Bigotry Based Bullying - Examining Five Cases Where Autistic Teenage Boys Were Victimized

Introduction

                After reading the recent ice bucket prank incident, I noticed a trend in bullying situations where autistic teenage boys were targeted.  The following episodes are within the past year and there was a pattern in the criminals’ behaviors.  All perpetrators videotaped their own evidence, thus self-incriminating.  None of the perpetrators were charged with hate crime, however every victim was targeted for their autism, or the aggressor was aware of the victim’s mental differences. 

                The following section describes each of the five cases.  Then attributes of these cases are collated into two tables in the analysis section.

Case 1:  Bay Village, Ohio; September 2014

                Bullies coaxed a 15-year-old boy with autism to participate in the “Ice Bucket Challenge” for raising awareness to ALS.  They had him strip down to his boxer shorts, and stand in front of a garage.  Instead of ice water, the perpetrators poured a bucket of urine, feces, spit, and cigarette butts onto him.  They had videotaped it with the victim’s phone and uploaded it to Instagram. 

                 Aftermath:  The bullies are under investigation.  The victim approves of having the video online to raise awareness of bullying children of special needs.

Case 2:  Okeechobee, Florida; August 2014

                Aaron Hill, age 16, was invited to a party where an adult, Evadean Lydecker, gave the teens alcohol.  Hill felt sick from drinking whiskey and needed to lie down.  When he woke, he was ordered to go outside and fight.  Hill was unwilling.  Then, one of the other teens, Andrew Wheeler, age 18, came inside and started beating, kicking him and knocking his head into the wall.  He also dragged him across the floor by his hair.  Hill was curled up on the floor, protecting his head, and screaming.  This segment of the conflict was recorded on a partier’s phone.  The other partiers witnessed and laughed at the victim.  The adult, Lydecker, was outside, and refused to intervene because she believed Hill deserved it.

                After the infamous video clip ended, Wheeler forced Hill outside and choked him till unconsciousness.  The police found Hill lying in the middle of the road.  He told them he had been beaten and forced to walk to his current resting place.

                Wheeler was proud enough to post the video on his Facebook account, and the video went viral, causing public moral outrage.  The police found it during their investigation.

                 Aftermath:  In an interview with police, Wheeler claims Hill was fighting the girls, refusing to leave, and that Hill tried to punch him.  He said he wanted to record the incident, and that it only showed the latter half of the conflict.  This is not worth believing.  With Hill on the ground, crying, it is not plausible that he just instigated a fight.  If Wheeler wanted to record evidence of himself being victimized, he would have waited for Hill to supposedly try hitting him again.  He was not trying to catch someone in the act of violence.  He wanted to record his own violence, a one-sided fight with an autistic boy.  Then he uploaded it on Facebook, which only further showed he was proud of his actions.
                Wheeler also claimed he was going to drive Hill home.  Apparently strangling him and leaving him unconscious in the middle of the street was “driving him home.”  Wheeler had been called to come to the house and drive Hill home, or was this a preconceived excuse to cover the other possible reason they called Wheeler, to beat up the kid?  Hill denied Wheeler’s claims against him.
               Wheeler was charged with Child Abuse Without Great Bodily Harm, and Lydecker was charged with corrupting minors.  Even if Hill really did get aggressive and black out, he was under the influence of alcohol provided by Lydecker.  If Lydecker never gave the teens alcohol, this situation could have been avoided.

Hate Crime or not a Hate Crime?

                                Wheeler’s story sounds like a conflict unrelated to Hill’s condition, but it is in Wheeler’s best interest not to admit to hate crime, which would give him more years in prison.  However, how did the internet know the victim was autistic?  Did Wheeler label the video that way, or did someone else disclose that information?  One girl in the background called Hill a baby for crying.  Wheeler uploaded a one-sided fight more likely to impress his peers with his so-called fighting ability, rather than promoting awareness to the conflict that supposedly occurred.  His video seems to be an expression of arrogance; domination over a perceptively weak male.  Although, Wheeler never slurs “retard” or any suggestive epitaph, part of his pride is in fighting someone who is disadvantaged, literally on the floor.  Would he do this to someone without special needs?  At this point, it is unknown.

Case 3:  Columbus, Georgia; August 2014

                Four gang members attacked a 17-year-old boy who went to their high school, with full knowledge that he had a disorder.  Jarvis Tatum, Saul Jackson, another juvenile, and another member called, “Junior,” forced the victim on all-fours in the middle of a basketball court in a park.  They kicked him until blood came from his mouth.  Then the thugs took his wallet, cellphone, and his clothes.  They had stripped him down to his boxers, and left the victim to walk home in that state.  One of the gang members video recorded the entire incident and uploaded it onto Facebook, which was anonymously reported, leading to Tatum, Jackson, and an unnamed juvenile’s arrest.  Junior was still to be apprehended.

Case 4:  Southern Maryland, March 2014

                 Two girls, age 17 and 15, forced their 16-year-old autistic classmate to do sexual acts with their dog.  They threatened him with a knife to his throat, kicked him in the groin, and dragged him across the floor by his hair.  They eventually took him to a nearby pond, and forced him to walk on the icy pond.  He fell through the ice, and the girls did not help him out.  They videotaped the whole exploit.

