Just this week, One Direction finally released the music video for their latest hit, "Drag Me Down". To say the entire thing was creative is an understatement; it includes robots, the boys running after a camera at rather awkward angles, and the ultimate point in which our favorite boy band is shot into space. Though I could write up an entire post about my love for the extravaganza that was the "Drag Me Down" video, there's actually a pretty big elephant in the room that comes with the attention the band is receiving, mainly from a male standpoint. Though most reactions towards DMD were positive and excited, there of course, had to be a chorus of "girls only listen to their music because they're hot" and though these things usually pop up with anything, there's an actual problem within saying this. Let's completely take everything we know about One Direction/ any biases against them and start from the beginning. "Drag Me Down" currently holds the title of #1 in 80 countries. EIGHTY. And this isn't even the first time something like this has happened- about all of their previous singles have hit first place on the iTunes charts without preorders. Going off of that, the British band have broken the Vevo records multiple times along with playing sold out or close to sold out shows every single night in the most well known venues on their world tour. So why don't they gain more respect? Why does a large portion of people still claim females who enjoy bands like One Direction are only there for the looks of the members? And no, it's actually not the performer's faults comments like this are usually put across, it's the demographic. One Direction's main audience is extremely versatile. Their listeners go from eight year old girls to college students. Mainly all female. This group of people is incredibly impressive- it's tough to land the pre-teen population already but also having young through older teens, and young adults (think recent college graduates) calling themselves directioners is almost considered impossible. A band that appeals to such drastically different age groups is usually something celebrated. But with their almost 97% fanbase of girls, One Direction is thought of as talentless because females can't possibly actually enjoy music, they must have a crush on one of the members to latch onto a band like this. Yes, it is very much true that most of their audience is attracted towards the boys but that's completely understandable; in a video done by Lacy Green, she describes "fangirling" or having a crush on a famous person as something completely normal and actually scientific in the minds of girls growing up (which fits most of 1D's fans). Another great point to bring up is these ladies' source of income. Being young, these directioners are mostly working minimum wage jobs or relying completely on their parents. They aren't giving up their paycheck or birthday present for the album or tickets to see four talentless boys. They enjoy the music and yes, the members but this behavior isn't driven from the pure attraction of Harry Styles. It's a love for the content this band creates and the way it makes them feel.
Think of it as this: if One Direction's fanbase was mainly all male, their reputation and music would be taken much more seriously. The idea that the bands and artists that have a co-ed or mostly male audience are more respectable and talented is ridiculous. The statement, "girls only like One Direction because of their looks", also puts across the idea that all women are boy obsessed and can't appreciate something unless they find attractive value within the artist. When you turn it on it's head, the situation is actually pretty funny because of how large a double standard it is. For this year's Victoria's Secret fashion show, more men tuned in live than woman to watch supermodels walk across a runway in lingerie. Though Taylor Swift gave a pretty killer performance, it is easily argued that this male audience was there for the looks of the models. So why are guys allowed to literally just watch conventionally gorgeous women walk across a stage whereas girls can't enjoy a band with attractive members?
It's sad to watch a band that has one of the most powerful fanbases and has put an influence on the demographic of teenagers (one of the hardest to hit ever) can't be taken seriously because directioners are mainly all female. It's even sadder that these fans are constantly having to prove themselves to guys (and even some women) for their taste in music because of being seen as "boy crazy". Though this post only covered One Direction specifically because of my own liking and experiences, this can be applied to any artist within the industry- these double standards hitting females are ridiculous.
