Violence is Violence
We see violence all around us. Violence is when we hurt others. The question is why do we give names for different kinds of violence? The forms of violence people experience are physical and emotional. These can affect a person’s life forever. The violence people experience is domestic and patriarchal violence. Domestic violence has always been seen as a private issue. Individuals think that they are not allowed to interfere when a couple is fighting. Most of the time people think that it is none of their business and this can turn into the bystander effect. The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual form intervening in an emergency situation. The victims of this violence keep quiet because they feel ashamed. People usually keep this quiet because it is humiliating to let people know the person they are in a relationship with is hurting them. Sandra Horley CNN says “Many women have told me that their abusers hit them on parts of their body that do not show, or only become violent when the children are asleep.” Patriarchal violence is the kind of violence that creates or maintains men’s power and dominance, or avenges the loss of their power. This form of violence is taken more seriously because it is a public issue. All violence’s should be taken seriously. Private and public should be treated equally.
Bell Hooks is a philosopher that argues that violence is wrong under any circumstances. In Hooks work “Ending Violence” from feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics, argues that all violence’s are the same. Also, that domestic violence’s should be treated equally to patriarchal violence. She thinks that there needs to be an end to violence. She mentions “A huge majority of parents use some form of physical or verbal aggression against children.” This gives the wrong message to children and they grow up thinking violence is acceptable. Today’s society there is a lot of violence especially in the Hollywood life. The only reason we hear more about celebrities is because they have cameras following them everywhere. Non celebrities keep their stories private because they do not want anyone knowing. In Today’s news Kesha, American singer, says she has been raped by her producer, Dr. Luke. This violence can be considered private just like domestic violence because singers and producers are supposed to have a close relationship. It took her 10 years to file suit claiming producer, Dr. Luke abused her. There was no evidence telling if this is true or not. However, many celebrities know Kesha is telling the truth. In court, Dr. Luke won and will not break the contract between them. Kesha states “All I ever wanted was to be able to make music without being afraid, scared or abused.” Kesha wants the contract to be broken but Sony declines her request and says it will ruin her career. I think it is strange that other celebrities can have their contract broken so easily. If this abuse was towards a male I feel the contract will be broken no questions asked. One example that comes to mind is Zayn Malik leaving one direction because he was unhappy. Malik had a contract but they broke the contract under certain circumstances. If they can break this one why is it so difficult to remove Kesha’s? Even if Kesha could be lying she is certainly unhappy and does not want anything to do with Dr. Luke.
She has kept this secret just like any other person going through domestic violence. This is the same as any other violence. She is scared of Dr. Luke and wants to stay away from him. Dr. Luke was someone that once meant a lot to her and she probably thought he can change. She blamed herself for all these years for not telling anyone sooner. I think this is why she did not try to resolve the issue sooner is because of the close relationship. As a society we need to accept that any type of violence is violence.