                The victim was noticeably autistic, and his parents told the police he had “diminished mental capacity.”  There was no way the perpetrators did not know.  Lauren Bush, 17, and the other juvenile had previous abused the victim on a number of occasions.  The autistic boy did not understand that they intended ill will to him, and perceived the girls as friends.  They took advantage of his poor judgment in character and continued harming him until this incident.

                Aftermath:  Lauren Bush was charged as an adult for first and second degree assault, false imprisonment, and solicitation for child pornography.  The other juvenile was charged with same offenses and referred to the State Department for Juvenile Services.

Case 5:  Melcher, Iowa; November 2013

                 Levi Null, a 13-year-old boy with Asperger’s, was physically and verbally abused in a video recorded by his bullies at Melcher-Dallas High School.  The video was uploaded online, and it showed Null being taunted over his condition and punched in the face.  The teachers seemed careless for letting the bullying happen.

                Aftermath:  This story is televised on the news, and numerous parents react online to defend the bullies.  The bullies were disciplined at school, the video was eventually deleted, but the principal, Josh Ehn, did not believe that any bullying took place in the video.  He also said that it’s the students’ responsibility to resolve bullying issues.  That explains why the teachers turned a blind eye.
                The parents and legal guardians of the bullies supported the cruelty.  Levi Weatherly, one of the bullies’ parents, stated, “I would say three-fourths of this stuff he brings on himself and probably a fourth of it is bullying that shouldn’t be going on.”  Jamie Harrison, the uncle of the physical abuser, was proud that his nephew punched Null for calling him a “nasty name.”  It’s not an eye-for-an-eye.  It’s a punch for a word!

Analysis

Before examining the incidents, it is important to understand the socio-economic surroundings for each case; Table 1.  In Table 2, the incident information is collated to enable visual comparison.

Table 1

                Each incident happened in a different state in America; Ohio, Iowa, Maryland, Georgia, and Florida.  Bullying that targets special needs children is widespread, whether it’s in Southern states, the Midwest, or the East coast.  Most of the locations were middle class suburbs with relatively low crime rates.  Columbus, Georgia is an exception, since it is a large city with high crime rates.  The perpetrators were not only the victim’s classmates, but they represented a gang, calling themselves, “The Street Celebrities.” 

Table 2

                These incidents are fairly recent despite anti-bullying programs.  This trend could be a direct reaction to society’s anti-bullying attitudes, or indifference to what society thinks.  The former implies rebelling against the progressive ideal, and the latter implies that anti-bullying programs have been ineffective.

                All the victims were males between ages 13-17 who had some form of autism.  Since these disorders are scaled in a spectrum, not every person’s autism is alike.  Some were low functioning enough that their condition was noticeable, but a student’s Asperger’s was still known to his harassers regardless of how high functioning he was. 

The perpetrators were teenage classmates or grown adults.  Despite age, they all had one common attribute, pride.  Their pride led to their self-incrimination by providing their own video evidence.  They were proud of their actions enough to video tape themselves committing the crime, and then to show it off to the world, thinking people would be impressed.  The perpetrators were unaware of the possibility of public outrage.  Since parents in the Melcher, Iowa case reacted in favor of the aggressors, there are probably more people with that mentality.  In a society that has people exhibiting victim blaming, bully coddling, and the attitude about a “generation of wimps,” it is feasible a significant portion would favor the bully’s brutality against the weak and innocent; thinking humiliation is humor.  Each aggressor viewed their victim as inferior, unmanly, stupid, and/or deserving of their abuse.  Part of why males seem to be the targets, among these cases, is because the victim is regarded as less masculine for not being brutal or fitting a negative male stereotype.  The other possibility is that all the victims had good grades, which may have induced the jealousy of their harassers.  Null had to have skipped a grade level to attend high school at age 13.

Lauren Bush and her juvenile accomplice were the only abusers not to upload their content online, possibly.  The police could not find their video anywhere on the internet.  Perhaps they were being less proud and slyer than the other criminals who had no discretion and no foresight to public reaction.

Focusing on the types of abuse, all incidents involved mental, psychological abuse, since degradation and international exposure were integral to the victimization.  Most of the victims were physically abused; punched, kicked, hair pulled; slammed into a wall.  The Bay Village, Ohio boy endured a physical level of humiliation because it involved the bodily fluids physically covering his whole body and potentially causing medical harm.  This physical abuse does not hurt in the way as getting punched, but the urine and feces could have flooded his eyes and mouth.  This could have induced his body to vomit the fluids foreign to his own body.  Imagine your stomach vomiting someone else’s urine and fecal matter!  It’s not so funny anymore, is it?

Lauren Bush and her accomplice were also very sadistic since their crimes were sexually abusive in nature.  They sexually victimized an autistic person and their dog.  By forcing their autistic peer to perform lewd acts with their dog on tape, they were creating child and animal pornography.  They were willfully harming a disabled child and their own pet.  Moreover, if the victim could not emerge from the ice pond, he could have died from hypothermia.  Without any help in getting out of the ice rink, he was forced to rely solely on his own ability.

