We all know 2016 has already been an interesting year. Every time I open social media I’m faced with a video like “10 Hours Walking Alone in New York as a Woman” or “Social Experiment Proves We Are Shallow.” Theses videos, although they do achieve a point, are what is changing the minds of society today. No, I’m not saying it’s the only thing that is changing minds, but in a social media/technology centered society, it’s hard not to miss them.
Amidst the case of the college students raping another college student (he was an all-star swimmer, and that’s all the media wants you to know) we can look at every side, and ultimately, rape is bad. Rape is quite possibly the worst thing you could do next to murder being number one. The media is focusing on how he was a swimmer because he is a dedicated student, and white male. They want us to see that he isn’t some criminal and just some helpless man who shoved his privates into a woman. The sensitizing of the media has made it so we lash out on every single thing that happens. By the media focusing on how he “isn’t a rapist” they are forcing feminists, and rational minded people to look like the bad guys. Even though this is an extreme case, it's exactly what happens every day.
Back to the 10 hours walking as a woman in New York video. A woman was just walking through New York for 10 hours and got called names, catcalled, and basically degraded by men wherever she went. This video caused feminists outrage and honestly, is altering women’s line of thinking. I know of a girl who was at a restaurant and a cute guy walked up to her and called her beautiful. She responded with “You’re disgusting” and walked away. I asked her after why she did that, and she responded with “It’s degrading, he's trying to build me up and then belittle me later.” Um. No. Maybe he just thought you were beautiful. It seems that now everyone is so on edge, acts of kindness, normal thoughts, and even meeting people is hard because everyone assumes there is a hidden agenda under everyones skin. The other day at work I was running from the station to the hotel to borrow some things and a construction worker (aka the bane of all women’s existence) said “Hey you’ve been running around a lot and there is a lot of traffic, I’ll walk across the street with you” and I was like “Sure, okay” and he walked me across the street and looked at me and went “Okay, have a great day! It’s beautiful outside!” and walked away.
I texted one of my friends afterwards to tell her about the funny, yet sweet thing that just happened, and she responded with “That’s just creepy, why would he want to walk you across the street? You shouldn’t trust people like that.” Well, that’s a stereotype. So because construction workers are seen as degrading to women, chauvinistic pigs, and cat-callers, if one is being nice, he it is obviously a cover and shouldn’t be trusted. That’s like saying all secretaries are sluts. We see the world as being a place to run away from. Media tells us that so many things are going wrong that nothing can go right. It’s making us blind to the world around us. Maybe it's just me, but I like to see.
