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Like everyone else on the planet I have opinions.
And because my job is to produce content I often get to voice these
opinions on a rather large platform. I write articles every day and I
also tweet, comment on the news and other people’s work, and I post a lot of nonsense on Facebook. Most of you already know that.
What you probably don’t know though, is that nary a day goes by without someone telling me I should get fired. The reasons for this are as varied as they are absurd. Well absurd to me, at least.
According to a staggering amount of people I am either a man-hating feminazi, or a foul-mouthed slut. Incongruously sometimes I manage to be both at the same time. Daily I am told to be ashamed for writing or publishing feminist drivel. I’ve been accused of being part of the problem more times than I care to count.
I also get told to go back to the kitchen on a weekly basis. And at least twice a day people call me names, insult my mother, and they pity my unborn children (when they’re not assuming I’m must be barren). Hell, Ivo Vegter has even written an entire column about my mean spirit and suggested that his friend hates me more than the men she was gang raped by.
I have never gotten suspended though.
Why am I telling you this?
Well, two FHM writers got suspended yesterday. A public outcry broke loose after they made jokes on Facebook about corrective rape and date rape, but worryingly there’s been a weird backlash today.
Some people are calling the incident a lynch mob (you know, that thing where someone gets brutally killed by a gang of people without a trial.) Those who haven’t read about the influence of rape culture on actual rape statistics are still defending and protecting the sacred rape joke. The rest are loudly lamenting the death of freedom of speech because apparently, if you can get into trouble for things you say then all is lost.
Ehem. Since when did we ever NOT get into trouble for making public statements? Companies have always fired or suspended people for embarrassing their brands. There have always been a gazillion random things that, if it ever escaped your piehole, would have gotten you axed.
So why is adding “making jokes about hate crimes on a public platform” to that list such a terrifying thing?
Of course, people can say anything they want to say. But then they have to deal with the consequences when what they say makes people angry with them.
It’s that simple. It’s how the game works, folks. So put on your big girl panties if you want to play.
We all had to.
What you probably don’t know though, is that nary a day goes by without someone telling me I should get fired. The reasons for this are as varied as they are absurd. Well absurd to me, at least.
According to a staggering amount of people I am either a man-hating feminazi, or a foul-mouthed slut. Incongruously sometimes I manage to be both at the same time. Daily I am told to be ashamed for writing or publishing feminist drivel. I’ve been accused of being part of the problem more times than I care to count.
I also get told to go back to the kitchen on a weekly basis. And at least twice a day people call me names, insult my mother, and they pity my unborn children (when they’re not assuming I’m must be barren). Hell, Ivo Vegter has even written an entire column about my mean spirit and suggested that his friend hates me more than the men she was gang raped by.
I have never gotten suspended though.
Why am I telling you this?
Well, two FHM writers got suspended yesterday. A public outcry broke loose after they made jokes on Facebook about corrective rape and date rape, but worryingly there’s been a weird backlash today.
Some people are calling the incident a lynch mob (you know, that thing where someone gets brutally killed by a gang of people without a trial.) Those who haven’t read about the influence of rape culture on actual rape statistics are still defending and protecting the sacred rape joke. The rest are loudly lamenting the death of freedom of speech because apparently, if you can get into trouble for things you say then all is lost.
Ehem. Since when did we ever NOT get into trouble for making public statements? Companies have always fired or suspended people for embarrassing their brands. There have always been a gazillion random things that, if it ever escaped your piehole, would have gotten you axed.
So why is adding “making jokes about hate crimes on a public platform” to that list such a terrifying thing?
Of course, people can say anything they want to say. But then they have to deal with the consequences when what they say makes people angry with them.
It’s that simple. It’s how the game works, folks. So put on your big girl panties if you want to play.
We all had to.
