I just signed on to check my email and I saw a cover story about Dennis Rodman in trouble with the law again. This time he has been arrested for allegedly hitting a woman and leaving her with bruises. His manager briefly stated that he grabbed her by the arm and that was the only reason why there was a bruise. Rodman was let out on $50,000 bail.
I continued to look because there was a side story on athletes in trouble with the law. So many of them were accounts of battery on women it was astounding to me.
My question is: is there a correlation here with athletes and domestic abuse? Are athletes using drugs that make them aggressive? Do they have too much stress and pressure placed upon them that they take it out on others? OR is this a true representation of how much women are truly battered, but only these stories make it to the news because they are about celebrities?
The other thing that really bothers me is that some of these athletes that are being arrested are role models for people... children and adults alike. Look at the messages going out to society about how to treat women.
How does everyone else feel on the topic of domestic abuse in correlation with celebrities?
5 comments:
I feel that these abusive athletes are getting way to much publicity. It is showing that it is ok to beat women because nothing really happens to the perp. I think society needs to push for the media to show athletes that are actually doing something good for the world and who treat others with respect no matter their age, gender, race, etc. If this occurred maybe there would be fewer cases of abuse.
I just completed a report about the conflict with steroids and professional athletics and part of my conclusion would answer this question. While there is no excuse for athletes to take drugs as either an outlet from sports or as an enhancer, through the years the competitive level has increased dramatically which is why they are looking for an extra edge. The other problem is that a uniform drug policy is non existent, therefore it is hard to know how much is allowable (such as for rehab) and at what point it is illegal. This needs to be clearly communicated to the athletes because they are continuing to go down destructive paths that result in their career deteriorating. Along with this, there are hundreds of sports fans out there who look up to these athletes as role models and are devastated when they find out that the reason the athlete was so successful was the short cuts he/she was taking.
I think that this is a true representative of how women are often treated and it is just brought to light because they are famous athletes. In class when we talked about the statistics of women being raped and abuses I was just shocked that it happens so often and we never hear about it.
I believe that society puts them on this high position which the celeb takes as " I can do whatever I want, the people love me." In most cases I believe that is the case, that they have enough money to get out of everything, but at the same time could they also be relying on the fact that the judge will know them and like them? I feel that the violence is also caused by the fact that they aren't told "no" at all. They have enough money and surround themselves with the type of people that wont disagree with them and when someone that does say no, they are met with an out lash. Im sure you can find many examples of that in these types of celeb blowups.
I believe gendered violence to be a pervasive act felt in every walk of life. I agree 100% about how we allow our young people to view these violent, aggressive, power freaks, exorbonately paid men in a idolistic light. It's ridiculous. I have 3 nephews all under 10 who love to watch nfl football. In fact their dad plays for the eagles and they just think he's the greatest, toughest, best man their is. Unfortunately their dad isn't much of man, and has a frequent anger problems whenever he's around. It's terribly sad, because to him, it was always my sisters fault. These poor young boys see their father in violent rages everyday on the football field and have to put up with it at home to. It sickens me. We have to educate our young people today that real man aren't always the ones in uniform.
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