Lately, the entire idea and trope of "the manic pixie dream girl" has been my favorite topic/argument within not just film making, but modern media. So what is this manic pixie dream girl? Well, the name stemmed from a review of Elizabethtown done by Nathan Rabin. Rabin describes Kristen Dunst's character as
"that bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures."
hence, the popular term in American film making towards movies such as 500 Days of Summer, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Almost Famous,Juno, and a ton of others. Discussing the sexism in the MPDG is beating a dead horse- it's been talked about for months and months but what is an honest to god, ukulele playing, Smiths fan, record enthusiast, manic pixie dream girl and a woman who has been deemed perfect by a man when in actual life, has flaws (and is usually quite problematic)? These two separate plot lines usually end up getting lost in translation and it's because sometimes, it's hard to tell wether or not the male protagonist has made this woman out to be a MPDG or that is her actual character.
500 Days of Summer is most definitely the best example of an "ironic manic pixie dream girl" and it's pretty fucking obvious. I mean it hits you right in the opening sequence when some of the characters recall what love means to them and our protagonist, Tom, is silent. Also, Tom's backstory is a huge red flag- he grew up on romance movies and has basically been depressed all his life because he hasn't found "the one"- he has been looking for a MPDG all his life. When Summer comes around, she not only has a backstory (something most MPDGs don't get) full of flaws but also really has no interest in Tom. She has her own opinions and openly tells Tom she doesn't want a relationship yet Tom is still convinced she's his soulmate because they like the same Smiths song (their biggest hit by the way) and had a fun time at Ikea. If the entire plot within Summer and Tom doesn't put out a giant waving banner saying "END THE MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL" than Tom's friend, Paul (Matthew Gray Gubler!!) is the instant message- Paul describes his hot dream girl who loves sports but then says he loves his girlfriend more because she's real. The entire meaning of the film is that though we can dream up our quirky, magical, partners, they aren't real and true love isn't based off of your expectations but how you actually feel for someone.
But wait!! What about all the other movies listed? The three other films said previously just so happen to be other misconceptions of this trope (wow Ann how did you do that?)! Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is not only one of my favorite movies but also book series. Ramona Flowers definitely can come off as an MPDG though with her rollerblades and multi-colored hair but is actually quite the opposite. Scott is almost parallel to Tom- he's been depressed lately and has been broken up with his dream girl so when he sees this woman in his dream, he convinced she's the one. Ramona is getting over her own problems though and really isn't looking for a relationship when Scott approaches her. She breaks things off multiple times and in all, is extremely cold towards Scott yet he keeps fighting for her even when their relationship is on thin ice. But there's a reason for this- just like Tom, Scott has this idea of what romance is due to his rough breakup with Envy Adams and him believing he was in love with her when she was horrible towards Scott. He thinks of Ramona as Envy in the way she's tough and upset with her life and latches on. Ramona isn't the manic pixie dream girl, Scott is just living in a delusion that she is. Onto my favorite movie of all time, Almost Famous, I can see how Penny Lane can seem like a MPDG in her carefree attitude but just like Ramona and Summer, is afraid of commitment and isn't very interested in the male protagonist. She explodes at Will multiple times and claims she's leaving him for his own good because he's just so infatuated with her when she isn't as innocent, quirky, or fun as he thinks. Juno is just like this but a little bit more twisted when Mark, a man much older than her and the adoptive father of her child, claims he's in love with her. Mark is obviously unhappy with his marriage and when Juno, a cute, angsty, quirky even, teenager comes into his life, he's at a last resort with love and claims he wants to be with her, ultimately scaring Juno away.
In all, this manic pixie dream girl character doesn't just extend to film, it's expressed in many different songs (ex: "Five Colors in Her Hair" by McFly) and it's pretty fucking hard to mix an actual MPDG up with a man obsessed with a girl who he believes to be.
Wow it's been awhile since I've done one of these so my advice is to keep expectations low because I'm no good at this.
