on the floor and bring their butts and breasts over to them to be ejaculated upon. Not exactly kid, women or human-friendly stuff.
It is pathetic that most people don’t pay attention to the lyrics. I mean, why on God’s good earth do they play Flo Rida’s “Whistle”? WHY? It’s a song about blow jobs and no one wants to hear about that. What if a child hears it? And what really gets under my skin is the part when Flo says, “I’m betting you like people/ and I’m betting you love freak mode/ and I’m betting you like girls that give love and girls.” HE IS CALLING HER A WHORE WHO SLEEPS WITH EVERYONE, MEN AND WOMEN. This is wrong and sickening. The radio plays that shit, but they won’t run Lupe Fiasco’s “Around My Way,” Common’s “Blue Sky” or any of Frank Ocean’s stuff? Or hell, try out Diggy’s “4 Letter Word”! Diggy is still a rookie rapper in my opinion, but he deserves far more credit than his stupid brother Flo, because he has more talent and a better style.
We can’t change the politics that go on inside the radio stations, but we can at least teach young men in our area some manners. The column goes on to tell a personal account when the reporter caught a group of guys rating female students by giving each woman a number and yes, they were doing it loudly, which is insulting to say the least. I’m proud of Breen for approaching these jerks, because if no one puts “men” like them in their place, who will?
http://www.cm-life.com/2013/02/20/column-we-have-a-problem/
**This blog entry was written for ‘Writing for Mass Media,’ JRN202, at Central Michigan University.
******************************************************************
UPDATE: