The following is a link to view the video discussed in this article: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a57570/femal...
A few weeks ago, I was casually scrolling through my Facebook feed and came across a video entitled “This Video of Men Reading Tweets to Women is Painful to Watch.” The title instilled curiosity in me, so I decided to watch it. Before playing the video I read the description below and discovered the video included two female sports reporters: Sarah Spain a sports columnist, radio host, and reporter for ESPN and Julie DiCaro, a writer for Sports Illustrated. This particularly interested me more due to my recent decision to take up a minor in sports journalism. After reading the title, I knew the video would include insults directed toward these women, but I never imagined they would be so vulgar and degrading.
Basically, men were instructed to read tweets that were posted on Twitter about Sarah and Julie to their faces. The tweets started out relatively minor (“I’d like to start a petition for a ban on all links to Julie DiCaro’s Twitter feed”), but then escalated into disgusting and inhumane comments that brought these women to tears. The content of most of the tweets included curse words aimed toward them, and then turned into a desire for these women to be physically harmed. One of the most alarming statements directed towards Sarah Spain was, “I hope your boyfriend beats you.” For simply doing her job and building a career for herself, someone wishes for an innocent woman to be physically harmed by her significant other.
The tweets directed toward these women enraged me and made me sick to my stomach. Just as I thought the video was coming to a close there was one more tweet read to Julie DiCaro. “I hope you get raped again.” For those of you who were unaware, Julie was the victim of rape during college and published an article, “My Astoundingly Typical Rape” to address the issue. “I hope you get raped again.” What would possibly give someone the urge to wish for someone to be the victim of rape? Again, this woman has built a life for herself doing something she is passionate about, and for that people choose to slander her on social media.
This video was very eye opening to me because I myself am a woman, who dreams of becoming a sports reporter for ESPN. This should not only affect women but society as a whole. No one deserves to be spoken to in such a cruel and demeaning manner. Some say “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt,” but this can only go so far. Words such as “I hope your boyfriend beats you up” and “I hope you get raped again” can and did in fact hurt Julie DiCaro and Sarah Spain.
So, in regards to this video, I sincerely hope this spreads awareness and encourages those who feel it is necessary to verbally attack others to stop. Hiding behind a computer screen to insult others is far from courageous. Words do in fact scar others, especially when those words are hurtful and are said for no particular reason.