In both the Iowa and the Florida cases, adults present were neglectful.  In Georgia, adults at a back to school event noticed the victim walking home in his forced half nakedness, but did not contact police.  Besides that, the gang was isolated with their victim like the Maryland and Ohio cases.

Every perpetrator was sanctioned in some way.  Most were either charged or charges were pending.  The only ones who did not receive any legal consequences were the Iowa teens who punched their classmate.  The discipline was internal to the school.  The other consequence is the backlash of the media and the public.  Videos angered the masses.  Incidents were aired on the news.  Although the Iowa case was positively received by pro-bully parents, the majority of America’s public disagrees with the abuse.  America’s angry reaction to bullying signifies that there is hope for the future in reducing this harmful behavior.

©2014 Caroline Friehs

Originally Posted:  8/10/2014

References

Advameg, Inc (2014).  City-Data.com.  [Website].  Retrieved from:  http://www.city-data.com/

Advameg, Inc (2014).  City-Data.com.  Crime Rate in Columbus, Georgia.  [Web page].  Retrieved from:  http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Columbus-Georgia.html

Associated Press (2014 Mar. 12).  Two Maryland teen girls bullied apparent autistic boy, authorities say.  FoxNews.com.  Retrieved from:  http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/12/two-maryland-teen-girls-bullied-apparent-autistic-boy-authorities-say/

Cush, A (2014 Sep. 4).  Bullies Dump Feces, Urine, on Autistic Boy in Evil Ice Bucket “Prank.”  Gawker.com.  Retrieved from:  http://gawker.com/bullies-dump-feces-urine-on-autistic-boy-in-evil-ice-b-1630536729

McCormack, S (2014 Aug. 16).  Teen Arrested After Video Of Him Beating Boy With Autism Goes Viral: Cops (Graphic Video).  Huff Post – Crime.  Retrieved from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/16/teen-arrested-beating-autism-syndrome_n_5682693.html

Osborne, T (2014 Sep. 5).  Bullies Accused Of Dousing Autistic Teen With Bodily Fluids And Feces In Sick “Ice Bucket Challenge” Prank.  Investigation Discovery – Crime Feed.  Retrieved from:  http://crimefeed.com/2014/09/juveniles-use-ice-bucket-challenge-pull-sick-move-autistic-teen/

Pfeiffer, E (2013 Nov. 20).  Iowa parents defending bullying of autistic teen.  Yahoo News.  Retrieved from:  http://news.yahoo.com/iowa-town-defends-bullying-of-autistic-teen-203249332.html

Renzulli, D (2014 Aug. 16).  Autistic teen beaten, robbed, and stripped of clothes at park.  WTVM.com.  Retrieved from:  http://www.wtvm.com/story/26286358/autistic-teen-beaten-robbed-and-stripped-of-clothes-at-park

Rosin, H (2014 Mar. 14).  Sadistic Girls Bully Autistic Boy.  Boy Still Considers Them His Friends.  Slate.com.  Retrieved from:  http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/03/14/autistic_boy_abused_in_maryland_why_did_he_think_his_bullies_were_his_friends.html

Sigona, M (2014 Aug. 20).  Caught On Tape:  Autistic Teen Beaten By Suspect While Others Stood Around And Laughed.  Investigation Discovery – Crime Feed.  Retrieved from:  http://crimefeed.com/2014/08/caught-tape-autistic-teen-beaten-suspect-others-stood-around-laughed/

Trulia, Inc (2014).  Morganza Community Info.  [Web page].  Retrieved from:  http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Morganza-Maryland/community-info/

Wolfe, J (2014 Aug. 19).  Two arrested in viral video of autistic teen beating.  NBC - 11 Alive - Atlanta.  Retrieved from:  http://www.11alive.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/08/19/two-arrested-in-viral-video-of-autistic-teen-beating/14274353/

Yan, H. & Baldacci, M (2014 Sept. 10).  Cops identify people behind ice bucket prank on autistic teen.  CNN.com.  Retrieved from:  http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/09/us/horrific-ice-bucket-challenge/ 

Zinni, M (2014 Sept 3).  Mom:  Ice Bucket Challenge turned into sick joke against son with autism.  Fox 8 Cleveland.  Retrieved from:  http://fox8.com/2014/09/03/mom-ice-bucket-challenge-turned-into-sick-joke-against-son-with-autism/

Bystanders’ Roles in Witnessing Bullying and Violent Crime

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=790590087621312&set=vb.567254213288235&type=3&theater

 

The link above shows a video taped study conducted by college students, showing people’s reactions to bullying.  The camera person hid while two students conducted a mock-bullying situation right in front of people.  They repeated their experiment in different locations on school campus, drawing varying reactions.  Out of all the bystanders, five advocated, 17 were passive or careless, and one person was hesitant but wanted to help. 

