Dogs Rate
I posted this piece on Huffington Post today. I am currently getting hammered for being out of touch with my perception.
I believe Michael Vick did something terrible. Horrible. Sadistic. I also believe there are players in all the professional leagues who have been convicted of domestic violence that still collect a pay check and still get to play ball.
Hurt a woman? Who cares. But a dog? Dogs rate.
Here it is... if you think I'm wrong, let me have it.
Michael Vick: You Should Have Been Beating Women Instead
When the Michael Vick case first came out I was quick to jump to the conclusion this was the railroading of a Black man. Vick was probably not even remotely involved but the press was going to lynch him for it anyway.
Plenty of dog fighting rings being run by white guys that are still running this very second, getting busted and not a whisper of it in the news. Same ridiculous double standard the media always plays when it comes to crime and the color of someone’s skin.
Then I read a piece this morning by Sandra Kobrin, “Beat a Woman? Play on. Beat a Dog? You’re Gone.” (http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3285) I would add gay bashing, too, as Tim Hardaway, among others, still garner the adoration of many fans regardless of stating proudly, “I hate gays’” on national radio.
The double standard, it seems, is not only about race- I still believe race played a huge factor in the reporting of this case- but about what you are abusing. Hit a puppy? Go to jail. Hit a woman? Well, we all lose our tempers sometimes, don’t we? Rape a woman? You might lose some endorsement money. Maybe. It depends on how well you can humiliate and discredit the victim in the press.
Ask the football players at the University of Colorado. Better yet, ask all the victims.
Kobrin points out the professional sports leagues policies being adapted to insure no animal abuse will ever be accepted on any level at any time. Everyone is quick to insure the safety of small helpless creatures. Lots of very serious talk about unacceptable behavior and the cruelty of it.
No such policy exists about spousal abuse or any domestic violence. Let’s face it, in this country, beating or raping a woman is not as serious a crime as dog fighting or animal abuse. Michael Vick is facing FEDERAL charges. If he had women fighting in a pit, half starved and beaten to be violent? He could have sold the TV rights for millions.
Don’t get me wrong- I have a dog and cannot imagine ever hitting her for any reason. I also have a wife I cannot imagine ever hitting, either. Maybe it’s just me, but I think my wife deserves more laws and protections than my dog does. I do believe her life is more valuable, her experience more important and her safety far more paramount to our society’s well being than my dog’s.
Today, however, the message is clear- if Michael Vick had been beating women? He’d be in preseason games instead of court.
I believe Michael Vick did something terrible. Horrible. Sadistic. I also believe there are players in all the professional leagues who have been convicted of domestic violence that still collect a pay check and still get to play ball.
Hurt a woman? Who cares. But a dog? Dogs rate.
Here it is... if you think I'm wrong, let me have it.
Michael Vick: You Should Have Been Beating Women Instead
When the Michael Vick case first came out I was quick to jump to the conclusion this was the railroading of a Black man. Vick was probably not even remotely involved but the press was going to lynch him for it anyway.
Plenty of dog fighting rings being run by white guys that are still running this very second, getting busted and not a whisper of it in the news. Same ridiculous double standard the media always plays when it comes to crime and the color of someone’s skin.
Then I read a piece this morning by Sandra Kobrin, “Beat a Woman? Play on. Beat a Dog? You’re Gone.” (http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3285) I would add gay bashing, too, as Tim Hardaway, among others, still garner the adoration of many fans regardless of stating proudly, “I hate gays’” on national radio.
The double standard, it seems, is not only about race- I still believe race played a huge factor in the reporting of this case- but about what you are abusing. Hit a puppy? Go to jail. Hit a woman? Well, we all lose our tempers sometimes, don’t we? Rape a woman? You might lose some endorsement money. Maybe. It depends on how well you can humiliate and discredit the victim in the press.
Ask the football players at the University of Colorado. Better yet, ask all the victims.
Kobrin points out the professional sports leagues policies being adapted to insure no animal abuse will ever be accepted on any level at any time. Everyone is quick to insure the safety of small helpless creatures. Lots of very serious talk about unacceptable behavior and the cruelty of it.
No such policy exists about spousal abuse or any domestic violence. Let’s face it, in this country, beating or raping a woman is not as serious a crime as dog fighting or animal abuse. Michael Vick is facing FEDERAL charges. If he had women fighting in a pit, half starved and beaten to be violent? He could have sold the TV rights for millions.
Don’t get me wrong- I have a dog and cannot imagine ever hitting her for any reason. I also have a wife I cannot imagine ever hitting, either. Maybe it’s just me, but I think my wife deserves more laws and protections than my dog does. I do believe her life is more valuable, her experience more important and her safety far more paramount to our society’s well being than my dog’s.
Today, however, the message is clear- if Michael Vick had been beating women? He’d be in preseason games instead of court.
posted by Sara at 5:43 PM
5 Comments:
Sarah,
I can see why you're taking a beating. Your post has me so angry I'm ready to spit! A gay man! Spit! *gasp*
I completely disagree with just about everything that you said. Since I'm having a bad day anyhow I'd probably end up taking it on you which isn't fair. But I DO plan on bookmarking this to come back to tomorrow and reply. :)
Slapping a dog is not as serious as slapping a woman.
Choking, electrocuting, hanging and drowning dogs to death when they lose a match IS.
Well Sara, maybe a little too much alone time here in Maine for you? The voices must have taken over! I can see why you are taking a beating over this one.
A post about abuse to women, or anyone for that matter, and the fact that is is unacceptable by anyone for any reason at any time, would have been totally appropiate.
But, suggesting that Michael Vick is getting pounded in the press for what he did because he is black. Get real!
I can't deny that somewhere there is some white guy in FEDERAL court right now, having been charged with a similar dog abuse crime, that we are not hearing about. But I doubt that man has accepted millions upon millions of dollars in pay and endorsements to play in the NFL and be a role model to your children.
You seem to be suggesting that if a white athlete had committed these crimes, the press would have swept it under the rug. Do you really believe that if Tom Brady or Peyton Manning had committed, and pled guilt the same crime, it would have not been reported, the the PETA folks would be leaving THEM alone, and the NFL would be letting them play? I strongly doubt that.
I won't deny that if it had been one of those two, the press would have been less vocal in the beginning, but Michael Vick has had a recent history of behaving badly and criminally.
Tom and Peyton are the darling white guys of the NFL, but you know, they seem to accept their roles with a certain degree of responsibility, as do MANY MANY black athletes.
A posting about people being tried in the press, instead of the courts, might have been a good one, if the smuck hadn't already copped a guilty plea prior to your having written it.
So yes, there are injustices in the press, and our court system, and they should be discussed, but I think there might be better examples out there to prove that point, than the plight of poor Michel Vick. Feel sorry for him, no way.
Should make for interesting conversation when you arrive downeast. Maybe a dunk in the Lourdes of Downeast Maine will help you clear your head, or at least quiet those voices!! LOL
Sarah, I was thinking the same thing yesterday, as I was driving...abuse a woman or child and lie about it, or lie to the American people and get us caught up in a war that has taken almost 4,000 lives and maimed thousands and you get a pass...but, dog brutality? HELL NO! WE DON'T PLAY THAT!
I have no prblem with punishing Vick...he or anyone else deserves what they get for that type of behavior...I would just like to see the same fervor, by the public and those congresspersons, with regards to the other critical matters that are tearing this country apart.
Law's for the protection of women and children came out of laws already on the books regarding the protection of animals. The pecking order was established in the 1800's, and not much has changed I guess.
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