Fight of the Century

Deemed the “Fight of the Century’, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao took to the ring this past weekend to box in one of the most anticipated fights of our time.

The winner – inevitably Mayweather – took home a whopping $180 million dollars. That’s quite the pay out.

But here’s an underlying story to the so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ – the story of Mayweather’s well-documented history of domestic violence. According to CNN, Mayweather has had at least seven assaults against five different women. One specific occasion in 2001, Mayweather is said to have hit the mother of his children in the face with a car door just before punching her in the face a few more times. This assault, as well as the others, have resulted in citations and small jail time done – but nothing to keep the issue from arising again.

Mayweather has been questioned about his history of violence on several occasions but his mantra seems to be ‘No pictures, no proof.’

So why might this be the underlying story to the ‘fight of the century?’ Well, here is Floyd Mayweather attracting more media attention that he’s ever received. After winning the fight, he has now been named the highest paid sportsman of the world. And he’ll likely continue on a whirlwind of a media tour including perks that one can only imagine.

But what difference does this make? Well, this sets the scene for an indifference within the realm of domestic abuse. The hype of a man who receives money for every punch he throws is now far outweighing the abuse of these women. Again, these cases can be forgiven. But should the media not take the time to acknowledge the history of violence. Is it not a good time to educate? There are people who will now look up to a ‘man’ not worthy of such respect.

Indifference is a scary realm to be in.

And I’m Back…

In 2012 I started this blog. A few years later – I’m coming around again. A few years older. A few years wiser.

A few weeks ago marked my two year anniversary living in Asia. Last year I was in Thailand. This year I’m in Hong Kong. My thought process is more or less the same, but again, I’m a few years older and a few years wiser.

So let’s try this again. 2015 has been a big year thus far.

2012: A Year in Review, Part 1

Women protest the Susan Komen Foundation’s decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

The Mayan Calendar may have run out, but the masses survived. 2012 turned out to be quite a year. The following are only a few of the events that caused protest, controversy, and overall dismay.

January:

Internet protests began over the Stop Online Piracy Act and the IP Act. Sites including Wikipedia and Reddit joined the protests by engaging in an Internet blackout. This one day protest also caught the attention of social media users everywhere. Laziness from behind the screen ensued, as users across the web, posted brief messages in opposition of the bills.

February:

Public backlash and dismay caused the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to reverse their initial plans to cut funding for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood. The initial plan, backed by anti-abortion groups, focused solely on Planned Parenthood’s notoriety as the largest provider of abortions in the U.S. The foundation later looked to the array of other services, including cancer screenings, provided by Planned Parenthood.

March:

A U.S. solider brutally killed 16 Afghan civilians – going house to house to kill the civilians, including women and children. The gunman, Staff Robert Bales, had served three tours in Iraq, before his final deployment in Afghanistan. Rumors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder were looked at as a factor in the killings, but no clear evidence. Following the shooting, began anti-American protests in Afghanistan.

April: 

Eleven Secret Service agents were let go after allegations of misconduct in Colombia. The “inappropriate conduct” involving prostitution, brought on a scandal that overshadowed President Obama’s arrival at the Summit of the Americas. Dania Suarez, the Columbian prostitute at the center of the controversy, then cashed in on her encounter with the agents – describing them as “stupid, idiotic people.”

May:

Thirty-two children are killed when the Syrian government attacks a small village. The United Nations holds President Assad and his regime responsible, while Assad places blame on terrorist groups. The total body count comes to 90. Amateur videos of the attacks and its aftermath surfaced across the web in an effort to showcase the frustration of Anti-regime groups angered by reluctance of the U.N. to intervene in the Syrian conflict.

June:

The Supreme Court reached a landmark decision on Arizona’s controversial Immigration law. The law, seen as one of the strictest anti-illegal immigration measures in U.S. history, sparked debate on both sides. The law required registration documents in possession at all times. Not doing so could result in a misdemeanor. While most provisions conflicted with federal laws, the Court upheld the provision that allows Arizona police the right to check the immigration status of any person they arrest.

While this showcases only a few of the big events of 2012, these are reflective of the year we’ve lived. The later part of 2012 continues with the controversy.

Call me old-fashioned…

Oh, the antics of a man, who verbally and physically assaults a female, get me every time.