In the video from the previous blog entry, Jean Kilbourne said that objectification is the first step in justifying violence toward another person.  The same is done with black people, gay people, and other people who historically have been dehumanized.  Bullying victims are almost always dehumanized.  The unidentified students portrayed archetypical stereotyped roles in bullying scenarios.  The fake-bully, who looked like a “homeboy” type, was physically abusing the nerd-victim into writing his paper for him.  He literally treated him like he was a broken vending machine for homework assignments.  The bully demonstrated objectification of a human being.

Most of the people witnessing the twisted treatment ignored the abuse.  People who were walking, kept walking.  People sitting even stood up and walked away.  My addition to Jean Kilbourne’s point is it is possible for people to objectify themselves.  They were not helping.  They functioned like ants filing toward a colony.  Are ants living things?  Yes, but they are not human, therefore from the victim’s perspective (and probably the aggressor’s too) they have dehumanized themselves.  They might as well be marching robots.

If the victim is objectified long term; dehumanized from the rest of the self-dehumanizing population, the victim’s mental state may change in a way that he/she does not feel as responsible for his/her actions.  The person long deprived of feeling equal, may feel in future conflicts after snapping or transferring the violent behavior that, “You caused me to react that way,” “I had no other choice,” “I had to do this,” and quoting Cho Seung Hui, the Virginia Tech shooter, “You made me do this!”

Bullying and Bystander Maltreatment are precursors to school shootings, as I will demonstrate in my upcoming presentation on this subject.  Bullying is more obvious, but bystander maltreatment encourages the continuation of abuse.  People can either be complicit or cruel and heckling.  No one in the video was making rude comments or cheering the aggressor.  They were complicit, passively allowing it to happen.  Toward the end of the video the message reads, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”  The victim gets the impression that people do not care.  If the abuse starts in childhood, then the bystanders dehumanize themselves earlier, while the victim is stripped of dignity.  The result is that all parties eventually become objectified.  Because the dehumanization is in the long term, the ideas become deeply ingrained in the person.  The angry victim is like boiling water.  The water is blamed by society for boiling, rather than the source of the heat.  The water has no other choice than to boil.  The shooter can not see another choice than revenge.  If people objectify themselves, then they become plastic ducks in a shooting gallery.  It does not feel wrong to poke bullet holes in them, and they aren’t even real ducks, just plastic.

 

So why do people volunteer themselves to fade into the background scenery?  In the video, the third passive witness later said “I didn’t want to get into any trouble.”  The one person who was in-between on reacting said, “I was going to jump in and do something if you continued.”  I give that guy credit.  He stopped and watched, but he hesitated.  He wanted to take action, but did not know how to go about it.

 

That is the main problem facing bystanders when witnessing crimes.  “I didn’t want to get into any trouble,” sounds lame because he was not the criminal, but he may be legally penalized if he engaged in the public fight and was then accused of assault.  Other than that, people are afraid of “getting into trouble” with the bully, because they don’t want to fight.  Here is a list of potential reasons why bystanders “mind their own business.”

 

Passive Bystanders’ Reasons

      1.      They are afraid the bully will fight them.

      2.      They do not know the whole situation, so they don’t want to judge.
      3.      They have some place to go, and they do not have the time to stop. 
             (Newton’s Law:  An object in motion tends to stay in motion.)
      4.      There are more people around.  Maybe someone else will handle the situation. 
            (With more people, the responsibility is shared.)
      5.      Misunderstanding:
                a.       The reckless behavior is mutual.
                b.      The victim did something to anger the aggressor.
                c.       They are in a group project, and one member is not doing his share.
      6.      Maybe they will resolve everything on their own in a few minutes.

 

There was only one person who reacted but was hesitant.  In real life, there are more people like this.  I believe these are possible reasons for the behaviors of the on-the-fence, frozen advocates.

 

Hesitant Bystanders’ Reasons

1. I don’t want that bully to hurt me too.
2. I want to help, but I don’t know how.
3. I can’t speak.  My mouth is gaping and no words seem to come.  I’m shocked.
4. I am observing.  I do care.
5. Should I call the police?  Will they take me seriously?  What if they leave before the police arrive?
6. I want to stop the aggressor, but I don’t know how to fight; self-defense.
7. I am physically disadvantaged to the aggressor.  I’m smaller or weaker.
8. I don’t know exactly what is going on.  I want to make a proper judgment.
9. Someone you are with discourages you from helping.

How many of these apply to you?  Have you ever witnessed a crime and played the role of the hesitant or complicit bystander?  After reading this, I hope if you were complicit that you changed your attitudes toward your role as a crime witness.  If you were hesitant, or if you were complicit with a change of heart, here are some tips on being more assertive in bullying and other criminal situations.

Assertive Bystanders

1. Tell someone nearby about this.
2. Call the police or security.
3. Record the scene on your phone, and report it as evidence.
4. From a safe distance, yell at the aggressor to stop!
5. If someone discourages you, telling you to mind your own business, then tell them you are doing the right thing.
6. If the attacker approaches you, try to negotiate.  Keep your distance.
7. If the attacker tries to attack you, make a scene.  Now two people are screaming for help.  When the police arrive, it will be harder for the attacker to play innocent.

