You ever notice how when a story hits your news feed or timeline it has thousands of comments? I do and long time ago I would actually click on them just to read the comments and see the different dialogue that may be occurring. Well I don’t do that anymore. Why you ask? Well it’s simple, they are filled with so many negative comments it almost angers me to even scroll through them. Today’s version of social media is no more than a breeding ground for bullies and victim shaming. Although making victims feel ashamed for being raped has always been around; social media has now given it a front and center spotlight. It is beyond disheartening to see so many people disrespect and degrade victims of this horrendous act. Shaming them for being where they were, drinking what they chose to drink or even wear something they chose to wear. The vicious intent behind making a woman feel less than human because of the vile behavior of someone else is what has become of social media. I personally don’t find it very social anymore. All I ever see is subliminal posts filled with bitterness, violence reported, constant tearing down of one another and so many other things that make you never want to log in. Now imagine being a victim of rape and you see all of these horrific comments about you being attacked and all of the things YOU should or shouldn’t have done to prevent someone else from losing control.
According to a study done by the University of Southern California, victim-blaming statements appeared in 1,097 of the 4,239 comments ― or just over 25 percent of them. the study also showed how one-fourth of all online comments at the end of news articles about sexual assault and rape include victim-blaming statements.
So for a platform that was created to link people together, it hasn’t done anything other than tear them apart and provide them more room to spread their hate. What do you think?
her lips are sealed.... 