Yours truly is actin a fool, once again. Chris Brown – the man, although that’s debatable,  responsible for physically attacking singer Rhianna, has proved, yet again, that he has absolutely no respect for females.

Jenny Johnson, known by many in the  Twitterverse as @JennyJohnsonHi5, is a respected comedy writer and television producer. Her presence on Twitter is considered to be among the funniest. Her wit is often directed towards the likes of celebrities, such as Kim Kardashian.

However, a few days ago, @JennyJohnsonHi5 found herself to be the target of some of this good old-fashioned banter, by Chris Brown’. The following is what ensued:

This sexist rant was reiterated and solidified over and over again by several of Chris Brown’s 11 million followers. Brown’s twitter followers hurled equally sexist and horrific insults at the writer.

And here is the saddest part:

Do any of his 11 million followers remember what he did? They idolize a man? – who beats up his girlfriend. And this can be forgiven. Sure, people change. But does Chris Brown change?

After the highly publicized assault of the pop singer, Brown has shown off his temper, countless times.

The scary result of the idolization of such a person can only be seen in years to come, when the youth that believe this to be okay, grow up. Can they differentiate between what is right and wrong? We can only hope.

Brown has since deleted his Twitter account, after much controversy over the Twitter exchange.

Johnson sticks to her thoughts, via a previous tweet: “Call me old-fashioned, but Chris Brown should be in prison.” Isn’t that the ending we could all hope for?

The Film that Caused the Chaos

Ongoing protests following the death of a US Ambassador at a Consulte, in Benghazi,  and the storming of the US Embassy, in Cairo, have created an outrage, in recent days.

The anti-Islam film that provoked this violence, “Innocence of Muslims” has been condemned as “reprehensible” and “disgusting,” by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. Excerpts of the film can be found across the web, portraying the Prophet Muhammad as a manipulative womanizer. The film also showcases the Prophet engaging in sexual activity.

Political leaders of the US and Middle Eastern countries have expressed their disapproval for this film, however reiterate that these acts of violence cannot and will not be tolerated. This is not justifiable.

While I, too, find these attacks to be intolerable, I cannot help but think what would result with a film depicting Jesus Christ, the religious symbol of the Western world,  in an ill-mannered way.

Picture this: Jesus Christ canoodling with Mary Magdalene, followed by a night of rowdiness with those sinful tax collectors.

Most, as I am sure is the case in the Middle East, would think negatively on such a film, but more or less disregard it as an example of one’s ignorance and stupidity. However, there are those, as is always the case, that will come forth and raise Hell – literally.

In the case of Jesus Christ, the Hell raisers would be the ultra conservative right wingers. Think Westboro. Now these extreme right wingers may not cause such a scene of chaos, as is being done in Libya and Egypt, rather they would set up obnoxious demonstrations, seemingly meant to annoy. Think the protests of soliders funerals.

I bring up this example, not to find a way to justify a terrible act, but rather to remind that those leading the protests in the Arab world are extremists, condemned by not only the US.

While the US often prides itself on our First Amendment Right: Freedom of Speech – it is times such as now that this right is questioned. One filmmaker may have taken this right too far, but is this not why this right was granted – to protect the speech that causes anger and debate.

An Early Win for Women?

With the 2012 London Olympics only a few weeks away, female competitors can celebrate an early win.

On the home front, for the first time, the US Olympics team will consist of more female athletes than male athletes. Thank you Title IX.  And perhaps an even bigger milestone – Saudi Arabia, as kind as they are, have allowed two female athletes to join in on the Olympic festivities, meaning all competing nations will have a female competitor on their team.

So what does this mean? Olympic spectators get to watch a few extra girls run the 800-meter race? Well yes, that too.

But more so, this showcases a progression for females in sports. Let’s go back to 1972, when an education regulation was enacted which protected against sexual discrimination in athletics, as well as various other facets of education. I’ll put it this way: Title IX allows for funds to go to the women’s lacrosse team, just as funds and support goes to the men’s soccer team – potentially meaning more females playing sports.

On the Olympic level, it was only 16 years ago that 26 participating countries did not send women to compete. In 1984, women were not allowed to compete in the marathon event, as the event was cited as being potentially damaging to women’s health.

