"I have always been disgusted by Toby Keith. I don't listen to country music on purpose, but I hear it now and then, and with songs titles like: "Who's Your Daddy?", "A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action", I knew he was a disgusting pig.
While flipping channels a few days ago, I saw that the Country Music Awards had nominated one of his videos for best video, "A Little Too Late". The clip I saw was of a woman who appeared to be tied to a chair, while Toby intimidated her. I looked up the video on YouTube, and it is SHOCKING.
The basic idea is that he ties his girlfriend to a chair and locks her in the basement. He comes down, and gets in her face, gives the impression that he is going to hit her with a shovel, drown her, or bury her in cement. Then we find out that, no, he is actually going to build a brick wall around her so she is trapped. All the while she is acting afraid of him. Then at the end of the video, we realize that silly Toby actually built the wall around himself, and he is the one who is stuck. Isn't that just hilarious? Doesn't that redeem his terrible message? NO. And, to top it off, once the girlfriend realizes this and escapes, he yells things to her like, "You know I didn't mean to hurt you," "You know my temper."
It is NOT funny to make a joke out of violence against women, which is exactly what he was doing. One website called it, "an imaginative video by award winning director." If by imaginative they mean violent, misogynistic, and wildly disrespectful to women and survivors of domestic abuse. The fact that the CMT awards actually nominated him for best video is the most disturbing fact of all. I am SO disgusted."
Well said, Lyndsay. Domestic violence is never funny, and Toby Keith should absolutely not be rewarded for his misogynistic video. And one of the worst things is, if you look at the YouTube comments practically all 48 of them are about how funny they think this video is! And, the CMT award for which Keith is nominated was voted on by his fans! If you would like to post a message on the CMT Awards web site telling them that this video should not be recognized by the CMT Network, click here. Oh, and here is the offending video:
19 comments:
You really should lighten up and get a sense of humor. His entire point in the video was to show the guy as an idiot. The director of the video wanted it to end showing Toby blocking himself in in order to get away from the woman's nagging. Toby changed the ending for the purpose of showing the man to be a fool. She obviously wasn't tied, was never hit or yelled at, and it's just a video and a song!! Get some therapy and get over it. You certainly don't have to like country music, or Toby Keith, but it is very shallow of you to stereotypically insult those of us that do.
I'm sorry if I offended any country music fans. I don't think there is anything wrong with liking country music, I just think that while there are certain people out there who might see the humor in a man tying up his wife or girlfriend in a violent way, domestic violence is not something joke about.
It's not ok, Elsietee just to say that because a man is portrayed as a fool that we should ignore his misogyny or his intent to cement a woman in a basement. It's also not ok when people just brush images and messages like this off and say that people "don't have a sense of humor." It's people who ignore the problem, and more so the people who think violent images are funny that keep this garbage in the mainstream. Kelsey doesn't say anywhere in her post that she has a problem with country music OR the people who listen to it. The imagery would be just as offensive if it were rap, an emo hipster ballad, elevator muzak or punk rock. You're missing the point and taking it personally. The problem is that the video portrays a man clearly intent on cementing a woman in a basement after using intimidation tactics and denying her scared protests. It's not just what the video stands for, it's that the public is so blind to the message it's actually up to be rewarded. It makes me sad, and it's definitely not something I want to "lighten up" about.
elsietee,
I certainly did not intend to offend or stereotype country music fans. It's unfortunate that that's what you got out of my post. Just to put this into perspective:
According to the America Institute on Domestic Violence:
-85-95% of all domestic violence victims are female.
-Over 500,00 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year.
-5.3 million women are abused each year.
-1,232 women are killed each year by an intimate partner.
-Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women.
-Women are more likely to be attacked by someone they know rather than by a stranger
Look it up:
http://www.aidv-usa.com/Statistics.htm
No one should lighten up about this.
This is completely outrageous. 99 percent of the video this woman has fear on her face. She flinches when he picks up the shovel. The message is...Toby tied her up and ain't that HOT! So what if at the end he seems to be a dweeb in addition to being a dick.
What in the hell were they thinking? How many Virginia tech nut jobs will THIS inspire? Man it is HOT to tie a pretty girl up in the basement and pretend to wall trap her with a brick wall! Hot I tell you!
If someone isn't organizing a boycott of Toby Keith for this, I will. And yes I do have some of his CD's. But never again will he get one red penny from me. Screw him.
Not to continue this ridiculous defense of a powerful feminist's analysis of media violence, but I would just like to point out one thing...
It's interesting to me, elsietee, that you are more concerned with protecting country music's image than seriously considering music's influence on the perpetuation of domestic violence, including the image that domestic violence is "fun," "sexy," "desired," or rather... "doesn't really exist."
I apologize ahead of time if you interpret my opinion as an ad homitnem attack, because it's certainly not intended to be such.
"I apologize ahead of time if you interpret my opinion as..."
You know, this kind of mealy mouthed, subservient talk is EXACTLY why we still HAVE domestic violence!
You are an intelligent person. You express yourself just fine. Don't apologize in advance that someone might misinterpret you! You are not being polite, you are being a doormat!
I honestly don't know where women are getting this training in talking and acting like scared little kids all the time. But when you couple it with the macho bull that men are being fed all the time, guess what you get? Domestic violence.