The last two are pretty gutsy.  If you are timid, stick with the first four.  Don’t do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, though that is why bystanders are mostly passive to begin with.  Helping out someone in need is a way to reconnect with a world of strangers surrounding us.  By doing something about bullying or any kind of victimization, you are bringing more peace into the environment by diffusing a something chaotic.  You could easily be victimized of a violent crime on another day.  We are equally human, not objects.

©2014 Caroline Friehs

References

FouseyTube (2013).  The Bullying Social Experiment – Please Watch.  [Courtesy of:  R.I.P. Amanda Todd – a Facebook Page.]  Runtime: 4:52.  Retrieved from:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=790590087621312&set=vb.567254213288235&type=3&theater

 

Objectification and Violence against Women

 

http://www.upworthy.com/5-minutes-of-what-the-media-actually-does-to-women-8

 

In the above link, Jean Kilbourne gives an inspiring presentation about how women are portrayed in the media.  She covers three major points.  1.  Women’s pictures are altered to achieve an unachievable ideal.  2.  Women are objectified, sometimes literally.  3.  The media shatters that object, appreciating only parts of the woman’s body.

 

1. Women’s pictures are altered.

Before pictures are printed in magazines, professionals edit out all the natural imperfections, such as wrinkles and double chins.  They create unnatural perfections, such as increased bust size, and distorted waistlines courtesy of the Photoshop diet.  The result is a beautiful caricature, a completely abstract image of the original model.  The women in the magazines resemble some of my dolls, but is Barbie really to blame?  Look at the Victorian and Edwardian eras in terms of fashion.  The hourglass figure predated Barbie.

If you want to look like those models, you can easily do a fashion photo shoot with a friend who likes photography.  You or your friend could edit the picture just like the professionals, and voila, you have your own Vogue caricature of yourself.  The same image will not be looking at you in the mirror everyday, but you know you can achieve the “perfect” look the same way the models do; computer cosmetics!  Then those models don’t seem so intimidating.  In real life, these models are not very different from you, which is more humanizing.  Now that you have achieved the same illusion, you are free to move on.

 

2. Women are objectified.

Ms. Kilbourne makes a valid point that the first step to justifying abuse is objectifying someone.  Women in the media are portrayed as inanimate objects.  The examples in the video included scissors, beer bottles, and even a video game system.  Regarding the latter, she is a toy to play with, not even a person anymore.

There is nothing wrong with breaking an object as long as it belongs to you.  Snapping a pencil in half is not extremely immoral, but you now rendered it useless.  Running over a human being is worse than hitting the neighbor’s cat with your car.  The former gets the life sentence, while the cat-killer gets a lighter judgment, because as any sociopath would say, “It’s just an animal.”  Animals are naturally dehumanized, because they are not humans.  It does make sense, because humans are considered more important than animals. 

Since a male perpetrator believes he is more important than his female partner, hurting her could be just as wrong as a teenager mutilating a Barbie doll.  If a woman is just an object, violence against women is easier to justify.  She can be consumed and thrown away like a bottle of Michelob Ultra.  Her legs are like scissors – rock breaks scissors.  Don’t laugh.  The rock thrown at the woman could be literal.  Women are smaller, and sometimes more fragile.  Snapping her in half, like a pencil, would only empower the male adversary, because he thinks, “She’s an object, and I am above her.”  Not giving him what he wants renders her useless like a broken pencil, and he thinks by breaking her validates that idea.  Might does not make right.  Might means you don’t listen, and that you have no room for personal growth.  Being a brute means you are unwilling to learn anything. 

As Ms. Kilbourne said, these pictures do not directly lead to violence.  A man does not look at these pictures and decide to beat his wife or girlfriend.  These images over time affect our culture and how we see women.  How often are men turned into objects in magazine pictures?  I would be open to hearing a yes.  I would like to hear some examples.  I do not doubt that these pictures are art.  They require imagination and took a lot of time and effort.  What we really need is to stop and think about the way we treat others.  We don’t literally think that a woman is a Budweiser bottle, but do we treat her like one?

 

3. Parts of the woman are emphasized.

In the media, whether it’s in magazines or movies, fractions of the woman receive more attention than the whole.  Now that the woman has been objectified, she can be shattered like a glass figurine.  Breasts, butts, groins, and legs are the favorites of the populace.  The rest of the person is forgotten.  The media limits beauty to these body parts.  Everyone seems to rejoice over how beautiful the female body is, but then they only talk about boobs, or some other favored fraction.  I can not count how many times I’ve heard boobs being referred to as “they.”  “They are beautiful.  They are great.”  Who is “they?”  I thought “they” referred to more than one person, not more than one body part on one person.  It is dissociating to refer to pectoral muscles as individuals while ignoring the whole person.  It is humanizing the human parts while dehumanizing the human being.

 

There are memes that say, “What is the useless skin outside of the vagina?  The woman!”  I understand this is only a joke, but are we really that useless?  Are we as useless as broken pencils?  If you agree, please go buy a “My Size Barbie” doll.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t even talk.  She would be perfect for you.  Oh, am I making fun of you?  That was just a joke!

