***WARNING- contains some slightly strong language & graphic/upsetting themes***
Hello everyone,
This one is going to be a bit of a rant I'm afraid, but it's on a subject that thousands of people are now extremely pissed off at. As many of you may have seen, a very well-known Youtuber has recently posted a prank video & because of the bad-taste of the prank, it's caused one big blow-up. I am talking about a video where said Youtuber is going round & touching/pinching womens backsides.
He does this by wearing a baggy hoodie with one of his arms concealed inside. The arm of the hoodie is made to look like he has his hand in his pocket. He pretends to ask these women for directions, distracting them. Meantime, he reaches out of the hoodie & pinches the woman's bum, blaming it on passers by. The first woman backs away when she realises, saying "I don't like that". The other women all back away & hurry off. He even has the cheek to try & hug them.
After looking at this youtubers videos, & some of the comments, the general opinion is that, to be honest he is a total arsehole. He treats women like meat (also see his video on adding random girls on instagram then calling them "instawhores"). Sadly, he's amongst the millions of arrogant bastards that treat women like shit & think it's funny.
I am by no means a feminist. I don't go for all of this burn-your-bra, we-hate-all-men saga. No. But I am a firm believer that women should have the right to be treated with just as much respect as men. As a victim of abuse in the past, I have been physically harmed (badly on several ocassions, some even leaving permanent scarring & damage) & made to feel degraded, worthless & scared by 2 of the men that I had past relationships with (I'll be doing a post soon on abusive relationships). I know how it feels to have my dignity, safety & well-being violated, as well as my feelings & opinions simply dismissed as irrelevant & not worth being heard. Before I met my wonderful fiance, I was convinced I was worthless & that my life really was not worth living. Luckily though, he has shown me differently & now I feel valued & happy.
Part of the problem that women in society face nowadays is that they are branded with vile names over the simplest of things. If a woman wears a short skirt, or shows a little cleavage, she is instantly called a slut or a whore. Men can sleep with as many women as they want & be called "lads" & receive praise from their friends. Yet the minute a girl sleeps with a few men she gets called a tramp, or a dirty slag.
The term "Lad" itself, that men often use just sums up their behaviour- immature, childish & moronic. The men who use this term are the same men who often refer to girlfriends or women as their "bitch" or "wench". Phrases such as "get back in the kitchen" are often said, almost as if women are just worthless skivvies, only good enough to do dirty work. In the same sense, these men talk about "shagging random birds" or "fucking their missus", like they need to prove their masculinity by using vulgar & almost juvenile language & descriptions.
Like I said earlier, I suffered abuse at the hands of 2 ex boyfriends. These men thought it their right to harm me in ways you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Because they were bigger & more powerful than me, I was told to keep my mouth shut, or else. I was told that I had to accept it, & that I deserved to be punished (one of these exes broke three of my ribs for changing my hair colour without his "permission"). They made me feel like whether I liked it or not, they owned me & I just had to accept their behaviour.
On the video in question, another extremely well-known Youtuber posted a very poignant comment. She stated: "I expect my comment is going to get deleted but for the few mins/hours it will get, I'm saying it. It really saddens me that my Daughter is growing up in a world where one day a stranger (male OR female) could touch her without her consent, on a part of her body that is private (in my opinion) in the name of 'comedy' and then have thousands of other strangers comment on it saying it's fine and she should be Ok with it. Maybe she would find it funny, maybe she would be deeply humiliated. Point is, she'd have no choice. I want my Daughter to have freedom and choices and feel that her body is respected".
This comment bought tears to my eyes. I love watching this particular Youtuber's videos. Her daughter is obviously a well-loved & happy little girl, & her mother is a funny, honest & lovely person who's videos are followed by an army of millions of loyal fans. Although I am not a mother, & may never be due to my health issues, I completely related to this comment. If I had a child it would sicken me to think that they could be victim to inappropriate conduct & made to feel humiliated with no choice, all in the name of a stupid prank.
Of course, there is a flipside too- men can equally become victim to inappropriate & humiliating conduct. A college course that I was briefly enrolled on proved this. Often, the girls would say awful things about men, use vulgar language to brag about sexual experiences, & often try to completely shift blame away from themselves to make them look like victims.
It saddens me to think that there are some vile people who truly believe that they have the right to violate someones privacy. They get off on laughing at peoples misery, & making them feel uncomfortable, acting like that person should just shut up & deal with it. The main reason why this video has upset me so much is because of that sort of behaviour being allowed to happen, & even encouraged. The fact that these women also now have the embarrassment of it being all over Youtube makes it worse so. Even in social situations I have been made to feel like I should think it normal for someone to disrespect me, & it is so unbelievably wrong.
I know that this post will probably have little impact on these so-called "lads" & "pranksters". Some will probably read this & laugh, & maybe even post abusive comments. If they were asked why they behave like this, the response would probably be "Because I can" or "I think it's funny" or "Because the girls I do it to are sluts & would do anything". It's sad really, because they feel the need to assert their dominace & gain respect by humiliation & causing misery to others.
The one main thing I noticed about the girls in this video who were victim to this prank, was
that they were all very similar. They were all wearing short skirts or revealing outfits & had lots of skin on show, they were all wearing lots of makeup with nicely done hair. They all had model-type bodies & were well groomed. He didn't choose to target other women- there were no bigger built women who fell victim to this sick prank. There were no girls that didn't have makeup on, or girls wearing baggy clothes targeted. They were all walking alone, & were good enough to stop & think they were just helping a lost passer-by, blind as to what was going to happen.
The women targeted were probably all just regular women. Some may have boyfriends or husbands, some may have girlfriends or wives. Some may have had children. They may have never experienced sexual contact before. Some might have experienced abuse in the past. Just because they were dressed they way they were, or had certain attributes, they unknowingly were being targeted & having their bums, a private & intimate area, touched, without even being asked or consenting to it.
This typically chauvinistic behaviour is seen as normal amongst like-minded persons. Lots of these men say rape is wrong, yet happily judge & degrade women. This prank is nothing more than sexual assualt. These women were victims, with no knowledge of what was going to happen. I can Imagine that most of them walked away feeling violated & scared, & now have the added humiliation that thousands & thousands of people have watched this awful & disgusting act, & knowing that there are people find it funny.
On a positive note though, as I have been writing this post, I have read that this video has been removed from Youtube. There are so many response videos being put up- many by men, stating how un-funny & appalling this video is. It's people like this youtuber & all of the other so-called "Lads" really let the side down for men. There are so many wonderful, good men in the world. Men who treat women with respect, men who don't feel the need to assert their "masculinity" by degrading & preying on women. Men who have a sense of decency & discipline. I am glad my fiancee is one of these men. There have been so many angry, upset comments from fans. He has been slammed as a "Pervert" & a "Sexual predator". Many have voiced opinions that these women should come forward & have charges pressed. Hopefully some will.
Because the video has also been edited, it is not known just how many women have fallen for this awful prank. It doesn't show any of the women getting angry- but you can almost guarantee that there were women who did get angry. Some of them may have even reacted by giving him a well-deserved slap. Some may have ran away, screamed, cried, gotten extremely scared... we just don't know.
One thing's for sure though, his Youtube career has been compromised, his reputation ruined. He will probably face alot of backlash too- maybe losing friends, angering or disappointing family members, his future relationship chances may be slim, he may even end up with a criminal record (we should hope so too), that will affect future job applications, & so much more. All for the sake of a stupid, mindless & perverted prank.
Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed it- feel free to comment below :)
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