After struggling to come up with a blog post for this month I have decided to post up an entry from my journal for you to read.
While thinking about the topic to write for this journal entry. I had spark of inspiration from a very negative social interaction that occurred right in front of me. A women slapping a man, it isn’t that major of a thing to occur yet the sound of the slap resounded around me. I questioned why did I just accept a women assaulting a man as completely normal. To look at it from a societal perspective it seems to be acceptable for a women to slap a guy. If a guy did the same to a women there would be swaths of people who would stand up for this women. Yet in this occurrence there wasn’t any of that social outrage. A man getting hit was deemed socially appropriate for a street.
To look at it from a legal stand point the woman has committed assault, if the guy tried to defend himself there is a fair chance that he would get charged himself by the police. This level of social injustice occurs every day men are subjugated to unfair judgements just by being male. A women cries rape after having consensual sex with a man, an action which is damaging to the social movement for equality between man and women. Even if this man is shown to be innocent, others will still look down upon him due to no other reason then he is male, he must have raped. This burden is already assumed by everyone in society, as a male we have to face this level of injustice, yet if we even try to defend ourself we are labeled as misogynistic or chauvinistic.
The man walked away from the women attack him which is one of the best things that could have happened. This very act as amazing as it is is also an examplarery route to takeม that displays some of the best characteristics a man could have. Being intelligent enough to assess the situation and choose the course of action that would result in the best outcomes. Nonetheless the act of walking away or surrendering is deemed not masculine historically, literarily and socially. A norm which we should all challange and try and change. While this argument was occurring, I was more astounded to hear someone called “hit her” while in some cultures this might be acceptable, this is the western world where any sort of violence is frowned upon. The mentality of the person who yelled “hit her” is a hugely negative mentality it is this mentality that causes many issues in society. It is the very mentality that inflames the situation rather then dissuade.
The main reason the situation that unfolded on the street stuck out and hit so close to home for me is, I have been a victim of domestic violence, I hate to write that I was a victim. However I was assaulted on a regular bases by a women that I was in a intimate relationship with. This relation was a destructive relationship which had a huge negative impact on my life. Yet it was surprisingly accepted by everyone around me that a women would hit or attack a man.
These double standards or inequalities occur in society everyday, due to gender, age, sexuality, race and religion. Yet it seems natural for those who witness them to stand to the side, from my positions I should have done more I should have somehow stopped this women from slapping the man, however I did not.
Here ends my second blog post for the year, please stay keep an eye on this space for more posts.