It is ironic how heterosexual men bash gay people, but these same men don’t like women as a whole.  Men like that might as well just buy a rubber vagina sex toy.  They could save money to buy silicone implants to squeeze like stress balls.

So much focus is on the woman’s shell, while her personality, thoughts, beliefs, words, intellect, imagination, ambitions are seldom given a blurb of credit.  Males involved in domestic violence probably value her appearance over her personality.  He thinks he loves her appearance, but then he physically attacks it, which makes no sense.  Notice whenever battered wives are pictured; there are usually no injuries to her breasts or butt?  Take a moment and imagine the injuries of a battered wife or girlfriend.  I imagine black eyes, broken arms, a swollen lip, a bandage over her head, and genitalia injuries due to rape.  It seems the face is no longer considered the capital of human beauty.  Eyes were once windows to the soul.  Though, this man does not want to see her soul, just her boobs.  He would probably leave the breasts alone since they are so important to him.  Ha!  I just said, they!

My theory on why breasts are so important to men starts from his birth.  He suckled on his mother’s bosom, and he became orally fixated, in Freud’s Oral Stage.  Women also seem to be obsessed with breasts as well, but since they already have their own, the need is fulfilled.  The obsession with larger breasts is not just evolutionary.  From a baby’s perspective, his mother’s breasts are gigantic compared to his head.  In his adult age, he wants to recreate the proportions.

Understanding why men obsess over body parts instead of the whole woman could help us understand why the criminal ones commit crimes against women.  I do not hate men; I just hate rapists and criminals.  They can be either gender.

© 2014 Caroline Friehs

 

References:

Kilbourne, J (2013).  Killing US Softly 4.  Advertising’s Image of Women.  [Upworthy video]  Courtesy of Brandon Weber.  Retrieved from:  http://www.upworthy.com/5-minutes-of-what-the-media-actually-does-to-women-8

 

Picture meme courtesy of:  Quickmeme.com

Russian Neo-Nazis are Torturing Gay Teens – Examining All Sides

Russian Neo-Nazis are posing as gay people in false personal ads on the social networking site, VK.com, in order to abuse and humiliate their duped victims.  The majority of their victims range from 12 to 16-years-old.  Once caught, the Neo-Nazis interrogate and force the person to come out as gay on camera.  Victims are also subjected to beatings, kickings, being teased with phallic sex toys, threatened with axes, and forced to carry wooden crucifixes.  They are showered with urine, and some are forced to drink urine.  All of this is while being photographed or videotaped.

One widespread interrogation video involves a 15-year-old boy who responded to an ad by “Uncle Dima.”  The alleged “Dima” was offering to pay a person for homosexual relations.  A female Neo-Nazi repeatedly asked the tricked teen why he arrived and what he wanted.  The Neo-Nazis crowded around the boy and unnecessarily hooked their arms around his shoulders, while continuing to prod him with questions.  Toward the end, one man urinated into a glass bottle and then poured the contents onto the boy’s head.  Another man kicked him.  Although the video ends, another sickening photo is spread over the internet, showing what happened thereafter.  The same boy was in a bathtub, stripped down to his boxers.  His hands had to have been bound behind his back.  He was being forced to drink urine from a sports bottle.

In another incident, a cyber-circulated photo depicts a semi-nude youth who is kneeling while two black-clad Neo-Nazis give a crooked thumbs-up.  The boy’s nipples and belly button are covered in red paint.  At first I thought it was blood.  He looks ashamed as the men hold his head up by the hair, and he is holding a phallus.

The Russian government is supporting this, how so?

The Russian government is not taking action.  Despite how blatantly public these incidents are, none of the Neo-Nazis have been prosecuted.  Victims, their families, and LGBT activists have sent complaints but the government has not responded.  The Russian Neo-Nazis undoubtedly violated Russian Criminal Code, but Russia condones their acts.  Nikolai Alekseyev, the founder of Gay Pride Russia, says their government is signaling these people to do whatever they want, and that non-heterosexuals are treated like second or third class citizens.  Moreover, Russian Neo-Nazis are free to broadcast their exploits with their faces exposed.  Normally, terrorists have their faces masked for anonymity from the authorities.

The media is supporting this, how?

The media has endorsed the Neo-Nazis’ actions, and the government also has the power to control media activity.  The leader of the skinheads, Maxim Martsinkevich, was interviewed on Life News, which has close ties to Russian security services.  How many Neo-Nazis are interviewed on television in other countries?  In local television, censored versions of the humiliation videos are broadcasted.

VK.com does very little to help.  The Russian Neo-Nazis’ pages are only shut down for a day.  The site also allows the perpetrators to create false profiles for their victims, including self-inflicting insults.

Society in Russia is supporting this, how?

The Neo-Nazis will do part of their shaming in public.  Passersby either ignore or give positive reinforcement. 

Last March, the Russian NGO-Levada Center conducted a survey which said that 85% of Russians are against gay marriage; 34% believe that homosexuality is caused by an illness.  Then 5% believe gay people should be killed.