Saudi Arabia has very much seemed to clench to this reasoning, in all aspects of female life. The feat of sending two female athletes seems like an extraordinary one – and it is. But why does it seem like this is a feat that is not being celebrated by Saudi Arabia? Because it’s not.

Only after much pressure, from the International Olympic Committee, did Saudi Arabia decide to send these two female athletes. And get this: the two athletes do not even live in the country. In fact, one of the female athletes is a student at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Afterall, did anyone really think these athletes could have trained in a country where females are not allowed to drive or travel, without the consent of their male guardian. Women are barred from sports in Saudi Arabia.

So yes, these two milestone seem incredible in the world of gender equality. But the key word here is “seem.” The women of Saudi Arabia unfortunately cannot celebrate this early win, as it has no affect on them at all.  This does nothing for those women living within the borders of the country. Still a long way to go.

An Era of Laziness

April 20th: the date deemed to be the culmination  of the Kony Craze, made relevent by the non-profit group Invisible Children. On this date, cities were to be plastered with posters of Joseph Kony – the man made infamous through a video gone viral. So what happened?

After the first few days of the video going viral, the founder of the group became somewhat of an internet sensation himself. A video of founder Jason Russell appeared in a less than dignified state. His actions, resulting in arrest, were attributed to a mental breakdown. Unfortunately, this incident, as well as the budget of Invisible Children came to be public knowledge, inevitably discrediting the group and their cause.

So there was that. But did the thousands of people who shared the video sensation via their social media sites go any further to help this particular cause, or any cause shared, for that matter. It’s likely that answer would be no.

I am the first person to agree that awareness and education are the key to solving any problem. Afterall, how can a problem be prevented or solved if no one is aware it is happening? The problem is not that these causes or problems are not being shared, rather it is the way it is being done.

Here is the perfect example of raising awareness. Kim uses her celebrity status to bring attention to the Armenian Genocide, an event that still brings about tension in the middle east. So yes, Kim gets an A+ for sharing. But wait, her next few tweets speak of creme brulee, raiding her sisters closet, and loving polka dots. Way to go Kim, way to go.

The awareness to this specific event was overshadowed by trivialities. As is the case of many causes shared through social media sites.

Back to the Kony Craze – Facebookers and Tweeters came together to share the cause, only to follow their one line of awareness to the masses with status updates complaining about their relationships, posting absurd pictures, or boasting about a weekend full of binge drinking.

I must say, social media has the potential to be a wonderful resource. However, at the moment, it is seemingly feeding into the laziness of this era, as it is much easier to click the share button, than it is to step away from the computer screen and join the cause.

Not to Sound Racist But…

Interesting story…

This past weekend I attended a gathering at a friend’s house. There was good food, good drinks, and good company…for the most part. There was, as I suppose there always is, one extremely ignorant girl in attendance.

First, I should give a little background. Accompanying me at this gathering was my younger sister. Her name: Similar to mine in its originality.

So here we are mingling amongst the attendees, enjoying decent conversations and the celebrations of the day. At this point, my sister and I have taken a seat when the one ignorant girl turns to us and says: Not to sound racist but…if I hadn’t met you guys, I would’ve thought you were black. Are you (insert expletive here) kidding me? Did she really just say that? Completely dumbfounded, my sister and I turned to each other and laughed with the mutual look in our faces as if questioning if this girl has really just said this.

It’s just that I went to school at (insert fancy, expensive university here) and there were a lot of black people living around there and they had names like Laquisha.

Ignorant girl had name. It was Ashley. I suppose I can’t past judgement, but her skin tone was much lighter than mine.

Of course this story was retold by my sister and I quite a few times – making fun of her ignorance, and myself mimicking the comments with a valley girl accent.

Now, I couldn’t help but wonder: What if Ashley was black? And here the story would go: Not to sound racist but…if I hadn’t met you, I would’ve thought you were white. Now this probably would not have been passed off as cute or funny, which is ultimately what I believe Ashley thought she was being, before coming off as an ignorant idiot…not to sound rude, of course.

So either Ashley needs to take a time capsule to the south in the 1950’s or one of a few things can come into play: she could learn to edit herself, realize appropriateness, or come to terms with the year we are living in. So many options, I know!