Unpopular

I went on a popular social media platform today, so naturally I’m incensed. Let’s call this particular platform: Big Daddy Data. I’ve had an account on BDD for many years, but mostly keep it deactivated. Hence, I don’t really know the layout anymore. I have used it lately though because I have been collecting genealogy information obsessively and I have found a helpful group that is hosted on this platform.

Anyway, I logged in today because I was bored and wanted to entertain myself with by reading postings to the genealogy group I follow. Immediately, my newsfeed pops up and one of the few “friends” I have remaining apparently wrote a long post in support of a famous politician who she felt was wronged by a recent op-ed. Well, I wasn’t about to drown in the river she was crying, so I sought to end our digital “friendship.” Nobody needs more political opinions nowadays. This may sound quite dramatic, but remember that I rarely use this account, so our terminated “friendship”
wouldn’t have been noticeable. Anyway, the format on BDD has changed so much that I didn’t recognize the icons. I was clicking around in search of how to unfollow, when I stumbled upon a page of suggestions instead. Up pops a video that (of course) automatically starts playing. Did I ask to see this video? No? Then, quit it!

Anyway, I see a young girl - maybe somewhere between ten and thirteen years old - and an adult man in a bedroom. I’m alarmed. I didn’t hear any sound, so my computer was either already muted or the video was on mute by default. Then, I notice the title refers to a “period” prank. “Blood” appears gushing through the girl’s shorts and the man starts pouring water on her shorts and patting them. A woman appears, so I assume this was a family unit. My inference is that the mother set-up the girl with some sort of fake blood that leaks into her shorts. The father is supposed to be caught off guard and revealed to be inept at dealing with period blood. Then, I assume it is revealed that it is fake blood at some point with a familiar message of boys are dumb and periods are weird lol. Either way, I was furious. I will acknowledge that I didn’t bother watching the whole video or turning on the sound, but I felt so irritated that this was public at all, let alone recommended to me.

I flagged the video. The closest term I could identify was “child abuse.” I know it might seem a bit extreme, but it seemed inappropriate to me to involve a child in this video. I would even argue that it is emotionally manipulative to the girl to involve her in a prank that involves her own body. Anyway, Big Daddy Data apparently had a reviewer look at it and determine that it was acceptable and sent me away with a thank you for your service but we’re good consolation. The site told me I had the option to block, which I did, but I still feel uneasy.

We already live in a world where girls are given inadequate information about their own bodies and menstruation. We also live in a world where these topics are mocked and not taken seriously even by governing research bodies and government entities. I have no problem with girls making period jokes. I have no problem with adults making period jokes amongst themselves. However, adults using a child to make a stale joke about periods where the child is the central figure of the prank. Hell no! Maybe, it is not an openly malicious form of child abuse, but it is certainly not innocent in my opinion.

A girl’s period is not a joke. Again, if girls choose to make light about their periods or their bodies, I take no issue. If an adult finds it funny to reflect on her own childhood in a humorous way, I find no issue. However, I do not see how it is appropriate for adults to use a girl, whether or not she is their daughter, to make fun of the idea that she has a period. Sure, you can say that the joke was really on the father figure because he acted inept. However, that joke is stale too. The lack of education and awareness that men have about female menstruation is yet another obstacle to feminism in our culture. It has created and exacerbated problems in government, education, and medicine through ignorant policies. I don’t see how it is funny to point out how little many men know about the basic experiences of women.

You can think I’m reading too much into all of this. After all, it is one post on Big Daddy Data. However, it is a post I didn’t look for. It is suggested and promoted.

I believe that girls should be taken seriously by society. They should be the ones who determine when and where jokes are made about their bodies, if ever. Boys deserve better too. They deserve a society that informs them about the functions of human bodies instead of one that feeds them cheap jokes about periods that will make them woefully underprepared to deal with adult women.

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