Curiosity got the best of me when I saw one too many shares of t-shirt sellers FckH8 video featuring little girls between the ages of 6-8 swearing like low rent thugs supposedly in an effort to bolster feminism. Further, to my disgust, each post was accompanied by a nauseating “you go girls!” or “that’s what I’m talkin’ about!”.
This is feminism? The exploitation of little girls is feminist?
Swearing and being caustic, coarse and socially undesirable is supposed to empower me? That is the kind of attitude I should teach my daughters to take into the interview so they can land the job?
OK…
So I clicked and, no surprise, my disgust at this video was visceral.
How ironic that those who purport to exult the fierceness of women degrade the most tender among them to propagandize and forward their erroneous narrative that women are nothing but victims.
Here’s some highlights courtesy of Matt Walsh so that I didn’t have to reward the FckH8 producers with more than one “view”:
- “What the f**k? I’m not some pretty f**king helpless princess in distress. I’m pretty f**king powerful.”
- “So what is more offensive? A little girl saying f**k, or the f**king sexist and unequal way society treats women?”
- “Here’s some words more f**ked up than the word f**k: pay inequality. Women are paid 23 percent less than men… Um, hello? Pay up motherf**ker!”
- “F**ked up facts: one out of five women will be sexually assaulted or raped by a man.”
- “Stop telling girls how to dress and start teaching boys not to f**king rape.”
- “F**k that sexist sh*t… I don’t give a f**k.”
This offensive video is just the latest in the regurgitation of tired, disproven fallacies.
Here is some quick education for you folks that are visiting from TMZ:
- There is no gender pay gap. Please, for the love of God educate yourself. (Video deconstructing that argument here.)
- If sexism is so alive and well in this country, how is it that only 43% of undergraduates today are men and women now make up the majority of the workforce?
- TEACH BOYS NOT TO RAPE? This is disgusting. As if all the little boys in their kindergarten class are pre-programmed for violence toward women. It also completely ignores the reality of scope creep when it comes to the definition of rape, and, if we can all be adults here, ignores the role women have to play in the messages we have been sending men as we participate actively in the “Hook-up” culture.
But there’s something worse than the spread of misinformation here: Mom’s and dad’s allowed their innocent little baby girls to be exploited for political purposes. At the hands of those who champion “women’s rights” no less.
On this blog, we often talk of children’s rights. Their right to life, their right to their mother and father whenever possible, and their right to not be bought and sold like a commodity. Apparently I need to elucidate another right that ought to be self-evident: It is a parents job to protect their child’s innocence.
Because they cannot protect themselves, God has seen fit to grant every child two adults who will look out for them. We parents investigate other parents before we send our kids for a sleepover. We don’t allow our toddler to play near the street or touch the stove. We purchase fire-resistant pajamas. We use trigger locks.
Just like we protect our kids from physical harm, we are also there to protect their minds and hearts. We tell our kids to look away when a commercial for NCIS shows up during the football game. We install computer software to so that porn won’t pop up when they google “nurse costumes” for Halloween. We turn the radio down when the erectile dysfunction ad comes on. Again. We check the ratings on library movies before taking them home. Why? Because kids have a right to innocence, and good parents are vigilant in protecting that.
Not these parents though. Their childrens’ innocence is not as important as their political narrative. Their false and easily disproven worldview supersedes decency and condones pushing their six-year-olds into a trashy early adulthood. This whole “boys are rapists – women are helpless victims in all aspects of society – men are powerful and evil” bell cannot be un-rung. Something intangible and precious has been stolen from these little girls and their parents should be ashamed.
Not to mention these babies, who are still five to seven years away from watching a PG-13 movie, are immortalized on camera wagging their finger and blasting “Pay up motherf**ker!”?
Why has this video gone viral? Because there is something RIGHTLY unnatural about children this young talking like troglodyte adults about adult subjects. This is such a sickening example of adults using children for their own selfish goals and yet they are being praised for it. I’m sure those over at FckH8 are patting themselves on the back for their successful Avant-guard method. The girls in this video, however, will never get back what has been taken from them.
