History of Feminism

Squinch

(53,591 posts)

15. Sea, you and I may not agree on this...

Sat Mar 8, 2014, 12:31 PM

Mar 2014

but because I have such respect for your position, I'll try and explain mine.

Yes. I completely agree. The video was awful. I can see why you see it as a version of what we have been fighting here together, namely the exploitation and normalization of real and depicted violence caused by rape porn.

But I took something different from it. I have been dimly, only dimly, aware of what has been going on in the DRC. I have heard bits and pieces of it, but did not know how it connected with me. I did not realize that products that I use, that I buy, are involved in this horror. The rapes of this family depicted, to me, were very different from depictions of rape porn. It showed me that the people PERPETRATING the crimes are just like me. The video brought home to me the fact that I am complicit in the horror of these rapes that are happening in the DRC every day.

The message I took from the video is that WE are doing this. WE are guilty of this horror. This computer I am typing on right now is part of the problem. (I looked them up. They are one of the worst companies.)

I don't know if a less graphic video would have brought me up as short. I totally understand your revulsion. I do know that, having seen this one, I will never be able to participate in those atrocities the way I did before I saw it.

If there are others like me, who simply won't buy again from companies who are not working against this problem, if the depiction of the rape of this family prevents the actual rape of another family, I think the video will have been worth the horror and loathing that we feel watching it.

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when i see a video, and i hear people cheer the video seeing a girl, [View all] seabeyond Mar 2014 OP

As I said to you at the time, my reaction is similar. malthaussen Mar 2014 #1

" I do tend to shy away from the "this mustn't be seen" response." then, normalize. seabeyond Mar 2014 #3

I doubt it accomplishes even that. malthaussen Mar 2014 #6

of course it does. literally, with our brain. we factually know it to be true. seabeyond Mar 2014 #7

But the mere fact that the makers of the film... malthaussen Mar 2014 #8

it is an indictment of society. if people do not say no. just no. nt seabeyond Mar 2014 #9

Then wouldn't the same argument apply to even informing us that this happened? malthaussen Mar 2014 #11

how does the visual affect us? you ask? seabeyond Mar 2014 #14

Sorry, wasn't trying to divert... malthaussen Mar 2014 #17

but... my suggestion is, it is not digging deeper. it is running away. seabeyond Mar 2014 #19

That people not only objectify women-- they objectify Sex itself ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #2

it bottom lines to.... purposely hurting a girl (or woman) to make a statement. seabeyond Mar 2014 #4

Yeah I tend to over- analyze ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #5

I think that leads into a morass of trying to define a "sexual act." malthaussen Mar 2014 #10

I found the movie ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #12

Probably by some people. malthaussen Mar 2014 #13

Kind of what I think ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #16

I do tend to think people have the right to go to hell in their own fashion... malthaussen Mar 2014 #20

Interesting and accurate point of view IMO ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #22

I mean much the same thing when I talk about "damage control." malthaussen Mar 2014 #40

do you think maybe... because you are a man not seeing these humiliations done to your body, seabeyond Mar 2014 #23

Oh, unquestionably, Seabeyond. malthaussen Mar 2014 #25

none of it is sexual, and yet sexually gets men off. point. this is my point. we create. with this seabeyond Mar 2014 #21

And never the male ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #24

exactly. wouldnt a worse horror, rather than abusing a girls body have been, taking a grown man.... seabeyond Mar 2014 #26

One of the questions I asked myself about this video malthaussen Mar 2014 #30

I have no first-hand knowledge of such... malthaussen Mar 2014 #28

In Stephan Kings revised version of "The Stand" ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #33

Yeah, these things are clearly about what I call "dominance dynamics." malthaussen Mar 2014 #36

Perhaps when people first and foremost think of penetrative sex as a violent act MadrasT Mar 2014 #44

yes, I can see how that happens in thinking of it all. Thank you. Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #49

Sea, you and I may not agree on this... Squinch Mar 2014 #15

so i ask squinch. what are we going to have to do next to a girl, to horrify us, as this becomes seabeyond Mar 2014 #18

losing the ability to feel. the extreme we are having to go to in order to feel. Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #50

The video on the Congo? BainsBane Mar 2014 #27

this is my point. women told me that video was needed to be aware. yet, i was aware without the seabeyond Mar 2014 #29

I'll just point out there is a difference between porn and documentary BainsBane Mar 2014 #31

then from a visual perspective. of watching. what is the difference. seabeyond Mar 2014 #32

One is intended to inform, and does inform BainsBane Mar 2014 #34

i said from a visual perspective. seabeyond Mar 2014 #37

this: Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #46

I, too, use to appease myself saying men are equally repulsed. Then I realized being men they could seabeyond Mar 2014 #47

Not all men participated in those threads. Surely, The Silent Majority of DU do not agree with Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #48

I was still sittin in the horror of the girl getting a rifle shoved up her. seabeyond Mar 2014 #51

That scene with the gun ... was just a flash. I actually missed it the first time I saw the video Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #52

It goes back to my concern ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #35

people coddle their "pretty little minds" (barbara bush, not an insult but point), to be able seabeyond Mar 2014 #38

I get you. ismnotwasm Mar 2014 #39

another point. another question. how do you know? how do you know MOST people will be repulsed in seabeyond Mar 2014 #41

I agree with you, BainsBane... Violet_Crumble Mar 2014 #42

OK. I am weird and maybe because of my medical background. Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #43

As a society we have become desensitized. It really is that simple. sea. Tuesday Afternoon Mar 2014 #45

I saw the landing page JustAnotherGen Mar 2014 #53