Ah Ireland, so adept at sweeping the most heinous of dirtbird droppings under the carpet are we, that we've come to a point where it's not actually bonkers to call a child sexual abuser an 'exhibitionist'.
The following is the first line from a news story today about a 26 year old man, who sent pictures of himself , penis exposed, to a 12 year old and her mates. (...he says he thought she was 16, woops! That's ok then, an older child). The child was apparently terrified by the whole ordeal that she thought started off as a joke...
"An "exhibitionist" who sent naked pictures of himself by text to a 12-year-old girl, and was also in contact with several of her friends, has had his sentence adjourned at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court"
Note that breakingnews(dot)ie calls the perpetrator, an 'exhibitionist'. A freaking exhibitionist? Like kids who do over -enthusiastic puppet shows are? Or people who do theatrical renditions of the Irish Rover in a boozer are? Or streakers? Give me a Christing break. The bloke is a sexual abuser. Children First, Ireland's national guidelines for the protection of children, defines sexual abuse as (among other things, obviously):
"exposure of the sexual organs or any sexual act intentionally performed in the presence of a child"
Language that couches the malicious intent or downright dysfunction of dudes who think it's ok to sexually coerce girls (yes, it's coercion, he sexed her without her permission) is mighty mighty stupid, bordering on dangerous.
The following is the first line from a news story today about a 26 year old man, who sent pictures of himself , penis exposed, to a 12 year old and her mates. (...he says he thought she was 16, woops! That's ok then, an older child). The child was apparently terrified by the whole ordeal that she thought started off as a joke...
"An "exhibitionist" who sent naked pictures of himself by text to a 12-year-old girl, and was also in contact with several of her friends, has had his sentence adjourned at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court"
Note that breakingnews(dot)ie calls the perpetrator, an 'exhibitionist'. A freaking exhibitionist? Like kids who do over -enthusiastic puppet shows are? Or people who do theatrical renditions of the Irish Rover in a boozer are? Or streakers? Give me a Christing break. The bloke is a sexual abuser. Children First, Ireland's national guidelines for the protection of children, defines sexual abuse as (among other things, obviously):
"exposure of the sexual organs or any sexual act intentionally performed in the presence of a child"
Language that couches the malicious intent or downright dysfunction of dudes who think it's ok to sexually coerce girls (yes, it's coercion, he sexed her without her permission) is mighty mighty stupid, bordering on dangerous.
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I know it's not really the point; what this dude did is wrong, but an exhibitionist is defined in some dictionaries as follows;
ReplyDeleteexhibitionist
noun
1. someone with a compulsive desire to expose the genitals
2. someone who deliberately behaves in such a way as to attract attention
Perhaps this word sounds softer than calling him a child sexual abuser, but are we not trying to get away from the over hyped language of the media? Just a thought.
Good point, and I agree. Over-hyped language is completely counter-productive to accountability with this shit, but I just don't think using 'child abuser' or something equally truthful is over-hyping. I don't disagree that there's language the meeja uses that distorts the reality of situations to a point where it makes the perpetrator seem completely unique, freakish and at times other worldly. The SEX CRAZED CHILD MOLESTER MONSTER type headline almost gives you a (slightly morbid because it's happening to someone else) sense of relief because 'hey, that's nothing like anyone I know would ever do'. Yet we probably do know people who do that shit, and they probably don't normally present as MONSTERS. I think such dramatic language conceals the reality of the pervasiveness of sexual assault, sexual abuse and sexual harassment. On the other end of the spectrum, using the fairly innocuous or innocent 'exhibitionist' makes stuff like this seem harmless. I dunno, I just don't think 'man who exposes his cock to a young girl' when I hear the word 'exhibitionist', and when I hear the word 'exhibitionist' used in that context I think 'hey, that journalist thinks this is kind of harmless, or doesn't want to offend his/her readers by pointing out that it's not'.
ReplyDeleteSEXHIBITIONIST!
ReplyDelete