But hey. You got your three days of viral video fame, FckH8. And I betcha’ve sold a bunch of t-shirts.
askthe"Bigot" 
I wanna cry. The world spirals lower and lower.
Yes. Agreed. Keep up your work building redemption and beauty into your kids so they can stand against the spiral.
Thank you!
It’s just sad isn’t it? I want to be angry, to be outraged, but there is just so much wrong in the world right now that all I can manage is sad.
It seems so ironic, often what people today perceive as avant guard and cutting edge, are actually just common aspects of human nature that we created standards and values to try and reduce and prevent. It’s not as if exploiting little girls is anything new, it’s just that we used to frown upon it and we all kind of mutually agreed that this sort of thing was not okay. Now we perceive it as edgy, defiant, and new. Sad, just sad.
This appetite for whatever is more vulgar, more horrific, more graphic often in the name of “progress” has been building over time but now it is heralded. I laugh when I see pornographic “pin-ups” from the 1940s. What was scandalous then is on the cover of your standard fashion magazine now. To get attention you have to do something new, but that often means violating standards and values put in place for the most vulnerable among us.
Agree 100%. Just makes me sad and mad, and want to just hold my own kids much closer.
Hold them close, yes yes and yes. The world will break them at some point. It doesn’t need to come at the hands of those who should protect them.
I actually made the mistake of watching this video from a friend that posted it on Facebook. I think my jaw was on the floor and I got through, maybe, maybe 20 seconds before I turned it off. I am appalled that a parent would allow their child to do something like this. It’s so sad.
I agree. I had to fight to watch it through to end, honestly wondering what they were trying to push that justified this abusive method.
I’m saddened and even angered by how far modern feminism goes overboard.
A despicable new flavor of child abuse. We can only imagine what they might consider acceptable for an encore.
So, now child abuse is “edgy” and “advant garde”? Gross…
Its nonsensical but the logical conclusion behind many feminist arguments.
Given that some feminist thought leaders have characterized logic as a tool of oppression for the patriarchy, it shouldn’t be surprising to see them resorting to irrational emotional manipulation.
Regarding “gender inequality,” you may be interested in this segment from a Norwegian documentary on the topic: http://vimeo.com/19707588
It’s english subtitled for most of it, but a great, balanced look at whether gender differences are biological or sociological. The host begins by wondering why in Norway — one of the most gender-balanced countries in the world — men and women still tend to fall into gender stereotypes in their professional choices (which affects pay).
He gives a hearing to both sociologists and researchers. The sociologists maintain the view that there is *no* biological element, and in the end reveal that this is a philosophical position prior to whatever science has to say about it (i.e., it is their view and it is science’s burden of proof to show that they are wrong). Not surprisingly, they are unmoved when the host presents the findings of the actual researchers.
I disagree with the FckH8 but sexism is very alive. My stance on sexism is the same stance I take with racism. I personally know both to be alive because I am a black female. My problem is the way in which feminists and civil rights advocate address both issues. Especially Christians because we should understand both to be “flavors of sin”. The problem is that some feminists become anti-male and while they claim equality they really want he world to lean toward matriarchal control. But in church government and in the home this becomes tricky and for some things impossible. I’m not surprised that the church and home are both dangerous to become matriarchs because they are to be mirrors of each other: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,” (Ephesians 5:25, NKJV). Women cannot be fathers. Likewise many African-Americans are quick to point out the differences in the penalty for crack and cocaine but no one cares about the state of the family in the black community or how the changes most needed need to come from inside the community and not the government. As long as there is sin there will be sexists and racists. Satan will find a way to separate humanity. I have a S.T.E.M. career where women are few and far between, blacks are few and far between and black women are really few and far between. I was born in the 80s but I still integrate many of my career opportunities and there is always an adjustment for others. Not because of hate or a way to harm me but to get used to someone so different who usually isn’t their peer and believe and feel comfortable. I have learned to give people time and respect the growth needed and still be confident if some don’t adjust. How is it that we are a first world super power and we have yet to have a female head of state? Look at these exhaustive lists of female heads of state and government(in parlimentary system). Places like India, Pakistan, Ukraine, and China!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elected_and_appointed_female_heads_of_state.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_elected_or_appointed_female_heads_of_government.
