Although we love to view the world in absolutes, things are seldom black and white. Heroes have skeletons in their closets and assholes secretly donate money to the ASPCA commercials with Sarah McLachlan. Okay, maybe not.
But the point is that the world is a complex place, full of moral ambiguity, double standards and mixed feelings.
So we have taken it upon ourselves to bring back the epic binary of good versus bad, right versus wrong, and virtuous versus evil.
We humbly present you Asshole and Hero of the week.
Via: Black America Web
Asshole(s): Kidnappers in South Sudan
This week a group of armed kidnappers entered a school in South Sudan where students were sitting for their exams. 89 of those students were taken.
This occurred in Malakal, a place where thousands have taken refuge from the violence in the country.
The kids who were taken were boys aged 12 and above. They were taken by force, presumably to be used as child soldiers in the Sudanese conflicts. This violates international law, but something tells me that these particular kidnappers couldn’t care less about the dictations of international laws. Child soldiers have been a popular war tactic in this region for decades, but that doesn’t make the idea of stripping a child of their innocence and humanity any less horrifying.
The conflict in Sudan has continued since 2013, after the president fired his deputy when he incited a coup. Violence and bloodshed have been the norm since then.
I think it goes without saying that using children to fight your wars is despicable. It’s cowardly. It’s unspeakable. If Hell does exist, there is a special place there for men who use children as fodder for battles they know they cannot win.
Via: Daily Life
Hero(es): Turkish Men in Mini Skirts
Recently, a 20-year-old woman in Turkey was murdered for allegedly fighting off a rape. Her body was burned and found in a riverbed. Since then, Turkey has been home to many protests regarding sexual violence and this particular heinous crime.
However, these protests took a whole new direction when Turkish men started taking pictures of themselves wearing miniskirts. They have begun to circulate the hashtag, #ozgecanicinminietekgiy (wear a mini skirt for Ozgecan), along with the pictures, causing the campaign to go viral.
On a Facebook page related to the cause, one of the participants explained why wearing a mini skirt in a photo shows solidarity to this particular incident. “…If [wearing] a miniskirt means immorality and unchastity, if a woman is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we are also sending an invitation!”
Essentially, these guys are trying to show that a woman wearing a short skirt isn’t giving the go-ahead for rape. It’s an effective campaign, and it shows solidarity to this ever-present issue. It gets people’s attention about the excuses that the world gives men for rape. It has nothing to do with what a girl is wearing, and that is why these guys are my heroes this week. They are unabashedly showing the world how ignorant excuses for rape truly are.
Feature photo courtesy of: Time