♥The Sex Pistols+ Sid and Nancy I got into the Sex Pistols when I was around thirteen and since then developed an infatuation with Sid and Nancy's relationship which is horribly tacky because I hate it when people romanticize them (spoiler alert: Sid ends up killing Nancy- unless your "goals" are to be stabbed inside of a hotel room, please stop posting on your twitter about them). It's not the actual relationship that gets me so interested it's Deborah Spungen's (Nancy's mom) book, And I Don't Want to Live This Life, that is extremely gorgeous and twisted and endlessly fascinating to me because before reading this, Nancy was incredibly 2 dimensional and almost stock character-eque to me whereas seeing things from a mother's point of view really brings life for Nancy and makes you feel for her on a different level. Back to the topic of the Sex Pistols, I found Never Mind the Bollocks in my dad's CD collection and it's all I've been listening to lately. ♥Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos Though my main genre in music is punk and pop punk, I have been in love with this indie band. They're constantly using strange percussions and the lyrics are so weird and wonderful- I also did a cover of "Broadribble is Burning" (nice going Ann, covering their biggest hit)
♥30 Rock + Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Over February, I got really into old episodes of Saturday Night Live and rekindled my love for Tina Fey since reading Bossy Pants and had a sudden need to watch her show. Long story short, I want to be Jenna Maroney when I grow up. Once that was finished within the span of a good three weeks, I moved onto her co-written show, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt which is about a woman's life in New York City after being rescued from the bunker she was held captive in for fifteen years. It has Jenna and D'Fwan from 30 Rock and the catchy theme song is enough to watch it. I finished this one within two days and have a mixture of pride and shame for it. ♥Love Sick: A Smoldering Look at Love, Lust, and Marriage I picked this book up at Housing Works in SoHo originally as a birthday gift for Fee who I was seeing later that night but that didn't work out too well since I fell in love with it. The artwork is so retro and unique. Needless to say, this book didn't get to Fiona.
*That other part of the post where I talk about myself*
I put this little tidbit in because it isn't How Fitting if there isn't a part where I share pictures of myself to prove I'm cute and have friends, right?
On March 22, me and my emo squad had a vigil for our lord and saviors, My Chemical Romance. At this point, I'm not even being ironic and that worries me slightly (it was all fun and games until I developed an me group). Anyways, we got fries at the diner and cried to Gerard Way's voice and Harper gave me bangs so I look like a proper scene queen.
(left to right) Harper, Jules, Sam, Madison (my super duper cool girlfriend), and Frank Iero?
We then had a birthday celebration for Jules and my girlfriend, Madison, last Saturday and watched Panic! At The Disco music videos on her TV and went to the park and bought energy drinks (I know- I hate myself) and sat on top of bridges and Sam and I kept saying "dare me to jump off this Jersey bridge" and when you begin quoting Pierce The Veil conversationally, something is really wrong.
Jules, a piece of shit, Sam, Madison, Harper
I'm sorry I'm complete trash and can't wait to talk about my emo phase (it's not a phase mom) when I'm older.
My favorite novel is Forgive Me Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone from my mom to my best friend (who has read it and loved it). There's a side plot of romance but other than that, the book mainly focuses on Leonard Peacock, a boy deciding to commit suicide on his birthday. The cover looks like this:
This book was obviously written by a man and even though I picked it up in the Barnes and Noble teen section, it goes as a good read for people way older than adolescence and of all genders. By my standards, this is an amazing book. Another one of my favorites is The Disenchantments, a novel about a band going on their final tour over the summer after they graduate high school and how their manager and best friend realizes that he has to eventually grow up and let go of this.The cover looks like this:
In a recent video by Kristina Horner, she discussed how people market their books by the cover and how certain novels are seen as "chicklit" and trashy because they were written for females and almost every time, by a female. I'm not going to defend every single novel here- in my opinion, The Perks Of Being a Wallflower was better than The Statistical Probability Of Love At First Sight regardless of the genders of the authors and covers. But there is truth to this; when you see Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock at a bookstore, the simple cover is seen as gender neutral whereas The Disenchantments' cover with a teenage girl shown is seen as "chicklit". Think about how you decide which book you're buying at the store or reading next: how do the covers make you feel? Because The Disenchantments has a young woman on the cover, its quality can be immediately debunked and thought of as "light" or a beach read even though the topics discussed in the novel turn rather heavy and majority of this book is quite a lot to take in. Without even wanting to be told, buyers can see this book as lower quality than something gender neutral and immediate assumptions are made that The Disenchantments will be an easy read for the cover is "girly". When novels are called "trashy" it is more times than not written by a woman and usually because the cover looks something along these lines:
