Making Light of Rape?

I am sure, by now, you've seen (or at least read about) Antoine Dodson's rant threatening the man who broke into Dodson's sister's room and attempted to rape her.

His rant, captured on video (below), instantly went viral.



This raises an interesting debate, entirely unique to the digital age.

On the one hand, an anti-rape message (although in rant form!) is a top youtube video, was posted on numerous blogs (and even MSM sites) and forwarded to countless inboxes.

On the other, the message is quickly overlooked because of, and this is arguably the only reason the video went viral in the first place, Dodson's humorous delivery.

It didn't take long before his message was "autotuned", which has resulted in a second top youtube video, a top track on itunes (which has in turn inspired two covers and another remix, also top itune hits).

The fact that people are now making money off of this is pretty tasteless.



However, I can't help but get the remix out of my head, humming it often. Especially now that the North Caroline A&T Blue and Gold Marching Band have adapted the remix into a pretty spectacular rendition.



The song is catchy, you can't deny it, and that has the potential of keeping the anti-rape message in the minds of the public.

But is that really happening? Are the kids of NC A&T aware of the original message? Are they being taught about gender equity and ant-domestic violence at the same time they're being taught amberture and keys?

Do the above examples dilute the original message (such as it was) or is it simply another distraction?

I'd like to believe it is the former, but I suspect it is the latter.

Shelving Domestic Violence Scheme

From our Partners at PixelProject comes a link to an article in the guardian.co.uk:

Powers to remove violent partners from family home 'deferred' by coalition, amid fears public protection put at risk by cuts

Cuts to spending that in the long run will prevent even more spending on physical health care for abused victims, counseling, police protection, police administration of the abuser, cost of jailing, etc. etc. etc.

Not to mention the far more dire result of the cuts putting victims directly in harms way.

I am not sure whether a similar protection order in the United States would have saved this child from being beaten to death for "acting like a girl", but having both stories come out on the same day should be a compelling argue to continue funding for this scheme (is it just me or does calling it a "scheme" make it sound like a dastardly and underhanded plot?).

Creepy New Anti-DV Ad,

Interesting approach technique from PromoFactory in Korea. I'd never heard the term "social activist ambient media" before this.

I find it hard to figure out what's happening on the "Push the door" side of things and the kid on the "Pull the door" side freaks me out; reminds me of the screaming cat kid from The Grudge.

Shudder.

[Via Urban Snack]

Has DV Awareness Gone Mainstream?

I saw this commercial last night for Brinks Home Security (now Broadview apparently):



I was taken aback by the use of "the ex boyfriend" as a legitimate security risk.

Is this an example of a company exploiting women's fear or has domestic violence awareness (finally) become a mainstream issue?