by Miranda Gent
On
May 30th, a gay couple were assaulted by a gang of male teenagers on a night
bus in London for refusing to kiss for their ‘entertainment’.
I
was particularly moved by this news as I feel as though this underlines the
increasing issue of sexism and homophobia being combined. Indeed, it seems to
me that the evident lack of respect for this couple stems from two factors; the
fact that they are homosexual and the fact that they are female, which can be
demonstrated in the details of the scene:
The
four teenagers who led the attack, (it is yet to be confirmed if there were
more involved or not) were all aged between 15 and 18; significantly younger
than the women in their twenties who they were so insulting towards, before the
beating as well as during. In fact, Geymonat, one of the victims, has told the
police that, “They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so
they could enjoy watching, calling us ‘lesbians’ and describing sexual
positions”. This highly inappropriate and disrespectful behaviour that the
women suffered appears to be the result of a culture of men being attracted to
homosexual women and their sexual activities, which has lead to the deeply
disturbing beating of two women for refusing to ‘entertain’ a group of male
teenagers with their sexuality.
This
simply demonstrates the ongoing issue in today’s society of not only a
persisting lack of respect for the homosexual community, but also of the
unrelenting objectification and sexualisation of women that is still present in
today’s society - despite the resolution of many to be ignorant to it.
In
fact, described simply; this was the beating of two women for refusing to
please teenagers in a sexual manner, which I personally find sickening.
Indeed,
these tennagers seemed to be under the impression that they could “demand”
favours from the women; that they were at their disposal, which, to me,
significantly highlights the fact that our society has, to this day, a
patriarchal and homophobic nature and structure that doesn’t particularly seem
to be decreasing.
As
shocking and horrific as this is, this incident can only be one of numerous of
similar cases that are never reported, as Geymonat also said, “I’m tired of
being treated as a sexual object, of finding out that these situations are
usual, of gay friends who were beaten up just because”.
I
can only hope that I’m not the only one who sympathises with Geymonat’s situation
and feels her frustration and pain, and I sincerely hope that others are as
outraged and distressed by this inhumane event as I am and will also strive to
eliminate sexism and homophobia in their daily lives to avoid more devastating
situations like this occurring.
This is a horrific and tragic event, which no one should have to experience. Everyone should be treated the same for whoever we are, and we should celebrate that. Whether it is their sex, or what sex they love, we are all human.
ReplyDeletethis article is very worrying because people decide their choice of who they want to be who they are. and other people will not appreciate their choices.
ReplyDeletethat is very sad
ReplyDeleteUs as humans must realise that we are all different, a different race, a different gender, with different sexualities. Us as a world need to celebrate this fact, not reject it.
ReplyDeleteThis article is evidence that the UK as a community is not doing enough to stop sickening things like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is terrible and outrageous
ReplyDeleteI think that it is sad to think that people are being treated this way and people should not behave in such a horrific way. everyone should be treated the same no matter what because we are all humans and are all as equal as each other.
ReplyDeleteIt's terrible that even in today's world LGBT's are treated with such disrespect and that other people think that they can treat them differently because of that.
ReplyDeletei have heard about this story on the news
ReplyDeleteit isnt right people. should be appreciated for who they are