and why is that? Why does the immediate thought of a "trashy" book come to mind when a cover with a woman or a female name appears. Yet novels with covers like these:
are seen as high quality writing? All six of these books are bestsellers yet the top three were seen as "chicklit" and on multiple review sights marked as "girly" and therefor lighter and not nearly as meaningful as the bottom three. Why does the appearance of a woman make a novel less important or unacceptable for a guy to read? More importantly, why does something as trivial as a name make people perceive a novel as "fluffy"? If you notice, the top three books are all by women whereas the bottom three all have male authors and just to fill in if you haven't read all of these, have the same intensity. Even though we see ourselves as independent human beings who don't need parents or teachers to tell us what is acceptable to read, we continue to have a blaring red light of what is "trash" and what isn't. Even if someone isn't screaming in your face, something like a female name can set off a siren. An amazing example of this is Joanne Rowling, author of one of the biggest series in the world, Harry Potter. When publishing The Sorcerer's Stone, she was advised to have the cover say her initials instead so boys would want to read it too. Obviously this worked and Harry Potter is a success for all genders but why isn't it mildly disturbing that the name Joanne would drive the male market down? The cover has a picture of a young boy on it and there is a male name as the title yet the fact that that wasn't enough it rather scary. I could barely read when my dad read me Harry Potter in second grade yet second grade me still perceived this series as a "boy's book" because the name JK Rowling sounded like a man- it's alarming that I had such an idea of what was within my invisible "boundaries" as a girl when I was 7.
The reason why this is so important not only to me but to so many others is that this doesn't just hurt women. These ideas of what is and isn't OK to read based on a "girly" cover or woman author is of course harming the writers of these novels but also men. Why is it unacceptable for a guy to read The Disenchantments on a train? This isn't to say men don't read books written by women- of course they do but why is it so much harder to have a boy read The Sorcerer's Stone if the name Joanne is on the cover? All in all, what I'm trying to get across here that the label "chicklit" is completely useless, gender neutral covers mean nothing, and you should read The Disenchantments.
I'd also seriously recommend watching Kristina's video on this because it was my main inspiration for this post
and also checking out author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Maureen Johnson's #coverflip project here
Exactly a year ago today, the first post for How Fitting went up. I looked like this
and every post went a little something like this. To sum it all up, I was a thirteen year old with a grand total of one friend and an uncanny amount of free time. I didn't really know where I was going with this blog (not that I exactly know at the moment) but I knew that I liked fashion and Tavi Gevinson and wanted people to like me because I had an insane amount of stress and problems with kids at school (most of them being my fault because contrary to popular belief, I was pretty horrible at that point in time). After a couple of incredibly embarrassing posts, I actually attracted people who wanted to read this stupid thing I created due to boredom. My interests began to develop from music to what I actually liked in fashion, and I realized what I wanted out of this thing I spent my time on. At first, I took a more zine approach and that worked and I liked it for quite awhile (more than a year) but a few months ago, after having been dissatisfied with the quality, I went for a more laid back style of blogging. I was becoming stressed and unhappy with what I was creating and blogging became more of a burden. The whole reason why How Fitting even exists is because I was bored and wanted to have fun and I decided the moment this is no longer fun, I either change what I'm doing or end this because I'm literally a fifteen year old girl sitting in my bedroom on my laptop writing pieces like this while shitty pop punk plays. Though my main goal is to become a journalist in fashion, I can't take myself too seriously. Anyways, instead of focusing on horrible 7th grade Ann, I'd like to just have a quick montage of what How Fitting has become over the past year and all the super awesome things that have happened.
