The Northern Passage of Victim Blaming

I am so tempted to personally send a letter to Joel North and point out the obvious, but I truly think it’s a waste of my time.

In case you never heard, Joel North got himself into some social media hot water the past week or so. A Coast 101.1 radio host responded to a woman’s tweet about live streaming her video gaming skills. In response, he tweeted: “you’d get more viewers if you were stripping.”

Classy guy that Joel North, ain’t he? He’s one of a kind.

I don’t have to point out that he is clearly diminishing this woman and implying that her only worth and talent is of sexual nature, because it seems pretty apparent. When it comes to women, their best bet is to showcase their visual and sexual abilities, because essentially that’s all they’re worth right? I mean, that’s the gist of his suggestion.
However, North came forward and stated that he will not take ownership for his tweet. He posted a YouTube video stating, “I will not be apologizing. Doing so would signify an insult to female strippers, whom I have the utmost respect for, along with all women.”

Isn’t that the fn sweetest thing you ever did hear? Joel North was just pointing out to this lovely woman, that he believed she had great stripping skills. He simply saw her profile picture and said to himself, I should let her know that she is wasting precious talent and if she shared her great abilities, maybe she would have a better media presence.
What a gem.

I have NO idea how he came to that conclusion or why he thinks the rest of the world is stupid enough to believe his explanation. I appreciate him hiding behind a falsified cloak of heroism, I mean it shows his true colours.
When the local women’s groups reinstated the obvious and pointed out his mysogynistic behaviour, he then shamed those very groups into taking responsibility for disrespecting strippers, rather than recognizing that he was the one disrespecting female entertainers.

I could be low balling it, but I feel that his original comments were actually intended to minimize this woman’s talents, rather than compliment her and suggest she had great employment potential as a stripper.

It was reported that North was fired from Coast 101.1 for his public response; however he stated that he resigned. Again, he turned the issue away from himself and onto the public. He blamed the commentary to his tweet, for the loss of his job RATHER than considering his tweet as the cause for his unemployment.
Taking no responsibility for his own actions, but rather shaming the public for their reaction.

As a journalist, North should know that freedom of speech is a human right, but that doesn’t allow you to be exempted from reaction. I can’t walk into my office and yell out a slew of racist slang and then claim I have a right because Canada believes in freedom of speech. There are repercussions for your words, just like when my kid tells me I am a bum face- she gets a time out. She can’t just flash the Freedom of Speech card in my face and walk off scot-free.

Journalists are held accountable, we are meant to be unbiased and can be accused of libel under a lot of circumstances. I know his Twitter account was not journalism, but he should know that all forms of speech have the right to be criticized, especially public statement. I mean, compared to most people, wouldn’t a journalist be even more hyper aware of that?
Don’t hide behind a Youtube camera and blame the public for being offended, consider what you said and own up to your intentions. Also, take down our flag in the background of your video, no one needs another reason to misrepresent this province.

Use my golden rule of thumb from now on, North, and ask yourself: Would I have said that to a man? Honestly, would you have told a man live streaming video games that he looked like a great entertainer and dancer based on his profile, and he should consider stripping? Since you are unemployed now and you think it’s such a great career choice, are you considering it? Let me know.