A Youtube star named Sam Pepper thought it would be, like, really funny, like really YOLOLOLOLOLOL, if he went around groping women’s asses, filming it and telling them to chill when they got upset because it was “just a prank.”
The women in the video are visibly uncomfortable and even tell him, “I don’t like that.”
In what dimension is sexual harassment a prank? When a stranger gropes me I always think, “What a practical joker!” No. No. No. Sorry. There are so many levels of wrong with this that I am going to explode into a million Angry Birds.
First of all, no one’s body, man or woman, is up for grabs. You don’t go around touching strangers’ private parts. It doesn’t matter if your motivation is to hurt them or be funny the action is the same, the action is harassment.
Secondly, considering that you don’t know the women you are touching, you don’t know if they have been sexually harassed or abused before, you don’t know if you’re little “practical joke” is going to cause them to relive a traumatic event. PTSD is real.
Lastly, a woman’s body does not exist for your entertainment. It does not exist solely for your pleasure. How is humiliating, degrading, crossing personal boundaries and filming it so that it feels like even more of a violation, funny?
#YesAllWomen have to deal with catcallers, street harassment, the ever-looming fear that we might cross the wrong man, and no, it’s not OK to trivialize that or literally laugh at us because we’re uncomfortable when you vioalate our bodies. What kind of man are you? What kind of person are you that you think hurting people is a prank just because you have a camera with you?
According to Jezebel, “Many famous YouTube stars like John and Hank Green, Hannah Hart, Grace Helbig, Dan and Phil, Charlieisoscoollike, Tyler Oakley and many others have denounced his abhorrent behavior. Hank Green stated Sam will not be welcomed back to Vidcon ever again.” They’re calling for everyone to dislike and report the video to have it removed.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LtTFbin6c&w=590]
