A while ago, a domestic abuse advert by the ‘Man Kind Initiative’ was uploaded on YouTube. The advert was produced by the charity to highlight that violence does in fact occur against men, such as domestic abuse. Although the cause is righteous, the video seemed to do a comparison between male and female domestic violence. The video contained a somewhat social experiment conducted in London in an open public space with hidden cameras. The actors who took part used aggressive language and gestures towards each other to gain a reaction from the public and then the role reversed. The video stated that during the one minute and 50 second video clearly showed that the public were more sympathetic towards the female victim than the male. It is that comparison which is uncomfortable to bear.
Although the campaign’s hashtag ‘violenceisviolence‘ showed that there is no hierarchy in oppression, the video’s message could be perceived as comparing violence against genders, contradicting their own purpose of the hashtag. Men’s rights should also be championed and anyone who is experiencing violence should easily be able to receive the necessary help.
Comparison should never be derived in such matters because “women make up 89 per cent of those who experience four or more incidents of domestic violence” as stated by Polly Neate, Executive of Women’s Aid.
Overall, there is no doubt ‘Man Kind Initiative‘ is a relevant cause, however by using the techniques of comparison it shows a bleak future for irradiating domestic violence for the different genders. It is important to acknowledge that a hierarchy oppression should not exist and that all forms of oppression are relevant. Simply by conducting social experiments without a plausible hypothesis can lead to uncertainties especially when videos can easily become viral.
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