♥I have an internship! Though you guys probably already know this from here and here, I have rarely even talked about my love for BP Fashion Board. Not only are the discounts the greatest, I love the board. Every month, we learn something new about how to run such a giant business like Nordstrom. There are so many different cogs and wheels that go into it, and I'm fascinated with these people's stories. Also, as part of the program, I have to design a line and I think what I made is pretty cute (it's called "As If!" and is a modern day take on Clueless)
♥Over the past year, I've worked with multiple really cool companies (here, here, here) and have already planned a collaboration with Moooh- which completely off the record has adorable clothing.
These things were about the highlights along with developing in quality, having Dean Dobbs say that my post on his song, "Consent" was a great review (and retweet it)
and also gaining a bunch of new lovely friends who like to read this thing I do. I'm really excited to start off this second year of How Fitting with more stupid things and pictures of me, Samantha, and John because that's really all this blog is.
(I found this in my drafts from about six months ago and thought it was the best thing I've ever spent time on)
As you all probably know, I have quite the obsession with actor, Matthew Gray Gubler, and here I will be simultaneously listing 30 reasons why I believe he is the best thing ever and bringing the quality of this blog down !!!
2. Can we talk about how adorable-y awkward he can get?
3. If you've seen any of his work, you can tell how amazing he is of an actor.
4. I absolutely can't stand horror but whenever Matthew directs any of the scarier episodes of "Criminal Minds" they're always fantastic.
5. He is on one of the only good crime shows.
6. Do I have to bring up Spencer Reid?
7. He can go from really nerdy cute to model status (which I personally don't like nearly as much).
8. He once stood outside in New York City on crutches taking pictures with fans and though he REALLY didn't need to do this, he really showed he wanted to be there and was extremely nice to his fans.
10. His recordings of "Annabel Lee" and "The Tell Tale Heart" are so beautifully done.
11. He can be really self deprecating.
12. The fact he wears mis matching socks every day because the last time he wore matching socks he sprained his ankle is pretty awesome.
13. His mockumentary series is probably one the funniest things I have ever seen.
14. When he does that thing with his hair behind his ears.
15. OK let's not deny how gorgeous he is.
16. Can we talk about how talented he is? I mean this man is an actor, director, writer, and artist.
17. I really like how weird and "out there" his portraits are.
18. The amount of times he has changed his hair style fascinates me.
19. Matthew is just an overall interesting person. I mean his entire lifestyle is rather unique.
20. Am I the only one who thinks that the fact he lives in an old hotel in LA is the coolest thing ever?
21. He's close friends with Wes Anderson and was mentored by him in college.
22. His old modeling photos are the funniest things ever and I love how he pokes fun at them.
23. He has an appeal for anyone.
24. Matthew's dedication to his fans is so strong and I find that amazing.
25. His directing skills are so great like I swear to god he can make anything look good.
26. His music taste is A+.
27. It is adorable how during his liveshows he really listens to what his fans have to say and gets really engaged.
28. Can we talk about that interview he did on his first stage kiss? Because I loved how nervous he got for it showed even big actors like him can get scared over things like that.
29. His glasses though.
30. Um he's Matthew Gray Gubler.
OK this either made the quality of How Fitting go drastically up or dramatically down. It's hard to tell to be honest.
This previous version of you has just turned thirteen and in a phase in which you simultaneously think you're the shit and hate every single thing about yourself. You have a grand total of one friend (not counting those on the Internet) and are just beginning to figure out things that you feel really passionate about and even though you'll keep some of these values and loves and others you'll cringe at, it doesn't matter. You're at the tip of the iceberg with a plunge into your love of music- you're cool older cousin showed you All Time Low and this single band has been a gateway into a plethora of middle school angst bands and attitude. You really really really like ALL CAPS but god damn are you going to be furious next year when you figure out how awful a person Luke Conard is.