Anti-gay laws and the opposition:

It started with the ban on allowing same-sex couples or single parents to adopt Russian children.  The most recent bill passed is the Anti-Gay Propaganda Law.  Under this law, the following are prohibited: talking about “non-traditional sexual relations” with minors, sharing material that promotes gay rights or homosexuality as “socially equivalent” to heterosexuality, or expressing anything regarding the subject or showing affection in public where minors could be present.

The LGBT community revolted and conducted peaceful demonstrations in 2012 and 2013.  In doing so, they were breaking the new laws.  Twenty or more gay rights activists were detained in each event, while anti-gay protesters were free to express their anger verbally and with physical violence.  Both the authorities and the haters beat the protesters with fists or clubs.  Sometimes the anti-gay side would throw rotten eggs at them.

With the government allowing the anti-gay people to be brutal which would otherwise be criminal if committed under different circumstances, Neo-Nazis know it is safe to be cruel with these people.  The government is playing favorites with its groups of people like a weak parent plays favorites with the children.

While outlawing gay demonstrations, the Russian government allows Neo-Nazi parades on National Unity Day.  Thousands of Russian Neo-Nazis attended and were free to express themselves.  Children were present and were imitating the Hitler salute.

This Neo-Nazi parade took place in November 2007, when the biggest issues facing the right wing extremists were national purity and ethnic hatred.  The government was against their violent tendencies toward citizens of bordering nations, however they still permitted public expression in the presence of minors.

By passing these laws, punishing gay activists while condoning violent anti-gay protesters, the government has given the Russian Neo-Nazis the green light to do what they please.  To illustrate my point, if a parent beats one child and allows the sibling to participate in the physical discipline, the parent is setting a bad example plus giving false authority to the sibling who should be an equal.

Answering Why?

Getting back to the present, the Russian Neo-Nazis’ online traps are supported by the government, the media, and majority of society.  This explains how they are capable of committing these crimes without arrest.  However, why the Neo-Nazis are luring and torturing gay teens, and why the government and society supports these hate crimes needs to be explained.

Why the Russian Neo-Nazis are doing this?

Originally, they started a project titled, “Occupy Pedophilyej,” in which they would entrap pedophiles.  It seems like a worthy cause, since child molesters are the lowest of the low.  Though, they should still be handled by the authorities, not by untrained citizens.

Over time, the Neo-Nazis decided to expand their project to homosexuals.  They have described homosexuality and pedophilia as “morally indistinguishable.”  Moreover, Russian Neo-Nazis think that all homosexuals are pedophiles, and the ones that are not will eventually become child molesters.  One leader of a cell explained his point of view to the Russian online newspaper, Lenta:  “I think practically all gay men – pedophiles.  …  Once you've crossed over once, you can cross over again. Today he likes boys, and then it'll be children. They're not suitable for life in society" (Sieczkowski, 2013). 

Russian Neo-Nazis believe that shaming gay teens and “urine therapy” will cure them of their homosexual tendencies.  Despite terrorizing minors, they see themselves as crime fighters, since they deem gay people as “not suitable for society.”

Before Occupy Pedophilyej, Russian Neo-Nazis focused their hatred on immigrants from surrounding nations including but not limited to:  Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan; Tajikistan.  Their motto was consistent, “Russia for Russians.”  They wanted only Russian people living and working in Russia.  The current leader of the Russian Neo-Nazis is Maxim Martsinkevich, aka Tesak (“Cleaver,” in Russian).  He just finished serving a three-year prison term for “inciting ethnic hatred.”  Right after his release, he headed the movement, Occupy Pedophilyej.

Why the government and society are supporting it?

Right wing extremism supports Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian approach to politics.  They support each other’s actions.  However, the Neo-Nazis detest Putin and believe he is a type of figure head, playing to the media and the crowd.  In a way, he is playing to the crowd, which is necessary for anyone holding a position in a political office.  It really depends what the character of the crowd is like. 

The majority of Russia’s society opposes the idea of gay marriage.  The biggest reason for their homophobia is that they want to protect their children.  It is not wrong to protect one’s children, and people generally want good things for their little ones.  They want their childhoods to be innocent and void of sexuality before adulthood.  The word, sexual, is embedded in the word, homosexual, so the first thing they think is sex.  They do not want their children to be involved in sexual anything.  This makes sense.  Though, not all gay things are erotic.  Heterosexuality is found throughout fairytales, for instance, and it is okay because it only shows the romantic simplicities of getting married and living “happily ever after.”  Why can’t this be the case with same-gender scenarios?  Why?  It’s because society wants “traditional relationships” for their children.  Parents want grandchildren, and they do not want their children to be bullied for being gay or rejected by society.  They don’t want anything bad to happen to them, and that is basically a good principle.

My Insight

Russian people want to protect their children’s innocent minds by not having them influenced by homosexuality, however they are not afraid of their children being exposed to Neo-Nazi propaganda.  Gay kissing protests are immoral and may corrupt minors, but Neo-Nazi parades are acceptable?  Television stations have aired shaming videos, which children can see.  The thought of their children growing up to be gay is mortifying, but showing them a 15-year-old being forced to drink a bottle of urine is okay??  The Neo-Nazis have recently battered a gay teen to death.  They will probably get away with it.  No way is it alright to teach children to condone murder.

