Ok, my rant may seem silly at first because it’s based off of an episode of Teen Mom I watched the other night. But, it truly is a situation where double standards come into play and a person who is being so victimized feels as if he can’t defend himself.
For those of you who aren’t TV fanatics like myself, Teen Mom is a reality TV show on MTV. It’s about four young mothers who are raising their children who they got pregnant with at a young age.
My issue is with one of the mothers, Amber, who is constantly berating, belittling and abusing her daughter’s father. On the latest episode, Amber physically attacked Gary (the baby’s father). She punched him in the face, slapped him, smacked him and kicked him, all while screaming insults. The whole time Gary stood there and took the hits without retaliating. The cameraman watched and recorded without intervening at all.
My first issue is that had the roles been reversed and Gary was the one beating up Amber, I’m sure the cameraman would have intervened and called police. At no point did MTV feel the need to contact the police, and although this was filmed months ago, the police are only now investigating because of how many complaints the episode received and only now are they aware of the incident. Why is it that people do not view a woman abusing a man as seriously as they would a man abusing a woman?
I know some people may be thinking that it’s just TV, but the truth is, this is really happening and Amber is really getting away with beating up a man. I just find it to be such a double standard and I know that if it had been reversed the man would have been charged long ago. It isn’t right. Are men who are victims of abuse at the hands of a woman oppressed? Is this kind of abuse given the seriousness it’s deserved? —LeFeuViolet
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2010.
I think you should write to MTV instead of bitching here, because the problem obviously is their ethical standards or lack thereof. But then, if they are making a “reality” TV like that, you know where they stand on that issue.
OP, didn’t you know that it’s different?
Phft. A weapon has to be used before anyone notices.
o.p., i think you should turn off your t.v., and get the fuck ut more in the real world. holy hell, if you are going to watch t.v., watch a documentry or something educational, not this drivel that they are trying to pass off as entertainment. fuck, i’d rather watch,(gag, retch,puke) oprah.
please op i beg of you, don’t watch that drivel…yet if this is what you want to watch-call the network and bitch away
I read an article about her being charged with that incident last week and when I find it I will post it.
Hate to burst your bubble, reality-lovin’ OP, but the truth of the matter is that every nanosecond of that show (and all of this genre) is scripted, right down to the punches – add a few good edits and you’ve got your viewers by their kneecap hairs.
On the subject of double standards, this is one that has always pissed me off. I’ve seen this scenario many, many times and watched many a fine man crumble at the tongue and fists of an uberbitch. I knew one hysterical cunt years back that beat the shit out of a friend of mine (as gentle a guy as you could meet), then punched herself in the eye so she could call the cops on him. She was truly a psycho with no parameters, just addictions and the need for constant cash. My buddy almost took a nervous breakdown over this slag.
First of all you’re confusing reality TV to reality. There is nothing real about them.
The bitch isn’t exactly about the show, it’s mainly about the fact that there is such a double standard. It isn’t right that a man should feel like they can’t come forward… And it isn’t right that it isn’t considered as serious a crime.
NS- I actually ready the article after I wrote this bitch.
Life sucks- I don’t actually have a lot of time to watch tv, but this made me mad when I heard about it so I made a point to watch.
Whether the show is staged or not doesn’t really matter… I’m mainly concerned about all the victims.
And I did write the station.
But that’s the point. It is staged, so no crime was committed. There was no victim other than anyone who watches it.
The double-double standard is that the girls’ lives are glamourised: teenage girls who got pregnant and had children and got onto a reality TV programme. Shows like that only encourage other teenage girls into believing that getting pregnant at 16 is really cool and awesome. It’s a stupid show and I’ve never watched (and never will). I think it should be off the air.
The thing that worries me (whether the show is scripted or not) is the fact that their child was, and always is, there when this abuse took place. I’ve watched the show, and Amber is always cursing and physically abusing him while their one year-old daughter sits and watches. It is disturbing either way.
A troubled nation needs the gentle wisdom of “Celebrity Rehab” now, more than ever.
Well, if that’s the case, Bubbles Darling, the people who are letting that kind of stuff should be charged along with the mother for neglect or worse.
Your avatar also is plenty disturbing, though, Bubbles. 🙂
I don’t know which is a sadder commentary on our society, that pathetic shows like this exist or that there are actually people who accept them as quality entertainment! Same goes for the proliferation of killer-of-the-week shows. Gawd, I miss WKRP in Cincinnati. I’ll bet Andy Travis would have some interesting things to say about the crap that passes as entertainment these days and people’s willingness to accept it.
purplefire, if you really want a reality show, check out the cartoon network, or married with children series on spike, i believe. anything else is just pure scripted mindless drivel, that will rot your poor little brains out, just like that rap music shit. even the cops series is acting on a script, believe it or not. i heard from a guy that does the editing for it about 5 years ago. the only reality on t.v. today, is the cost of keeping a t.v., and having cable hooked up to it. even the fucking news is more or less phoney, look at bush’s war, hows that going lately? there is no reality there either. if there was, osama would be a piece of history by now. even your friendly government of canada isn’t real, not by any means. could you get away with what they do on any given day? i don’t think so either.
I didn’t understand the bitch
I read the comments & realised…I haven’t watched television in more than 8 years…& even then I barely paid any attention. It was my ex & the kids who watched TV.
THank you OP & to the commentors for showing me once again I am missing nothing by not having any television channels in my home.
Of course double standards exist.
There is an ad running now for the novascotiajobshop and the woman slaps the man. Think that ad would run vice-versa?
its because there is a difference between not being able to defend oneself, and being able to defe=nd oneself and choosing not too…
One day when I was home sick I was mindlessly watching Dr. Phil when a girl did the same thing to her man. In no uncertain terms did Dr. Phil told her she was wrong for treating him that way. He had his own problems too, but she was the aggressor in everything (and had been arrested for it before). I think in reality, many men don’t want to admit their wife/gf is beating them up, so it often gets overlooked. And TV execs know that violence gets viewers. It doesn’t mean it’s right though.
Sounds like Spryfield.
i think you are a very thoughtful bitcher feu violet. you wear your heart on your sleeve…where it should be. screee
Don’t worry OP I won’t beat you up for watching MTV like most others as we all have our guilty pleasures whether it’s a show, song, book, food etc etc :)! But this double standard also bothered me. My ex friend got really drunk and beat up her boyfriend to the point that his face was bleeding because she scratched him so much and so hard. But of course he didn’t call the police and nothing happened to her but if he did anything like that to her, he would be in jail. And there’s this whole thing of if a guy were to call the police on their girl about being hit, I’m sure he’d hear a lot about being a “pussy”.