Present day Ann is extraordinarily different and that's not so bad because (and I say this with love) thirteen year old you has not fully developed into the Ann I wanted- not to say that the present day version is. You have a bit more confidence and battle scars because even though she's slightly older, that doesn't mean she's dramatically smarter.
You know your "Twitter Twin" Fiona? You're going to meet her at a thrift shop in Madison and it's going to be one of the best days ever. You will walk in the rain together and giggle and talk non stop. She'll be there when you're really upset because your best friends at the time are pushing you away and of course, there's no shortage of stupid text exchanges.
Oh and about your ultimate role model in the whole world, Tavi Gevinson... You're going to meet her not once, not twice, but three times (and you're seeing her next week). You'll sob the first time and the second time it'll be like seeing an old friend. By the third time, she recognizes you and you'll hug and she'll tear up over the jacket you made her.
First time
Second time
third time!
She'll also write this in your yearbook
(You'll also meet Arabelle Siciardi and your mouth will be full of candy and it'll be slightly embarrassing but she will be super nice)
Can we also address your hair? You're going to make a really dumb decision and cut it all off and when you're unhappy with that you will make it shorter and then dye it a bunch of colors and regret having short hair all the time even though you still kind of think you're the shit.
And about the whole sexuality thing, you cut to the chase and accepted the fact that you're single handily one of the gayest people you know. You're going to come out to your family and they won't care and everything will be exactly the same except you can date cute girls without feeling scared. I know you're a little insecure right now and I'm sorry about that but don't worry, you're going to find the coolest friends in the world. YES FRIENDS! Seventh grade will be rough and you're going to walk out with a total of around five friends but it's OK because you're happy and excited about summer camp and the future (which you should be!).
The beginning of eighth grade is going to suck. You've never been one to sugar coat anything Ann so I'm going to warn you to be prepared to lose some friends but stand your ground and don't take any shit because though you won't be able to realize it, you're a badass bitch. By the end of the school year, you'll have just enough friends and be SO happy with them.
By the Summer before ninth grade, you'll skip camp and go to FIT in the city. You'll fall in love with the school and New York and find the place where you feel the most accepted and meet some amazing friends. You'll go there over the school year and love all of it.
Speaking of cool things, you're going to figure out your love for making music. Not only will you learn guitar and ukulele but have a somewhat decent singing voice and feel like a complete badass whenever you perform. I know that's pretty weird since all thirteen year old Ann can do is the cup song.
And about this blog, it'll become the thing you love the most that you've created. You'll meet awesome people and fall in love what you do on here- your content will raise up in quality and you will appreciate it so much.
Anyways Ann, I've got to go. It's not that I have anything important to do it's just I think you've heard enough and I want you to know that I realize how shitty things are right now and I'm not saying life is perfect at the moment, but it'll be pretty fucking awesome.
So two weeks ago I turned fifteen! Last Friday, I hosted a fairy princess party and got some wonderful gifts from my lovely friends that I'd like to share with you guys!
♥
Ok so I am very very very obsessed with the Scott Pilgrim series and have had my eye on the color editions for months because they are the most gorgeous things ever so for my birthday, Sam bought me Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life and Scott Pilgrim vs The World which was the nicest thing ever and made me so happy because reading the books in color is a much better experience and wow I love them so much. I also believe the best line was Sam's mom who asked "So Ann is turning 15 right?" when buying these.
♥
My friends, Caroline and Monica, got me these and the immediate thing I said when opening these was "you know me so well!" I am such a huge fan of Parks and Recreation and getting me Nick Offerman's book was so awesome of them- Zombies Have Issues was also a rather great read.
♥
My grandma got me this one (there is a common theme of books) and so far, I'm loving this. It's a collection of women who talk about special pieces of clothing they own and I think it's just so interesting.
