You Can Dress Up Old Cheese, But It Still Stinks

I resisted watching this video for a couple of months.  Really, the first few moments of music made me want to hunker down with a glass of wine to go with the cheese.  I caved in only because a class of high school girls wanted to dissect it.  And, as I watched, the overly cute morphed into creepy.

You may have seen it - this video was all over my Facebook feed earlier this year.

 

"Slap Her."  The one in Italian with boys ages 7 to 11.  An off-camera interviewer asks them a few preliminary questions, to prove they're just regular joes (but smaller, and cute).  Name and age.  What do you want to be when you grow up, and why?  (Firefighter, baker, pizza maker - because they want to help people, make messes, like pizza.  Regular li'l joes.)

Next they are introduced to a girl.  Martina bounds into the frame.  Taller than the boys, looking more like a tween than little girl, Martina may be 11 or 13 years old.  A bit of makeup is balanced by the braces on her teeth.  

One more question is directed to the boys:  What do you like about her?  Various answers, all on appearance (well, they don't know anything else about her since she hasn't said or done anything, what else could they say? other than uhhhhh . . .).  Her hands, eyes, shoes, hair, . . . everything.  She is a pretty girl.

Enough with the questions.  On to commands.  The voice behind the camera tells them to caress her.  Then to make funny faces at her.  The boys comply, with varying degrees of awkwardness.

The final command: to slap her.  The cheesy music stops.  They boys look at the camera.  They seem not sure they really heard correctly.  They look at her, look at the camera, look at the camera some more. 

They refuse.  And the cheesy music resumes, with the addition of a string orchestra swelling in the background.

The boys give various reasons.  Because we're not supposed to hit girls (not even with a flower).  Because she's pretty.  Because hitting is bad.  Because Jesus said so.  Because he's against violence.  Because he's a man.

Fade to text scrolling on the screen:  In the kids' world women don't get hit.

I really wanted to get sucked into the cuteness.  But I could not, even when accompanied by a glass of red rhone.  The "creepy" factor just overtook the "cute."  Let's count the ways:

1. Martina doesn't talk.  She giggles, behind her hand, at some point.  She is portrayed more as a Disney automaton (an object) than a real person.
2. Martina is an object labeled "girl."  The boys are asked what they like about her after having first met her.  What can they say, really?  Is the interviewer leading the boys to believe that the only parts worth assessing are what's visible?  That's annoying.
3. The really creepy part for me began when the interviewer told the boys to caress her.  Huh?  How about ASKING HER?  With all the mass media chatter these past months about "consent," this stands out in an out-of-touch way.
4. So by the time it got to "slap her," I was past annoyed.  The cheese was spread thick, and no wine was cutting through that layer.

But we all know that, in the real world, women and girls (and boys and men, and transgender and questioning) do get hit.  Is the question we're left to ponder how that happens?  What transpires between the magic of childhood and the mundanity of adulthood to make violence okay?  I think the structure of the video provides that insight:  both boys and girls got pigeonholed in very hetero-normative boxes, where girls are pretty objects (for boys) and not to be hit, and boys are active agents.  

The whole point of learning self-defense skills is NOT to beat up others, nor to lock yourself in an apartment cell to keep harm at bay, nor even to set up invisible impenetrable boundaries.  You learn self-defense so you can go out and meet others and travel and study and go to parties and gatherings and meet other people and make friends.  You get to pick your wine as well as the cheese, or decide whether or not you want either.  You learn skills so you can be happy and successful and expand the scope of your activities.

So you are an active agent in your life.  Anything less is cheating on yourself.


Postscripts:  

While this has the look and feel of a PSA, it is not.  This video refers viewers to Fanpage.it, an Italian news company (too bad I don't know if this news company is more like the New York Times or the National Enquirer).  No references to domestic or dating violence resources are provided at the end, which diminishes the value of the video.

Here are a few other YouTube comments on this viral video:
    *    Sad that the NFL has become so susceptible to parody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNPfT0-Ss3g
    *    Kids React had these American children watch and comment:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar20hv0rpBM (Lucas' reaction to why abuse happens:  They are dumb)  These kids were also asked would girls hit boys, and some believed yes.
    *    While in India, girls were asked to slap boys:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np4xpXYV1rE

Class Schedule Spring 2015:
Self-defense skills are like CPR, you should review and practice them annually. 

If you've already taken a class and want to keep it fresh, Strategic Living offers a 50% discount on select classes. And, if you refer your friends to a Strategic Living class and they sign up, I will donate $25 to one of three awesome organizations for women and girls. Visit my Paying It Forward page for details.

Do you work with a non-profit or community organization that holds silent  auctions? Ask me to donate a gift certificate for attendance at a Single Day Seminar.

Do you work with a non-profit or community organization whose staff/volunteers/members/clients would benefit from a safety skills seminar? Visit http://www.StrategicLiving.org/donated-class.php for information on requesting partly subsidized training sessions. 

Liz J's staff had this feedback from their session:

"I really enjoyed the training.  It reinforced the notion of trusting your instincts and being aware of your environment.  I thought the physical techniques we learned were easy to remember and very practical."
 
"I thought it was a great training.  It has made me more mindful about my presence in the world.  I've been practicing acknowledging people (men) when I'm by myself by making eye contact but not smiling at them.  I used to feel like I had to smile to "be nice".  I've been conscious of my posture as well.  Also just being aware of my surroundings.  I haven't actually thought about using any of the self defense methods other than remembering what they are."
 
"I thought the training was helpful to remind me to continue being aware of my surroundings and feeling confident that I have the right tools to handle myself in any situation that comes my way."
 
"Role playing was very valuable (especially in getting a bigger voice out of my quiet one) and also it was great to practice the defensive moves. I thought we could have done more of that - there was a lot of dialogue which was helpful too but for me practicing something ingrains it in my brain more. The one thing that really stuck with me was walking around the car to create space between me and my possible attacker.  I do feel I recognize when I'm not walking big. I correct my stance more to walk taller and keep my hands by side more when I'm out and about by myself. So I'm ready!"
 
"I loved this training. I think about the moves that we were taught when I start to feel nervous when I'm out at night, etc. And it's helped to reinforce positive things I was already doing - like walking tall, making eye contact, etc. Really great!"