I can’t emphasize more on how important words are and how important it is to word everything in a truthful, respectful, and dignified manner. I’ve written about this so many times on this blog, with last time being just the previous post. Just as I was in the process of writing the previous post, I saw two articles that had the worst writing in them possible. It was appalling to me that anyone would even dare to hire such writers to their team, but then again, this type of writing is clickbait – it’s what makes people WANT to click on a link to read an article in question because that’s what creates interest. And not surprisingly, this writing style has a lot to do with the art of degrading women.
First, there’s Jameela Jamil, who starred in TV shows such as ‘The Good Place’ and Pitch Perfect’. Aside from being an actress, she’s also an activist, and she’s known be very outspoken. She’s not afraid to say whatever is on her mind, and she doesn’t care if she’s hated for it. One of the many things she’s been open about was that she previously had an abortion, and in her words, it was the best decision she could’ve ever made, both for herself and for the baby that could’ve been. Not surprisingly, she received a lot of online hate and backlash for her decision to abort, specifically from those who are pro-life. And last month, Jamil reposted an article headline by LifeNews.com which read, ‘Jameela Jamil: Killing My Baby In An Abortion Made My Life A Million Times Better.’
Just a few days ago, it was reported by TMZ that Amanda Bynes, a former Nickelodeon actress, was on a psychiatric hold. What actually happened was that Bynes was walking around town naked when she flagged a car, told the driver she was coming down from psychotic episode and called 911 herself. But when TMZ first reported the story, they wrote that she was ‘roaming the streets naked and alone’ before ever mentioning that she flagged down the driver and called for help herself. Readers were quick to notice the degrading manner of the writing, and were very public in defending the former actress and her bravery.
These two women have very different stories of hardships. They’re never ones to be compared. These stories have a lot to do with women’s rights, women’s health, and both women being degraded for their rights and health. Mind you, both Jameela Jamil and Amanda Bynes are in the public eye. Therefore, it’s almost not a surprise that millions of people have something to say about them. It comes with the territory. But IS a surprise, is that those who write for platforms such as TMZ still use such degrading headlines to get the attention of everyone in the world to get them to click on the articles to read them.
Let’s face the facts here – content creation is a money making machine when you’re already an established content creator and have a large platform and following. It doesn’t matter if this platform is a blogging website, a social media platform a YouTube channel, etc. Once you’re an established content creator, that’s where the money’s at. It takes a whole lot of time and effort to be an established content creator as it’s not a get rich fast type of business, but it’s possible nonetheless.
TMZ has been around for more than a decade, so it’s an already established platform. Even if you don’t read their content, you probably know of it. I sure know of it, and I absolutely refuse to ever read any of the articles and increase the platform’s reach. I refuse to believe that being mean is the only way to get views and the visibility you need in order to make a living as a content creator. Kindness is everything in this day and age, and we should all use it to our benefit, even if it brings us losses. I, for one, know exactly what it’s like to be degraded and looked down upon for my health, as well as my own personal choices that I make in order to protect my health. Luckily for me, it wasn’t on the internet where I was bullied, but rather in person. I can’t imagine having to go through it on the internet, especially if I were a famous person, as people write what they’d never say to anyone in person. I’m sure that whoever wrote about Jameela Jamil or Amanda Bynes would’ve never came up to them and told them exactly what they wrote about them. And I’m sure those that told them to write about the two actresses wouldn’t say these words to the women’s faces either.
But it’s not just women who are degraded nd belittled for a gain, but men are as well. One perfect example of that would be Scott Disick, a reality star and businessman who’s associated to the Kardashian influential brand. He was previously in a long term relationship with the oldest sister, Kourtney Kardashian, and is the father of her three children. The year 2014 was a tough year for the reality star. He dealt with the deaths of his parents, who passed away months apart. With no help or support from anyone except the Kardashian family, he went off the deep end and dealt with substance abuse. Nothing was off the table when it came down to what would be shown on ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’, the family’s long running reality show that ran between 2007 and 2020. Producers didn’t hold back, and showed Disick’s absolute worst moments when, in hindsight, those moments were a cry for help. It wasn’t the producers’ intentions to shed light on addiction and what it can do to those struggling and the people close to them, but rather, it was all about the ratings. They showed what their viewers wanted to see and they didn’t care how it affected their loved one’s health and recovery.
As you can probably tell just by the few examples I pointed out, content creation, especially when it’s on a bigger scale, is a nasty business. The platforms and the people behind them would rather put someone down and embarrass them when they’re at their lowest points just to get more traction, and therefore, more dollars in their bank accounts. It’s a sad, but a truthful reality. As I previously said, I can empathize and relate to the hardships people face when they feel judged and belittled for their health and the choices they make based on making their lives better for themselves. When I felt judged and belittled myself, I felt absolutely worthless and that I needed to be what others wanted me to be. With that, my health worsened and I almost lost everything. That’s why I vow to never, ever do the same no matter what opportunities it costs or how much money I may lose. My conscious is worth a lot more than any opportunity and any amount of money. Kindness is everything, and I choose kindness over anything else. Kindness is the motto I will always choose for my brand and my platform.
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