Stand up and say your piece with no apologies. Please! If not for yourself then for the rest of us.
I am literally LingOL (as the internet speak goes). It's fairly obvious that you don't know me, thinking that I might come remotely close to a doormat. I recognize that writing does not always express emotions, but when I say "I apologize in advance," I am not only saying it sarcastically, but also addressing an opposing argument before it surfaces. Does that sound like a doormat to you?
But let's talk "anonymous..."
I'll tell you what sounds like a doormat.... someone who identifies himself/herself as "anonymous," rather than being forthright and honest and risking that someone might know who he/she is and accepting the possibility that someone else will disagree with your opinion.
Now... I will not apologize in advance for this ad hominem attack. Look that shit up in a dictionary.
As for accusing me of perpetuating domestic violence. I am LingMAO.
Because this is exactly what stifles the women's movement. Defining "how" to be a feminist or "who" is a feminist, when the goal is to accept and further the causes of both women who are strong, forthright, and aggressive, along with women who are submissive, shy, and everything in between.
As soon as we start defining "how" a woman or a feminist "should" act or speak, or write, we are perpetuating cultural stereotypes in the opposite sense. And we are also dissuading other women from sticking up for themselves and their rights for fear of lesbian baiting and accusatory retort.
You are right, I DON'T know you, all I can see are your words.
I'm just saying that all those qualifying words women put in their sentences completely negates any strong statement they may be trying to make.
When I read "I aplogize in advance if you misinterpret me" I see subservience.
I'm talking about that kind of subservient language creeping into ALL of our speak. I catch myself doing it all the time!
It's part of our cultural upbringing. Men are brought up to see subserviance as something bad, something not to be respected.
Do you see how those two cultural mindsets (or word choices) can keep alive this bizarre madness we knonw as domestic violence?
ps. There are a variety of reasons a person might need to be anonymous in a blog comment.
Anonymous,
Your statements ("You know, this kind of mealy mouthed, subservient talk is EXACTLY why we still HAVE domestic violence!" for example) seem to suggest that women are causing domestic violence by their attitudes and actions. It's almost as if you are saying (or maybe you are saying) that victims of domestic violence are "mealy mouthed, and subservient." This is such a wildly disturbing thing for you to assert that I have to assume that you don't actually mean what you said. I hope I have misunderstood your comments.
Thanks for posting this. This video is disgusting, even more than the music and I am amazed that some women defend this artist.
Does anyone know if there's a boycott of this going on? I know I'm a few months beyond the original date of this, but I'm interested to know . . .
Also, please stop victimizing victims. That's the biggest travistie of all.
If you have any questions regarding domestic violence, feel free to email me.
And, just FYI, I am a male.
Nico Smith
Special Events and Publications Coordinator
New Beginning Center
218 N. 10th Street, Garland, TX 75040
Telephone: (972) 276-0423 Ex: 245
Fax: (972) 276-1344
Email: nsmith@newbeginningcenter.org
www.newbeginningcenter.org
I actually think domestic violence really is hillarious. I mean, it's like everyone gets who they deserve in the end for putting up with that nonsense. How many times do you need to get beat down to realize, hey, maybe I should get myself a decent (probably white) guy.
You Feminists are seriously rediculous. Its a video. Chill the hell out. Its people like you who've ruined this country. Everyone has to watch what they say or do and be politically correct not to offend you. Its a funny video. In no way is it implying beating a woman or mistreating a woman.
I agree with elsietee, Toby Keith is awesome and most of his music is meant to be humorous even though its still good music. I am a woman and someone obviously has some anger problems with men. Sorry your relationships have been so bad . Dont take it out on Toby.
if you saw the video an just assumed she was tied and beaten that shows how your mind works.she is not tied or abused in any way .however it sounds like you were abused and just because you were you can speak for everyone in that positon so go read the bible say hail marrys or whatever you antisocoial control freaks like to do ..get a life itmay help ...ps you do know he wasnt speaking to you directly dont you.................joan q public
It's hard to put into words, but here goes:
5.3 million women abused in a year? Are these REPORTED cases or are these the ones that were actually proven?
Domestic violence laws are ridiculous, there's no probable cause needed for an arrest. Feminists love it because it enables blackmail that only works on men.
It's a huge business. I'd say the male victims number in the billions.
Look up the christian bale case, and then wiki who his mother is.
No one is immune to hate filled agendas.
Stop treating men this way, and buy some birkenstocks if you hate them so much.
I've never heared of Toby Keith before, but now that I've see seen how much his songs and videos piss off the fat digusting pigs... err... feminists, I'll give him a shot. Maybe even buy an album or two, just to support his artistic creativity, so he continues to fill with joy the hearts of the domestic abusers worldwide.
Go, Toby! Go!
PS.: Feminism? Hilarious!
It's utter crap that despite your attempts to create a discourse on violence in a music medium some people somehow still cannot help but behave ignorant by cheapening a legitimate argument. Ignorance does nothing for society (as history teaches us). If you have nothing to add to the dialogue then kindly don't use this blog just to sound off hate speech about a topic you have no information about. Besides, Country music is not the only genre where violence is depicted (Rap? Hip-Hop? Punk?). Kudos to Radikelsey for bringing more awareness to an issue which really isn't discussed enough.
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