I think this is very telling about our country. But as a Christian (and really the least of us, I am a work in progress), my philosophies are “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.(Romans 12:18, NKJV)” and ” And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39, NKJV)”. It takes a process of elimination for me to conclude sexism or racism, I don’t jump to it immediately but sometimes I conclude it. I give ever male or white person a chance. I don’t assume that they won’t like me. I try to love them and live at peace with them. And I have plenty of rich extremely close relationships because of this. But sin exists in the world.
Zans, thanks for your thoughtful, humble response and your unique perspective!!! A few points to add to what you’ve said. When it comes to sexism, racism, and even bias against those in same-sex relationships, I do not doubt that there are individual cases of prejudice. We all run into people who can be jerks because of how we look or what we believe or who we are. (But I bristle when the gay lobby tries to compare their struggle to the civil rights movement.) What our black brothers and sisters had to face was widespread, top-down, institutionalized discrimination at the hands of the government.
I guess my question for you is, do you feel like there is widespread institutionalized forces that are working to put women down and keep them from those head of state or head of corporation positions?
In my opinion, I wouldn’t say that its less likely about an unjust system and more that women tend toward positions that are nurturing and family-oriented. There are less women who are vying for those head of state or head of the company positions. That doesn’t mean that women are less capable, it means that men and women are beautifully different and women don’t have to be like men to feel that they have succeeded.
That is a good question that I really want to give a comprehensive and fair answer to. I actually think that in both areas of race and sex the disparity in success with white and male counterparts respectively is 25% institutionalized forces, 25% the individual, 25% their upbringing and 25% percent their culture. I really can’t blame institutionalized forces for everything. In my case my individuality of being a math & science nerd, and my upbringing in a middle-upper class suburb and the importance of education from my Jamaican background outweighed the institutionalization. I think that in terms of an election for a candidate however the power is in the people so the degree of institutionalization (which is really the consensus of people at anytime) is the major factor. So that’s why THE people have to be ready for a female president in order for us to have a female president. But in terms of career other factors can offset society and you can connect with open minded people.
Well, I’m a fan of Condoleezza Rice. Can we get her on the ticket please?
Contrary to what the video is saying, insulting a boy by calling him a girl doesn’t mean that it’s bad to be a girl. What it means is that boys and girls are different, and that a boy shouldn’t act like a girl. How boys and girls ought to act is, of course, a topic that has been discussed quite a bit. But saying that boys and girls should act differently isn’t the same thing as saying that it’s bad to be a girl.
Now, maybe I’m world-weary, but . . .
FckH8 is a commercial enterprise. The objective behind their ads is to sell T-shirts, not to advance some political cause. The sexual politics is just a marketing gimmick. They could care less about feminism or any of the other causes they pretend to promote. Do you think anybody’s mind is going to be changed by watching the ad? Or by seeing somebody wearing one of the FckH8 T-shirts? People who want to denote to one of these organizations that FckH8 supports can denote directly.
If this ad is produced the way most ads are (and it has a slick, professional look to it) the girls are professional actresses. They work hard and take their craft very seriously. Their job is to perform lines of dialog, to pretend to be somebody quite different from themselves. Some of these jobs will require them to make utterances that they would not otherwise make. That is what acting is all about. This FckH8 gig will give the girls something to put on their resume. Perhaps some producer will look at the spot and say, “That’s the girl I want for my commercial/TV show/motion picture!”
Linda Blair (The Exorcist) and more recently Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass) were two child actresses who advanced their careers in roles that featured profane dialog in R-rated movies. Both of them at the time were interviewed in the press and they said that their mothers would never allow them to utter those words if it wasn’t part of the job. Is this exploitation? Perhaps, but it’s the nature of hiring children as actors.