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Friday, April 17, 2015

To Be Young, Privileged & White

From Salon -





An excerpt - 

On USA Today, writer Chris Chase says that ESPN “got it wrong” in suspending McHenry for merely a week, saying, “Represent your company well and have the comportment, confidence and trust of someone we want to let into our homes every night. After that video and a mini seven-day vacation, how can ESPN expect anyone in America to want to do that for Britt McHenry?” It’s a valid question — and one that will likely continue to be asked about other temper-prone personalities. It’s foolish to assume there isn’t a security camera recording your prissy meltdown, or an interested bystander with a cellphone willing to step up. Note how, in the video, the insulted clerk fights back with the threat, “I’ll play your video, so careful.” McHenry, at that moment, sees herself as the person with the advantage, because as she itemizes, she’s on television, she went to a good college, she feels her weight and teeth are superior to that of the woman behind the desk. What that woman has, however, is the power of the image.

We are all too eager in our culture to pounce upon legitimate and honest mistakes and foibles and to shame people — women in particular — for being human. But there are also still moments when truly bad, selfish and mean behavior is justifiably exposed. Most of us don’t know McHenry or know what she’s like when she’s not browbeating towing company employees, but it’s a safe bet her tirade didn’t come out of nowhere. It came too quickly and easily to believe that. As if perhaps it wasn’t the first time she’d ever entertained thoughts like that. I believe that people can learn from their mistakes and grow. But I also believe that until McHenry figures out who she needs to tell she’s sorry, she’s not there yet.

Full story -

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/17/watch_out_tantrum_throwers_like_britt_mchenry_youre_being_recorded/?source=newsletter

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