I am sure there are probably an unknown number of Russians who are against the violence, the shaming, and Neo-Nazism as a whole, though it may be risky to express those ideas given the new anti-gay Russian laws, and that is why they stay silent.  There may even be anti-gay people who are against the extreme cruelty toward these youths.

The Russian Neo-Nazis say they are anti-pedophilia, but look at what they have in common with online predators.  They create fictitious personal ads, posing as an older man, “Uncle Dima,” who is looking for gay kids.  The Neo-Nazis are soliciting minors just like pedophiles do.  They even force the child to remove his clothing, making him semi-nude, and then photographing him in that state.

On a side note, the 15-year-old boy who responded to Uncle Dima is only guilty of one crime, prostitution.  He was trying to have sex for money, however he is a child.  He could get some professional help.  Still, abusing a child prostitute is very low.

The Russian Neo-Nazis believe they can “cure” these teenagers of their homosexuality, but that theory has been disproven a long time ago.  There is no cure for gay or bisexuality, and enough studies have shown it is genetic.  No one can be turned homosexual and no one can be turned heterosexual.  For instance, gay people see movies involving heterosexual relationships, and it does not change them, nor did this exposure influence them while growing up.

Homosexuality and pedophilia are two mutually exclusive concepts.  Not all pedophiles are akin to the stereotypical pedophile priests who molest altar boys.  Some pedophiles prey on children of the opposite gender.  Russians should know this already considering Lolita was written by a Russian-American, Vladimir Nabokov.  Moreover, classical composer, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, created memorable works and he was gay but never a pedophile.

If the Russian Neo-Nazis want to confuse homosexuality with pedophilia, then it is only fair to open their hate crimes to creative interpretation.  Not only do they seem like pedophiles for luring teenage boys via the internet, but they are obsessed with urine.  Is it possible to conjecture that they have a golden showers fetish?  They enjoy humiliating someone, making the person feel vulnerable, and showering him with urine.  They like to force the victim to drink the urine as well.  They also like binding the victim’s wrists behind his back, which suggest they may like bondage fetishes too.  The one difference between the Russian Neo-Nazis and BDSM types is that the latter only practices virtual victimization and all parties are consenting.  More disgustingly, the Russian Neo-Nazis practice their golden showers fetish with minors.

These suggestions about the Russian Neo-Nazis are easily argued.  Terrorists bind their hostages.  These videos are for shaming the gay boys, not for the purpose of getting aroused later.  The use of urine is to “cure” them of their homosexual disease.  They intend on rendering the child so traumatized from the experience that he will never attempt any of his homosexual tendencies ever again.  If the thought arises, he will remember his shaming rite and stop, which is what the Neo-Nazis want, explicitly.  To further explain their reasons, the Cleaver, Maxim Martsinkevich, said in the interview with Life News, “I hope that these broken lives – and they really do have broken lives – will be an example to the generation growing up that they shouldn’t behave like that.”  In the video, the woman repeatedly asks the boy if he was sexually abused as a child.  If these gay teens had broken lives and were previously abused, why “cure” them with more abuse?  Some of the victims committed suicide after being exploited and internationally humiliated.  No one can be “cured” of anything when dead.  If these boys’ lives are broken, why break them more?  It does not fix anything.

It is impossible to know exactly what these Neo-Nazis were thinking and feeling, including sexually or subconsciously.  They could be feeling something sexual without others knowing.  Who knows if they secretly like golden showers and homosexuality?  However, it is certain that they are receiving a positive psychological payback from committing these acts.  Being violent more likely releases tension, and they probably like relieving their anger toward gay people.  They have to want to do these violent and puke-worthy acts in order to follow through with them.

For instance, they claim to be anti-gay, but they seem to have some homosexual tendencies.  They had to want to sodomize that 23-year-old with the beer bottles, whereas a truly straight man would not want to touch a man there.  The only exception is in prison rape, but the inmates are sexually frustrated over time anyway.

I think John M. Becker from “The Bilerico Project,” said it best, “It sounds like they are attempting a reverse version of To Catch a Predator.”  I say, To Catch the Prey – is more like it.

©2013 Caroline Friehs

Originally posted:  August 11, 2013

Last updated upon blog renovation completion.

References:

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Sieczkowski, C (2013 Jul. 26).  Russian Neo-Nazi Allegedly Lure, Torture Gay Teens With Online Dating Scam.  Huff Post – Gay Voices.  Retrieved from:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/russian-nazi-torture-gay-teens_n_3658636.html

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Walters, C (2013 Jul. 30).  Background on skinhead Maxim Martsinkevich and his gay-hunting Russian Neo-Nazis.  Towleroad  Retrieved from:  http://www.towleroad.com/2013/07/background-on-skinhead-maxim-martsinkevich-and-his-gay-hunting-russian-neo-nazis.html

Webster, S. C (2013 Jul. 26).  Russian neo-Nazi ‘Occupy’ group tortures LGBT youths.  The Raw Story.  Retrieved from:  http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/26/russian-neo-nazi-occupy-group-tortures-lgbt-youths/