Vice News is a digital media platform and website providing fascinating stories to readers. While it is wonderful the internet allows from more choice in media consumption, that does not mean all opinions are valid. Moral panic does not come from just the cultural conservative. The social justice liberal also engages in the culture war. Vice News in 2021 attacked a Reddit group known as Oh-lympics. Hanako Montgomery wrote ” Inside The Disturbing Subreddit That Sexualizes Olympic Women.” What the article did was demonize members of the group without actually surveying all of them. The only comments come from a select few. That does not represent all members. The member who did give their comments even said posts can at times be offensive. The impact of the comment was reduced, when saying it was human nature. Calling Oh-lympics disturbing is an exaggeration. Using that word implies some type of extremism, hate group, cult, or bizarre fringe movement. The quality of journalism is going through a decline. Anything can be made to look sensational or dangerous just to get readers. No one is ignoring that sexual objectification exists. What Vice News does not understand is that it predates the Oh-lympics group. Other forms of media are guilty of this, but are not criticized as much. TV, film, and print publications have at some point objectified women. Compared to those mediums and other websites, Oh-lympics is tame. The condemnation by Vice News was unnecessary and from a rational perspective frivolous.
Journalist Hanako Montgomery made reached conclusion: ” these popular subreddits highlight a pervasive culture of objectifying women in sports, something that’s made worse by tight-fitting clothing, like bikini bottoms, that only women are required to wear.” The debate is similar to the notion that video games cause mass shootings. It has no basis in fact and there is not data to suggest a link. Seeing a single Reddit group is not going to cause the sexual objectification of women. The discussion extends to clothing, which is not part of the subject. Sports uniforms are another topic and an issue that can be solved with a change in policy. Fines for not wearing bikinis at volleyball competitions were ludicrous. Mentioning clothing is another moral panic argument. What it parallels was the notion television increases violence in society. Once more, violence predates the invention . It does not explain the wars, crime, and civil unrest that was present centuries before. Sports culture has not been very women friendly. Besides the effort to keep women out of competition, there were instances they were excluded as spectators. The ancient Olympics banned women from being spectators. Currently the women of Iran are protesting being prohibited from watching soccer matches in stadiums.
These images can be found all over the internet. Compare them with Oh-lympics, there is little difference.
Sports culture has plenty of more disturbing practices. The fact that women are paid less and face abuses from coaches does not disturb the professional sports establishment. The Olympics discriminates against the intersexed and transwomen. Although sex testing is no longer allowed , women are being tested for the amount of testosterone in their bodies. This is nothing more than a defacto form of sex testing under the cover of ensuring “fairness.” Female sportscasters have to deal with a culture that does not think they belong. The odd groupie culture surrounding numerous male athletes in school and professional sports is not discussed. The behavior creates an atmosphere in which women can either be sexually assaulted or victims of domestic abuse. The National Football League still does not adequately address abuse from its football players. A subreddit did not cause this; people did.
Magazines have images that are similar to Oh-lympics. The establishment media is not attacked to the same degree for a number of reasons. The idea they are infallible or have higher credibility shields them from criticism. Another reason is that print media might become so irrelevant that just is not worth mentioning. Sports Illustrated has a large portion of women in bikinis and scantily clad outfits. The offense should not be how the women are dressed, rather the fact that so few female athletes were featured. Most of the time the magazine would have a model with no athletic background on their covers. The positive development is that more female athletes are being featured. The photos of Naomi Osaka, Micelle Jenneke, Rhonda Rousey, and Serena Williams show the sportswoman can be beautiful. The images of Sports Illustrated are sexualized.
These images could be disturbing and offensive to some. According to the original article ( disturbing images ) these would be considered inappropriate.
Vice News does not admit one serious contradiction. Sexual objectification is okay when women are doing it themselves for personal profit. Many female athletes get paid to pose in magazines directed at a male audience. Some athletes post suggestive picture on their social media and it would not be shocking that other have an Only Fans. Even mentioning this would generate accusations of double standards and misogyny. Either all sexualization is awful or not. What most can agree on is that sexual objectification is something that should not be promoted. A difference does exist. One dehumanizes women and the other is suggestive or lascivious.
If Vice News has an issue with Oh-lympics film and TV should be targets. women are sexualized in TV shows and commercials. Car and beer commercials used to be notorious for it. The reason is due to the fact certain corporations want to target a a male demographic. Sex sells is the attitude , with messages brainwashing consumers to buy products they do not need. These are worse than Oh-lympics, because it reduces women to nothing more than props or a product. The images also distort younger men’s minds about women. Here a distinction can be made. Sexual objectification lowers women’s status. Sexualization just implies innuendo. Films have either reduced female characters to love interests or damsels in distress. Overtime the use of stock characters has been reduced. Lists can be complied of actresses that have either had nude or sex scenes in movies. Vice would not acknowledge this, but the more observant would understand the hypocrisy.
