Why is everyone so slap happy? What I mean to say is, why is everyone so slap happy when men are the slapees? It’s not hard to notice that men being slapped, punched, and abused in one form or another, is so common now, that it goes virtually unnoticed. And history has clearly shown us, when people start to ignore or dismiss violence against a certain group of people, the danger to that group grows exponentially until it becomes an atrocity. It was/is true for certain religions, certain races, certain ethnicities, certain sexual orientations, certain philosophies, and, of course, a certain gender…the female gender.
In the western world, historical atrocities against the female gender have been widely recognized, harshly criticized, and aggressively sterilized. And although the levels of violence against females is still too high, and the danger to girls and women is still present, there is no denying that the campaign to eradicate violence against women has been very loud, and very effective. However, on the other end of the spectrum, the campaign to eradicate violence against men has been…well, it hasn’t been anything, because it doesn’t exist. It simply does not exist.
And because it doesn’t exist, violence against men is fodder for the masses. Kick a man in the balls = funny; punch a man in the gut = funny; slap or punch a man in the face = hilarious. Take a look at the clips below to see just how common violence against men seems to be.
It takes just 18 seconds for this promo to encourage us to watch the major motion picture release of ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting,’ by showing us the humorous act of a wife slapping her attentive husband.
This next commercial takes a mere 1 second for the abuse to begin, and then there are several more acts of violence to follow. I guess the Pepsi Company considers violence against men to be an adequate invitation to buy Pepsi products.
The mood of the preceding commercial is blatantly angry, and is summed up perfectly by author Harry Beckwith, J.D., in Psychology Today (Published on February 8, 2011 ): ‘It’s angry….Pepsi hit us with a girlfriend who kicks her boyfriend, shoves his face into a pie and then forces a bar of soap into his mouth. When he notices a pretty blonde, Girlfriend-In-Need-of–Restraining-Order hurls a full Pepsi can at him. Fortunately for the boyfriend, her throw misses. Unfortunately for the blonde, it whacks her flush in her forehead and sends her tumbling to the ground.’
The violence in the Fiat commercial below kicks in at 14 seconds. But it’s OK because the violence is committed by a sexy woman, who then proceeds to paw the man she slapped. There’s obviously nothing more enjoyable than getting slapped and groped by a stranger. Isn’t that right ladies?
So it seems the woman in the commercial makes up for the violence by rubbing the guys shoulders and whispering sweet nothings in his ear. I guess that cleans the slate, and she should be forgiven for assaulting him? Or is that the cycle of violence we warn women about.
Then below, Katy Perry decides to bypass the slapping, and instead, at the 3:32 mark, she opts for the power punch as she knocks the crap out of her Prince Charming (an obvious reference to her former prince Russel Brand).
What was the songstress trying to say in that video, ‘When you’re finished with your Prince Charming, don’t just walk away. Walk up to him sweetly, and when he least expects it, clock him in the jaw. And don’t worry, we’re allowed to do it because we’re girls. The world understands we’re incapable of controlling our emotions?’ Is that the message to the millions of girls worldwide who cling to every Katy Perry lyric?
And to top off this violence fest, we have several of the most egregious and despicable acts of violence towards men — the always-funny kick in the balls
10 seconds into this next clip a woman delivers a devastating crotch kick to a man, because he arrogantly says to her boyfriend, “Your girlfriend’s got a good head on her shoulders really.” And then 36 seconds in, she sexually assaults a guy by grabbing his balls when he least expects it. These are two acts which would easily land a guy in prison (TV/movie prison or real prison)
About 55 seconds into the clip below we see another crippling nut shot.
And finally, 10 seconds into this clip we see a ballbuster…then we see it over and over again throughout.
How in the hell is this acceptable? But the fact that it is acceptable may be our fault. We let someone kick us in the balls for entertainment?! Really? I know the man is volunteering to be kicked in the balls, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is acceptable to have some woman kick the crap out of some man for entertainment. I don’t hesitate to say, a man being kicked in the balls is far worse than a woman being slapped in the face. Neither should be acceptable, but one can literally cripple a person, while the other may cause bruising at worse. Can you imagine a woman volunteering to get savagely kicked by a man, to any part of her body, while others sit around and laugh? And can you imagine the harsh and unrelenting blowback heaped on the man who volunteered to do the kicking? He would be hunted far and wide, and I’m sure authorities would seek charges against him. Woman can kick man in the testicles for mainstream entertainment; man could never kick woman in the vagina for mainstream entertainment (whether she volunteered for it or not).
While we’re at it, let’s stop to think for a second, what if the roles were reversed in any of these clips (or any other media clips)? What if advertisers used violence against women in efforts to sell consumer products or comedic entertainment? What if male singers, especially rappers, used an image of a guy slugging his princess in the jaw as an amusing means of breaking up with her? What if guys were kicking the crap out of women in TV shows and movies, and the violence was just brushed over as benign, meaningless acts, written into scripts to facilitate escapes from non life-threatening situations, or just cutesy, unprovoked acts of defiance by strong-willed males? As you recall, the groin kicking in the clips had nothing to do with life-or-death situations, or even situations where women were fighting off attacks of any kind. They just felt like kicking guys in the balls.
If these were men assaulting women, there would be anti-violence marches from coast to coast, occupied by millions of emotional women and men. But when men are subjects of the violence, society is marchless; society is voiceless; society is emotionless; society couldn’t care less!
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E.D. Joe
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