♥
My friend, Clara got me these (both from Lush) along with my favorite bath bomb ever, the dragon's egg, (I forgot to take a picture). So far, I've used the bath bomb pictured below which is super duper awesome and sparkly so what more could you ask for? I'm yet to use the shower gel though because I want to save that but it smells like wonderfulness.
♥
Ava gave me an Alice In Wonderland watch necklace which is so lovely because I love love love big necklaces and a shirt of my favorite band, All Time Low (I had my eye on this one in Hot Topic). I've worn the necklace twice now and am yet to wear the tee but I'm excited to find an outfit for this.
♥
I got this gorgeous necklace from Adison- it is so pretty and I love pairing it with bigger necklace on top. I don't own nearly enough tiny pieces like this and really love it.
Jules gave me this card and wow it is just so awesome- the back and front are covered in tumblr valentines and pictures of Matthew Gray Gubler (including a huge "not shrine" to him on the inside). This was beyond sweet of her to make!
So at this point you may be asking,
"why are you writing a post about something that was already resolved?" well first off, you probably won't be thinking that since I have this thing for putting words in other people's mouths but getting past that, something really important that was sparked by this excuse for a YouTube video's release.
I don't believe I have ever mentioned Dottie (otherwise known as thisbedottie on YouTube) but she is one of my favorite YouTubers and she recently released a video talking about an experience she had when she was only sixteen years old and Sam was twenty three. She had met him at a meet and greet and she described that by the end, she could easily tell he was into her so he invited a minor to a seemingly innocent date at the movies. Things began getting shady after she let him kiss her and then he began to place his hands on various (intimate) parts of her body. Since she had already outstepped her comfort zone, Dottie took his hands off of her- which let me remind you she had every right to do. She had only spoken to this man once and he was marginally older than her so she wasn't feeling comfortable with the situation and calmly took his hands off her own body. He then continued to place HER hands on his body which she pulled away. Obviously this was too much for her and she made the excuse to get away from him saying she should catch her bus but she could tell he was angry with this and since she was a fan, didn't want to upset him and stayed for the rest of the movie. Once they got out of the cinema, he literally ran away from her without saying goodbye and therefor she Facebook messaged him that night (she provides actual proof in the video) saying,
"You're horrible." but she told him the next morning she was sorry and he should have a nice day because she didn't want him to hate her.
Dottie was merely a sixteen year old girl and Sam Pepper was a grown man who manipulated her into doing something she clearly didn't want. In the video, she states he stopped being kind to her once she made it clear there was no sexual promise. This video mainly got positive feedback since it was extremely brave of her to post but there was of course one person who had to make a fuss; this being Kalel (otherwise known as "Kalel Kitten").
Let me start off by just talking a little about something I learned during the whole Alex Day/ Tom Milsom thing; YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BELIEVE THE VICTIM. I think anyone who has ever read through How Fitting could tell that I was a massive Tom and Alex fan and as heartbroken as I was that my heroes would do something like this, that didn't stop me from giving them what they deserved which was definitely not my respect. I, of course, didn't want to believe the accusations were real but I did since there is literally nothing you can do wrong by believing a victim- you are putting faith and defending a vulnerable person who has been through a lot. Kalel completely threw all of those morals aside and had no problem saying that Dottie was probably lying about the entire situation and said that she was overreacting and trying to ruin Sam's life. I could go on and on about how wrong what she did was but to sum it up, Kalel's behavior was repulsive.
The thing that really bothers me about this tweet is how she tells Dottie, someone who was taken advantage of, to just "Calm down and unsub" as though this is something extremely easy to get over. Dottie, as you could tell, was very hurt and scarred by the things Sam did to her- how dare she trivialize that?
OK Kalel, people make mistakes- it is a natural thing to do as a human being but this wasn't just Sam saying Dottie was stupid, he abused her. Sam Pepper is a grown man and when he touched Dottie, he knew what he was doing. It's not as though one second he was on an innocent date with a sixteen year old and then "Whoops! I guess my hands just accidentally began intimately touching you without consent!"