Reading the group description it is clear what Oh-lympics is about. It states ” This subreddit is NOT affiliated with the International Olympic Committee.” Then it explains further : ” anything that makes you go “Oh” or is sexually invigorating from the Olympic games.” The adult content warning is issued : “assume any link will be NSFW, as you will most likely be seeing a lot of booty in this Sub.” There can be explicit material on Reddit, but the images on Oh-lympics are not close to that. Randomly select any image and it has the NSFW label. Finding actual nudes there is hard. Most of the athletes are clothed and the images cannot be classified as pornographic. The pictures are not even sexual in nature all the time.
Oh-Lympics has been around since 2012. The variety of images has expanded. These images from the group get the NSFW label even though there is nothing inappropriate about them.
The only way these images could be offensive is if one is a member of the Taliban or Westboro Church. Then there could be the fourth wave feminist who thinks everything is a conspiracy against women. The Vice News reaction is more of an instance of selective outrage and pseudo-moralism. Selective outrage is when out cry is directed at something deemed unjust, but it not done when it agrees with a certain worldview, perspective, or ideology. Vice News would not go after Playboy or Hustler. Not a single mention that ESPN magazine has the body issue, which features female athletes in the nude. Vice News demonstrated a perfect example of selective outrage. Pseudo-moralism is applied when critics are imply they are “protecting” people. Most of the women were not forced to take the pictures nor are they forced to post on the internet.
Vice News did not even ask the question why men go to these groups. It is not that male libido is untamed or just immensely high. Much of it has to do with men being lonely. Attaining female companionship has become harder. Images on Reddit act as a substitute. People have physical and psychological needs. If that cannot be attained, then people find another source. Although this cannot be said with certainty, most men on the subReddit probably do not have female companionship. Men who are with someone still view such images. There is a reason why so few female created versions of this group exist. If women had to struggle the same way men do to have a relationship or get married to would be the reverse. Men looking at images of women they find attractive is not sexual objectification. Then what should also be considered is that women’s sports get limited media exposure. What is more egregious is that access to media on a 24 hour schedule, but female athletes are hardly seen. Groups on Reddit give fans access to more they would get on TV or magazines. There are men who both enjoy the games and the women who compete. The visitors of the group might actually have interest increased by discovering a new athlete. Men have different reasons going to Oh-lympics. The sole objective is not to dehumanize the female athlete.
Men enjoying the image of strong woman should be lauded. There was a time in which the female athlete’s femininity and womanhood was questioned. The more negative representations were that the female athlete was unattractive and mannish. The shift has been slow, but now perceptions have changed. Women can play any sport and not have to be ostracized like before. More progress needs to be made. The small victory is the growing number of male fans . Sports that were thought to be male only have women active in them. The numbers will grow if enough sponsorship and access is available.
Women are in motorsport , football, and soccer. The rapid rise has also shown the growth of male fans.
Oh-Lympics just shows appreciation for the athletic female physique. The female Olympic athletes are reaching a new level prominence . Concerns over conduct on the group are legitimate criticisms. As long as comments are respectful and not demeaning, the group should not be attacked. Moderators should set rules to address such issues. If abuse gets too extreme, then Reddit will shut a group down. Oh-Lympics has not done an offense to have that action taken. The creation of the group was not designed to disparage or belittle women. If there was a group in which women made featuring male athletes, that would not get any attention. Vice News would probably say that would not be worth reporting.
The solution to that critics have to what they see as a problem is clear. Although Vice News does not say it directly the path always leads to censorship. The reason press and journalism can flourish is due to limited censorship. Nothing is positive about censorship. The new argument is that it is designed to protect people from disinformation, hate speech, or to enhance public security. Here censorship applied to Oh-lympics is to protect women from sexual objectification. Censorship does not protect women. It only silences those who have an opposing view or ideas that are not deemed acceptable. The issue with that is what is considered the “correct “opinion or thought can change. This behavior should not happen in a society that values free expression and a free press.
With out internet freedom, much of these images could not be accessed. Fans seeking more content would be reliant on just TV or print publications.
The irony is that censorship laws will harm the people who at first were advocates. If Oh-Lympics were to be banned, other groups could follow. Granted Reddit has done this with certain political groups. What seems to be happening is a push for an internet morality police. Tumblr has been following a similar policy with an attempt to purge most adult content. All these problems could be solved with a warning message or filter. While it is understood children should not have access to such content, parents should be responsible for their kids online use. Websites and social media should not be parenting for moms and dads. An observant reader understands this is not about the public good nor stopping false claims. Hanako Montgomery really just has a problem with men looking at pictures of women in skimpy clothing. The journalist would never admit that, because it would unmask the fake outrage presented by Vice News. The argument has limited support so clothing is mentioned. This becomes a more dangerous argument than she realizes. Saying that women wearing bikinis or any other type of uniform invites sexual objectification is false. That claim is the same as woman’s attire invites or puts her at risk of rape and sexual harassment. Criminal acts and poor behavior happen no matter what. Montgomery obviously did not think of this. She wants to censor a group just because she does not approve of it. Censorship will not be successful. For every group that is shutdown another will emerge. Users can go to other platforms. Oh-Lympics has been around for ten years and there is no end in sight. Hopefully, the moderators can use their influence to encourage users to support women’s sports.
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