Normally i am in favor of memes. They can be fun. Sometimes, they are stupid.
Other days, they are violently stupid. Verging on insulting.The whole bra color meme on Facebook was cute. It baffled us men for the 30 seconds it took us to use google to find out what the hell was happening. Awareness of breast cancer is… great. Though I don’t know anyone who is unaware of breast cancer. Or unaware of cancer in general. Did the ladies being giggly and posting bra colors prompt anyone to do a breast exam, or get a mamogram? Maybe. Doesn’t seem super likely though.
This idea has been repeated a few times since, each picking up momentum in varying degrees. The latest being of course, the cartoon character one. As these things go, it’s cute. I am sure that people are enjoying posting old cartoon characters as their profile pictures. The fact that it started a few weeks ago without the child abuse part, which was tacked on later, may very well be beside the point. I just really hope that people understand that posting a cartoon picture as a profile picture is not actually going to have any kind of impact.
This part makes me angry. Somewhere right now, an adult has hit a child. In anger, while drunk, because they think it is the only way the child will learn not to do the thing that they should not do. This person is in another zone from you or I. This person has it in their head that it is ok to harm a defenseless child. This person may have been on Facebook, and saw the pictures of cartoon characters. Do you really think that them seeing that made them stop and think “well fuck, what I am doing is wrong. Gee, thanks Facebook. I didn’t realize that slapping a 7 year old that i have 3 feet and 200 pounds on was wrong. I will cease this behavior.”
If you have it squared away in your head that to be violent against a child, a gentle Facebook reminder is not going to sway you. Such an act marks you as a twisted creature that does not understand the social contract, or the difference between right and wrong. Fucking Scooby Doo profile pictures are not going to be the tiping point.
Better again, if you are aware of such things happening, and seeing this parade of cartoon characters reminds you that “Golly, maybe as an adult, I should do something about this situation of abuse.” than I only have one piece of advice. If you are the person who knows a child is being harmed, and a fucking Facebook meme is what nudges you towards doing something about it - after you have reported it, kill yourself. You are a worthless human being.
For the rest of us, enjoy the meme. It is cute. Seeing Smurfs and Fraggles and Go-Bots everywhere is quite amusing. Please note tho, that if you feel any kind of smug satisfaction because you have done your part for children everywhere, you are a vapid cunt who should be expelled from the human race. Changing your profile picture or copying and pasting a meme is slacktivism at it’s worst.
Via Wikipedia:
Slacktivism - The word is considered a pejorative term that describes “feel-good” measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts also tend to dilute awareness campaigns and require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.
