Okay, I’m mad. And before you go saying, “Of course you are, feminazi!! Go take some Midol and call my when you’re not pregnant!! BEER.” Let me just say that I don’t really even consider myself a feminist. I love women, I love men, I love black people, and Jews are okay too. I mostly believe that people should ALL be treated equally and rather than sit around complaining about it, why don’t we go out and prove them wrong? I might be wrong in that, but it’s just the way I feel, with one exception: all 65 year old, white, republican men scare me to death. Please keep them away from my reproductive rights!!
I’m mad because of last week’s Time Magazine cover story featuring Oscar Pistorious. For those of you who don’t know him, he was a sprint runner for South Africa and was the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. That’s all great, good for him. However, on February 14th Oscar chose to shoot and murder his girlfriend. Here is the cover story:
Notice anything missing? How about the words, oh, I don’t know, MURDERER?!??! How about calling him what he is instead of SUPERMAN or GUNMAN? Which, what the fuck does that even mean? AND THEN! Read the tag line below:
“Oscar Pistorius and South Africa’s Culture of Violence”
Yeah, cause it’s all South Africa’s fault that he CHOSE to SHOOT and MURDERED his girlfriend.
Now, I realize that these are nit picky things. But THESE things show men that as long as you are an athletic hero you can do whatever you want. You know, like O.J. Simpson, Tiger Woods, Michael Vick and Lance Arm- Oh wait, the only reason we vilify Lance is because he CHEATED at the sport he was a hero at. Lance Armstorng has be CRUCIFIED for cheating at a sport. He’s facing losing millions of dollars, and possible jail time for cheating. That’s it. Then this Pistorius guy brutally MURDERS his girlfriend and he gets the cover of time magazine calling him SUPERMAN. Oh, not to mention RELEASED on bail to await his trial at his cushy South African home.
The article in the magazine is bullshit and I’d need another 20 pages to articulate my rage for it as well. But, I guess my point is that the media sends a message loud and clear to male athletes in powerful positions: You can do WHATEVER you want, just as long as you don’t cheat at the sport that we hail you as a god for.
The cherry on top for me is this photo:
This photo a) compliments him as a “symbol of South African hope and dissolution” and b) does not say what he is awaiting court proceedings for or what he’s been charged as, which is, a MURDERER 3) the photo holds him in high regard and almost god like with a spot light glowing around his head, you know, like Jesus.
How many more, women, dogs and men need to die at the hands of a professional athlete before we change our magazine covers to reflect who they really are?
