I shared this video from FCKH8.com on Facebook the other night because I loved it and because I was horrified by the statistics. As we are all aware fuck is one of my favorite words so these girls dropping a few f-bombs didn't nearly have the impact on me that it had on some people.
I think we can all acknowledge that the point of this ad was that people were going to be more upset that these little girls were swearing than the statistics they were spouting in between curse words. And boy did it have people upset. One comment on the Facebook post just said:
"Absolutely not. Children should not be swearing, period."
One of my favorite stories to tell about my son was the time he was about 18 months old and I very vehemently said "fuck" while driving and he proceeded to repeat the word "fuck" over and over long enough for me to call his dad and leave him a voice message of his child dropping the f -bomb with all the enunciation the word requires. This has nothing to do with gender equality but I thought it was HILARIOUS!! I have a nephew that also swears during "guy time". Children swearing can be funny. And the woman who posted this comment proved the producers right, she completely missed the point and needs to pull the long, sharp stick out of her ass.
Then there was this guy:
"Stay classy FCKH8 taking advantage of a bunch of kids who I guarantee do not understand what they are being told to say."
Dude, let me just tell you, those girls understand what they are being told to say. They may not understand the implication and severity of the problem, but they understand. One of the things that I have always hated, as a strong girl, was when boys tried to tell me that I was too small, or too weak, or too anything. I grew up on a street with 10 boys and all of their friends. The boys that I grew up with knew what I was capable of and used to laugh when their friends would show up and talk about the things I couldn't do, or shouldn't do, because I was a girl. I can do anything, and I knew, even at 6, how much I hated to be told I couldn't do something that all of those boys were doing. My parents made sure of it.
Those girls are going to be strong and independent. They are not going to let the limitations that having a vagina automatically gives them, slow them down. Not just that, but they obviously have parents that are strong and thus are teaching them to be strong. You can tell when girl #5 asks which one of the five of them are going to be raped or assaulted she knows exactly what she is asking. We teach our kids, especially girls, about stranger danger and bad people and getting kidnapped and touched on their private parts, and yes even raped, starting as soon as they start playing at the playground. What makes anyone think those girls don't know what they are talking about. Give credit where credit is due. Kids have no choice but to be street smart. Our society dictates it.
The video's producer, Mike Kahn told AdWeek:
"Some adults may be uncomfortable with how these little girls are using a bad word for a good cause. It is shocking what they are saying, but … the big statistic that one out of five women are sexually assaulted or raped is something society seems to find less offensive than a little four-letter word."
I like sex. Sex is not something that I have ever been afraid to talk about or do. Non-consensual sex is the scariest thing I could imagine. Except for being kidnapped and forced to have non-consensual sex. That would be worse. But the statistic is being overlooked, even though every woman knows that is a fear they are forced to face at a very young age. Not all men rape, but the majority of rapes are done by men. So although it isn't fair to blame all men, it also isn't fair to demean the statistic by picking it apart.
Then there was the guy who was SO ignorant I had to stop reading ignorant people's posts and start blogging. This guy is the epitome of an ignorant, misogynistic asshole. I hope he never reproduces.
"So forcing little girls to talk about things they know nothing about and aren't mature enough to understand using vulgar language is totally a great way at raising awareness for a cause. Feminist are fucking retarded... As for the whole dress code for schools, the reason you don't see men complaining about it is because boys don't dress in clothes exposing their sexual areas. YES, WOMEN HAVE MORE SEXUAL AREAS. SORRY. WE CAN'T CONTROL NATURE. BLAME MEN FOR YOUR BODY PARTS. ... just like the whole "sexual harassment" thing. Fucking wah. Everybody gets harassed. Short people, fat people, tall people, skinny people, "ugly" people, "unpopular" people, gay people, "nerds", and so on and so on. It is not a gender isolated thing and in no way is more common in women than men. It's an experience every human faces...."
And on and on and on. Seriously, I thought my soap box was tall. I took a Woman's Studies class my first semester of college and one of the things that was taught, and repeated over and over, was that a feminist started as someone who was looking for equality for women but has morphed into someone who believed in equality for all. This dude is missing all of that. I'm pretty sure that if I encountered him in public I would have no choice but to just walk away for fear that I would shank him. He is the type that will disrespect anyone except for a straight, white, gender identified male. Through he rant he doesn't even touch on anyone who may identify with a different gender. He also makes it perfectly clear that he believes sex is only to procreate. I feel as though he is missing out on a lot of fun and quite a few brain cells.
I've stated before, during the #yesallwomen craze a couple of months back, that I don't think that I can do anything boys can do, I can't. I also can't do everything some girls can do. I can do anything I can do. Me, myself and I. I am a strong independent female and that is something that is appreciated by anyone that I choose to be in my life. I had a vendor tell me today, after I told him I could take measurements if he was missing any, and bragged about my new Leatherman and it's tools, that I am a badass. That's right. I am. I also really like to do my hair and get dressed up and pretty. Which also makes me pretty badass. And I am a feminist. I believe that everyone should be treated equally. Everyone.
And those little girls, well they are badasses too. They are already ahead of a lot of the people posting ignorant comments. They are already strong and independent. This video is awesome and they ALL owned that shit.
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