“ On reality television, gratuitous violence and explicit sexuality are not only entertainment but a means to an end. These enthusiastically documented humiliations are positioned as necessities in the service of some final prize or larger benefit — a marriage proposal, a modeling contract, $1 million. But they also make assault and abasement seem commonplace, acceptable behavior, tolerated by women and encouraged in men.
”

That’s Anna Holmes in an op-ed for The New York Times. The Jezebel creator examines the public’s response (or lack there of) to Sheen’s alleged mistreatment of women. I agree with Holmes on a number of points in her column — that Piers Morgan should have pushed harder on the domestic abuse allegations, that his calling Sheen a “rock star” is wildly inappropriate — but it seems like she really drove it home right here. What’s bothered me most the past week is the fact that the Sheenissohillarious craze has not only been tolerated by women but supported by them, fitting nicely into the trend Holmes outlines in this here quote.

By encouraging Sheen’s current antics, we are downplaying the alleged threats of decapitation, accidental shooting, and general battery of the women in his life — making them “commonplace, acceptable behavior.”

-LB

[The New York Times]

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