Another day. Another example of victim shaming.
That happened today during a heated conversation about Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his girlfriend unconscious on ESPN’s First Take. Host Stephen A. Smith decided to give his own preventative measures for avoiding domestic violence, and it didn’t have anything to do with teaching men not to hit women.
His advice? Women should learn how not to provoke men. In short.
“But domestic violence or whatever the case may be, with men putting their hands on women, is obviously a very real, real issue in our society. And I think that just talking about what guys shouldn’t do, we got to also make sure that you can do your part to do whatever you can do to make, to try to make sure it doesn’t happen.
We know they’re wrong. We know they’re criminals. We know they probably deserve to be in jail. In Ray Rice’s case, he probably deserves more than a 2-game suspension which we both acknowledged. But at the same time, we also have to make sure that we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation.
Not that there’s real provocation, but the elements of provocation, you got to make sure that you address them, because we’ve got to do is do what we can to try to prevent the situation from happening in any way.”
You can watch Smith stick his foot in his mouth above…if you’re into that kind of victim-blaming.
Luckily for us, we don’t have to stop watching ESPN. ESPN staffer Michelle Beadle probably single-handedly gave us faith in the network again.
So I was just forced to watch this morning’s First Take. A) I’ll never feel clean again B) I’m now aware that I can provoke my own beating.
— Michelle Beadle (@MichelleDBeadle) July 25, 2014
And she wasn’t alone. Smith’s comments set Twitter on fire, garnering both dissent and support. He took to Twitter later in the day to clear up any misconceptions:
In discussing the Ray Rice ruling earlier today on @ESPN_FirstTake, me and @RealSkipBayless ventured into discussing domestic violence.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Upon hearing what I had to say, although admitting I could’ve been more articulate on the matter, let me be clear: I don’t understand how on
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
earth someone could interpret that I somehow was saying women are to blame for domestic violence. And when I saw @MichelleDBeadle — a — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
colleague I have profound respect for — tweet what she tweeted, enough is enough. Something needs to be said right now. REPEATEDLY i said: — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
There is absolutely no excuse to put your hands on a women. REPEATEDLY, I said dudes who do that need to be dealt with. REPEATEDLY, I echoed
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
numerous female relatives and loved ones, that man was dealt with. From that point, I simply asked: now what about the other side.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
If a man is pathetic and stupid enough to put his hands on a woman — which I have NEVER DONE, btw — of course he needs to pay the price. — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Who on earth is denying that? But what about addressing women on how they can help prevent the obvious wrong being done upon them? — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
In no way was I accusing a women of being wrong. I was simply saying what that preventive measures always need to be addressed because
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
there’s only but so much that can be done after the fact….once the damage is already done. Nothing more. My apologies to @MichelleDBeadle
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
And any woman out there who misconstrued what I said. I have always — and will always — find violence against a women every bit as — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
horrific as women, themselves, find it. Always have. Always will, which my personal behavior exemplifies. I’ll strive to be more articulate — Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
in the future. But be clear, I wasn’t BLAMING women for anything. I was simply saying to take all things into consideration for preventative
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
purposes. Period.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Later he tweeted a “thought-out” statement, just in case we didn’t get the picture through his Twitter rant:
My series of tweets a short time ago is not an adequate way to capture my thoughts so I am using a single (cont) http://t.co/vkOIFbCGeB
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 25, 2014
Lesson here? The only preventative measure for men not to hit women is just for men not to hit women. Sorry, but we’re not here for the direct or indirect victim shaming.
SOURCE: ESPN, Twitter