Not only did many Twitter users call Kalel out on her shit but popular YouTuber, Emma Blackery, stood up for her good friend and did an awesome job of spreading awareness to her thousands of followers.
As if the ridiculousness of Sam Pepper didn't stop there, he had to post a part two of girls pinching guy's butts and then a third video claiming it was all a social experiment and we all need to calm down. Can I just comment on how stupid that is? Sam Pepper obviously has an awesome management team but this could't save his ass. As I said in the beginning, Sam is known for this kind of shit and has never apologized for it but when people finally stand up to him, instead of saying sorry like a decent human being, he comes up with some weird excuse. As Bribry said in a video he made with Candice (that is super duper awesome and I will add to this post),
"Sam Pepper has made a video in which he sexually harasses women to tell us how much of a problem sexual harassment is. I would now like to say that I love animals, so I'm going to kick the shit out of some animals and put it in a video to show you how serious animal cruelty is. I like Harry Potter. I'm now going to find Daniel Radcliffe and slap him." This was such a good statement that shows how completely idiotic this "social experiment" is. I would like to pause and say how amazing both Bribry and Candice are and how great role models they have been for me.
Since the last edition of Sam's series was posted, a large amount of women have been coming out with their own experiences involving this lame excuse of a man talking about how they were sexually harassed by him- there is even a story of rape in there (the survivor of this has posted a fifteen minute video telling her story that I am putting in here- I will warn you that it is quite scary and can be thought of as triggering so if you believe you will be triggered by this kind of thing, I'd advise you not to watch it.)
The YouTube community and overall internet community needs to figure things out now. How can we let rapists and abusers such as Sam, Alex, and Tom run this place that is supposed to be safe and wonderful? Why are people accusing victims of lying instead of looking into this "hero" and his own behavior? I am sick and tired of hearing "You deserved it." or "You should be grateful." in the comments of these videos. I am tired of people like Sam Pepper being put on a pedestal. We as people on the internet and regular human beings need to take these abusers off websites such as YouTube, tumblr, and twitter because they are a danger to others and do not deserve to be here. To do this, we need to isolate Sam Pepper and other "harmless pranksters" like him. This means, do not click on his ads, watch his videos, or support him in any way possible. I am not saying I want to destroy Sam Pepper's life- I am just done with abusers like him on what is supposed to be safe place for people to create and show off their talents and as Bribry stated,
"YouTube is a wonderful place where people can be creative and show their talents and if your talent is sexually harassing women, you should be in jail."
I am going to leave you guys with some really great responses towards Sam Pepper and the entire issue of sexual harassment. They are all made by awesome people and I would recommend 100% you watching and reading these responses.
Jack Dodge's video on how we need to make this stop.
Megan Tonjes parody of "Rude" singing about Sam Pepper and his video- it's super well written and Megan Tonjes is overall an ultimate babe.
A really awesome video regarding the things wrong with the entire situation.
Nathan of TheThirdPew on YouTube being real cool- he's an awesome guy and is pretty known for discussing things like this (his most famous video is on the whole Nash Grier situation in December)
I just loved how passive aggressive this was.
Luke Cutforth making fun of the whole "social experiment" (he makes a couple Sam Pepper puns in the end of his latest video)
Dottie's lovely boyfriend, Patty Walters being great about Dottie's video.
*Since Blogger is being a jerk, I couldn't upload this video but Laci Green's open letter to Sam Pepper is super important and you need to watch it here
You've been you, I've been repulsed by Sam Pepper and select people of the YouTube community's behavior.
In October, I made a post where I showed you guys some of the pieces I've done in my first collage book and since I've finished that one in May, I've made a couple collages I'm pretty proud of.
My dad being a mapmaker, had a bunch of old atlases that I stole for awesome backgrounds.
This is one of my all time favorites.
(quote from "Fall Into These Arms" by New Politics)
