(Please note: In the text below are several words in ALL CAPS. This is done for emphasis only. This is being posted on other sites using software that, in some cases, does not allow particular formatting. I am not screaming or shouting. I promise.)
In May, WAM
(Women Action and the Media) began a campaign to stamp out sexist hate speech
directed at women. In and of itself,
this was a noble undertaking and has brought that egregious practice into the
light of day where it belongs. What
happened after that is also egregious in the extreme and this group did nothing
to stop it and, in fact, encouraged it. The
result was nothing less than a stark repeat of one of history's darkest
periods.
Thanks to WAM,
the BDSM community became subject to what was nothing less than an outright
pogrom, even a witch hunt. In the ensuing
days this group, while claiming to be an advocate of women and a bastion of
free speech, violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (WAM
is headquartered in the US) and knowingly - dare I even say this - with malice
aforethought, actively worked to libel the community on Facebook, the largest
social network in the world.
When called
out by the BDSM community for WAM's incredibly ignorant, prejudicial, demonizing
behavior, the group then backpedaled and, depending on your definition of the
word, lied to cover their tracks. To add
insult to injury, they put out a statement saying that they had no problem with
"consensual" BDSM and that it was Facebook's fault for taking down
the pages. This, even in the face of
screenshots of the posts and resulting responses to posts that encouraged the witch
hunt against the BDSM community.
One more time to
get the point across: If it is not
consensual it is not, I repeat not, BDSM.
WAM states
clearly on their Facebook page with great pride that they forced the Washington
Post to change their editorial
policies after their interpretation of something written in an OPINION PIECE
was deemed a sexist slur about Hillary Clinton.
Freedom of speech? Freedom of
thought? Freedom of opinion? Yes, even writers at the Post have the right to voice their opinion in writings clearly
marked as such. Here is the link to
prove that this was, in fact, an OPINION PIECE dealing with a PUBLIC
FIGURE.
After
appointing themselves the equivalent of the "thought police" AND using
the threat of negative PR, WAM essentially forced Facebook to depublish over
100 (yes, that number is correct) pages started by the BDSM community to
entertain and educate members of the community and those curious about the
lifestyle. NONE of these pages violated
Facebook policy. All were set for adults
only (18 years old and over), some were even closed and/or secret to try and
prevent minors from accessing the material.
This debacle mushroomed as a DIRECT RESULT of the actions or Women
Action and the Media and WAM thinks they can lie, divert and misdirect their
way out of it.
Not
happening on my watch.
Women
Action and the Media owes the BDSM community a thorough, humble apology along
with a pledge to work to help restore those BDSM pages taken down as a result
of their very misdirected campaign.
I call upon
members of the BDSM community to stand up and demand this apology from Women
Action and the Media and insist that it be given publicly, prominently and
without ambiguity on their Facebook page, website, Twitter and any other social
media they utilize.
Please feel
free to share this post.
One last
parting word:
First they came for the
Socialists, and I did not speak out--Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.
Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller (14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984)
Ask
yourself, if we (all of us, kink or vanilla) do not stop this now, who will WAM
and other organizations of like mind come after next?
Saya, I am afraid the time for apologies is way past. These people, drunk on their own power and flexing their muscle more than ever, can only be dealt with in one way. They must be STOPPED!
ReplyDeleteInteresting Article, although, not sure if its true (only this one article to go by). What I find distressing is that major players (facebook, larger media outlets) would bow to the voice of a few, rather than debate an issue or stand behind their policies that are meant to give a voice to everyone, not just the loudest. While I am not a member of the BDSM lifestyle, I have a good understanding of what its like (I have friends in the lifestyle, and we have had some pretty good conversations on the issue in my effort to understand why they chose this path), and I know BDSM is not about power and degradation, its more about trust. WAM doesn't speak for me, just who ARE they representing? And, if they are representing you, are they handling things in a way you approve of?
ReplyDelete