Hello lovelies! The post this week will follow on from last weeks, 'Is Fifty Shades normalizing rape?', where I questioned whether the nature of the narrative in this book made unacceptable sexual behaviour seem like the norm. This week I want to delve into the topic of victim shaming, an example of this occurred recently.
The Sun recently published a headline that read 'woman drank six jagerbombs in ten minutes on the night she was raped and murdered'. The public united in slating the tabloid for victim shaming the poor girl that this happened to. The message that this despicable headline sends is that the girl is responsible for her rape and murder because she had a bit to drink. Everyone, not just women, are entitled to go out and have fun without having to fear for their lives. A question that crossed my mind is what headline would the editors of The Sun have written if the victim was a man? Would they have blamed his alcohol in take?
This links to my post from last week as it's sending out the wrong message to not only young girls but the public as a whole. I believe that the views that people hold in society are mainly shaped by the media- after all this is our only real insight into the world around us- and so by projecting this image of women it will form some people's opinions when it comes to topics such as this. The Sun is abusing its position of power.
Another aspect of this that I'm not comfortable with is that they call her 'woman' rather than using her name. It implies that she's just another girl, a statistic. Anger bubbled within me when I read this title but I decided to read the article as I thought the title would be a typical case of click bait. However I was surprised that the writer fixated on the amount of alcohol India had had that night. The reporter also said that she was having boy trouble. The way that they've painted India is a girl who was emotionally unstable because of a boy and excessively drank because of this. In reality she had a lot to drink as she was having fun with her friends, started to feel like she had a few too many, when she got a little emotional, and decided to go home. The Sun is making excuses for the animal who did this to India, which is unacceptable.
The reporter does depict the actions that Tennison, the rapist and murderer, took to end India's life but there is no character assassination upon him at all. Why does the victim have her reputation destroyed? Why is this popular tabloid sending the wrong messages onto the public? Is it to sell their papers? If this is the reason then the society we live in is fucked up. Putting money above the reputation of a poor young girl who has been raped and murdered. God help us all.
The Sun recently published a headline that read 'woman drank six jagerbombs in ten minutes on the night she was raped and murdered'. The public united in slating the tabloid for victim shaming the poor girl that this happened to. The message that this despicable headline sends is that the girl is responsible for her rape and murder because she had a bit to drink. Everyone, not just women, are entitled to go out and have fun without having to fear for their lives. A question that crossed my mind is what headline would the editors of The Sun have written if the victim was a man? Would they have blamed his alcohol in take?
This links to my post from last week as it's sending out the wrong message to not only young girls but the public as a whole. I believe that the views that people hold in society are mainly shaped by the media- after all this is our only real insight into the world around us- and so by projecting this image of women it will form some people's opinions when it comes to topics such as this. The Sun is abusing its position of power.
Another aspect of this that I'm not comfortable with is that they call her 'woman' rather than using her name. It implies that she's just another girl, a statistic. Anger bubbled within me when I read this title but I decided to read the article as I thought the title would be a typical case of click bait. However I was surprised that the writer fixated on the amount of alcohol India had had that night. The reporter also said that she was having boy trouble. The way that they've painted India is a girl who was emotionally unstable because of a boy and excessively drank because of this. In reality she had a lot to drink as she was having fun with her friends, started to feel like she had a few too many, when she got a little emotional, and decided to go home. The Sun is making excuses for the animal who did this to India, which is unacceptable.
The reporter does depict the actions that Tennison, the rapist and murderer, took to end India's life but there is no character assassination upon him at all. Why does the victim have her reputation destroyed? Why is this popular tabloid sending the wrong messages onto the public? Is it to sell their papers? If this is the reason then the society we live in is fucked up. Putting money above the reputation of a poor young girl who has been raped and murdered. God help us all.
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